According to Randy Wagner, president of GemEx Systems Inc., Mequon, he and his partner came up with an innovative answer that resolved an ongoing question in the diamond industry.
“The big debate in the industry then was, ‘How do you determine the best cut in a diamond?'” he said.
Wagner and Kurt Shoeckert founded GemEx, a company that provides unique diamond evaluation equipment and services to diamond cutting facilities, wholesale businesses and retailers worldwide.
Wagner, an electrical engineer, helped develop imaging spectrophotometry technology for the jewelry industry. They dubbed the device they created the Brilliance-Scope. It accurately measures a diamond’s light performance – both white and color light. It also separately measures a diamond’s scintillation.
Prior to its invention, there was no precise way to quantify a diamond’s beauty. Consumers had to trust their own eyes. But the BrillianceScope scientifically verifies that they are purchasing an exceptionally brilliant and beautiful diamond.
In their first year of business, back in 1998, the privately held company generated less than $200,000 in revenues. Their original business model concentrated initially on small buyers and directed them to grow that sector. But two of the largest jewelers in the world – Zale and Sterling – appreciated their service and sold diamonds that were evaluated by the BrillianceScope technology.
By 2002, GemEx’s annual revenues reached the $2.4 million mark. The company’s sales have continued to grow.
GemEx Systems has placed 150 BrillianceScopes in the field, throughout the United Staes, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Israel, Bangkok, Antwerp, Hong Kong, China and Japan.
More than 1 million diamonds have been scanned by the BrillianceScope.
The company recently introduced the GemEx Live Report, a new service featuring an eye-catching and powerful countertop sales, inventory, marketing and auditing tool. Once loaded into any computer or monitor, it becomes an in-depth, interactive and comparative report of all GemEx-analyzed diamonds in a jeweler’s database.
The new service helps consumers learn all they want to know about their diamond while seeing the elements that create its true beauty up close, under different lighting conditions. The Live Report brings the consumers’ buying experience to a greater level of involvement.
According to Jordan Fox, GemEx’s public relations PR consultant, who nominated the company for the IQ Award, GemEx has a corporate culture that consists of “a high standard of professionalism, total quality commitment and exceptional customer service.”
Address: 6040A W. Executive Drive, Mequon
Web Site: www.gemex.com
Industry: Diamond evaluations
Innovations: Created the BrillianceScope, a device that measures a diamond’s light performance and scintillation.
