Making it rain diamonds

By Jagdeesh Mann
Mata Press Service 
 
Shahraz Kassam wants it to rain on your wedding day.
Its not that Kassam hates nuptials, or is a misanthropic meteorologist: he has sold engagement rings to hundreds of couples and loves sunny days as much as the next person.
Kassam is the evergreen owner of Shamin Jewellers – 26 years and running – and he knows three things very well: diamonds, Lower Mainland weather patterns, and how rain can spoil what is the happiest day in a woman’s life.
So should it happen to pour 50 millimetres on your wedding day, Kassam will ‘make it rain diamonds’ and refund all the money you have spent on wedding jewellery at his store.
The couple only needs to register the wedding a month ahead of time at Shamin and then pray to the skies for a real old fashioned Vancouver downpour.
In a city where it can rain for two weeks straight at times, Kassam will surely end up giving away much of his jewellery for free, but the bottom line has never been the prime motivator for his business.
Each year, Shamin Jewellers, gives away jewellery for almost free as part of their “Door Crasher” event. In one of the more memorable events of recent years, 1300 people lined up outside the store to purchase a diamond ring for $49. It was worth $250.
This year’s Christmas Door Crasher is being held on Saturday December 4th and Kassam is giving away a 14-diamond heart pendant for only $29 (regular value of $149).
Shamin Jewellers, which is an ethical member of the Canadian Jewellers Association and a wholly Canadian owned company, has grown from a small home-based operation to a Burnaby institution because of the life-long relationships Kassam has forged with his clients.
It has grown dramatically because Kassam sees his jewellery enterprise less as a operation to move product than as a business that creates and cements relationships.
“Our main aim here is to make a friend, not a customer,” explains Kassam, who started the business out of his backpack during his student days at UBC.
“We want to make diamond and jewellery shopping as stress-free as possible so everyone who walks into the store. Anyone who walks in is treated as if they were walking into our home.”
The mission statement is not far from the truth. Today three generations of the Kassam family can be found working in the store, including Kassam’s parents as well as his two children.
But that sense of family doesn’t end there. It extends seamlessly into the network of all the couples and families who over the years have bought jewellery from the store. Kassam himself receives up to 150 wedding invitations each year.
“I have ended up becoming a big brother and permanent fixture in the lives of so many of the guys who have come into the store,” laughs Kassam. “It’s a regular occurrence to receive a text message from one of them exclaiming ‘Bro, she loved the ring!’”
Knowing how vulnerable men can feel about ring shopping, Kassam has put together a heavily-thumbed starter guide for men on the 4c’s (clarity, carat, colour, and cut).
He even has a chapter on the ABC’s of how to propose.
For his more educated shoppers, Kassam has provided the option for custom ring design. While this was more daunting a few years ago, technological advances have made this process less expensive and much more commonplace these days. Kassam has personally worked with clients to create jewellery pieces for as little as $1,000, upwards to $70,000 plus.
“Crafting individual pieces according to a client’s story is the part of my work I enjoy the most,” he finishes. “Every couple’s journey is unique. Capturing it in diamonds and jewels is storytelling.”

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Business name: Shamin Jewellers
www.shamin.com
Tel: 604-433-4530
 1-888-474-2646
Owner: Shahraz Kassam
Years in business: 26 (Opened first store in 1984)
Employees: 8
Company mission: Make buying jewellery fun and exciting, not stressful