The Diamond Reserve's Kaeleigh Testwuide
Our series Talk Shop is a career and style profile featuring personalities from various industries. They are shot on location in Cherry Creek. Editor in Chief ESTHER LEE LEACH interviews the founder of The Diamond Reserve Kaeleigh Testwuide at her office in Cherry Creek.
The Diamond Reserve Kaeleigh Testwuide in Cherry Creek Fashion Magazine
Esther Lee Leach: Kaeleigh, I had such a great experience creating a custom ring at the Cherry Creek location of The Diamond Reserve! You have truly created a special place where clients can have privacy and a transparent buying experience. Before we talk about this business that you have built can you share more details about your life before joining the jewelry industry? What did you do before?
Kaeleigh Testwuide: I grew up in New Hampshire and went to college on the east coast. After graduating college I wanted a big change, so I hitched a ride out to Lake Tahoe. I spent three great years there, enjoying skiing and the outdoors, and working really hard as a bartender at a ski resort. I met my husband out there and he convinced me to move to Denver with him. When I moved to Denver I knew I didn’t want to be in the restaurant business so I hit the job market hard. I ended up working as an executive assistant for a startup company where I quickly moved into a marketing role. The startup company went under and I found myself on the job hunt. I was on the brink of accepting a property management position when I came across a Craigslist ad. It was for a position to manage the brand The Diamond Reserve; I thought it was really interesting and I was thrilled to have gotten the position! I look back and it is really remarkable that transitional time in my life, losing my job at that startup company was so defeating, it all happened for a reason though and it is so much a part of where I am today.
ELL: When you began working for The Diamond Reserve, it was a marketing company for the jewelry industry but you had a vision that it could be much more. You bought the company in 2015 and re-branded it to become a jewelry business. Describe the transition process of becoming the owner of the company and tell us why you transformed the business model.
KT: When I first began working for The Diamond Reserve it was just marketing company, generating leads of people looking for really anything diamond-related, those leads were then handed off to a jeweler for a percentage of the profits. I couldn’t believe how many leads this company generated and closed, the website was outdated and the entire buying experience was sub-par. I knew the brand name had great potential. After about 6 months of working for The Diamond Reserve I inquired about purchasing it and I did. From there I re-branded it to what it is today. I knew that when I took it over I wanted it to really focus on diamond education and to only sell GIA certified diamonds. After really developing who we are I was able to create a brand that does not only speak to who we are, but it speaks to who our clients are. After creating this concept I founded another company, DR Capital to fulfill the leads. DR Capital buys, sells, and trades diamonds. I always knew I didn’t want to just be a marketing company, I knew I was capable of not only generating the lead, but fulfilling them. Being able to do both of these things allows us to control the client experience from start to finish. In doing this I can ensure each client receives white glove customer service at a comparable price to any online dealer. Working with The Diamond Reserve is not just a purchase, it is a relationship and an exceptional experience, the way any jewelry buying experience should be.
ELL: Coming into the Cherry Creek Office for a design consultation is a very unique experience. I love that it is appointment only so there is no interruption from customers wondering in. As a client, I loved the one on one time with you to design a piece that matched my personality and lifestyle. Describe the custom designing process and tell us more about the services that you offer.
KT: It is really important to us that we provide each of our clients with a one-on-one experience. Whether they are designing an engagement ring, picking out diamond stud earrings, or designing a necklace for an anniversary gift, we believe they deserve our undivided attention. When we meet with our clients we like to get to know who they are and them to get to know us, this isn’t just a sale to us. This is about creating lasting relationships with people and earning their trust. When people are designing jewelry it typically signifies a special time in life, we like to honor that time in their lives while they work with us from start to finish. We find our clients enjoy not just our process but our ability to relate and create an educational, fun and enjoyable experience. In getting to know our clients we are able to guide them in designing pieces that truly represent them and their stories.
ELL: The company’s mission is to provide clients with ‘a transparent private buying experience with unbeatable pricing’. How are you able to offer such competitive pricing?
KT: We are able to offer such competitive pricing because we are a private jeweler. As a private jeweler we keep our overhead low; we aren’t paying into a big store front, sales associates, and big marketing spends, in doing this we can sell diamonds and fine jewelry as competitive as any online dealer. Our pieces are made to order and brokered, we don’t tie our dollars up in cases filled with jewelry and this allows us to work on tighter margins. Our clients always tell us they thought custom would be so expensive, but when they work with us they find just the opposite as they aren’t paying into some designer name. We are also in the business of genuinely helping people, clients come to us and are just in shock as to how much further their money takes them, this is important to me. I want my clients to be able to design their dream ring!
On the left is the CAD image of the ring created during the custom design process. On the right is the finished product, a grey diamond ring.
ELL: In your industry, there are not many women owned companies. It is extremely impressive that you have been able to build this business especially at such a young age! Describe your interactions with other diamond brokers and other industry people in this male dominated environment.
KT: Thank you for that Esther, it means a lot to me as I have worked very hard to make my way in this industry. I think a lot of people just think I am a jewelry designer but that is just a small piece of what I do. At heart I am all about the diamonds, I truly love high quality diamonds and finding my clients the diamond that speaks to them. I work endlessly to make sure we have the most stunning diamond collection for our clients to choose from. I do this by hunting for the best diamonds. I don’t just buy diamonds based off GIA certificates, I find the diamonds with the best luster, cleanest tables, and the best pricing. I work closely with diamond manufacturers around the world and in creating these close relationships I am able to curate my client’s diamond and jewelry lineups that you can’t just go out and find anywhere. By not giving any dealer exclusivity to my business I can negotiate my clients the best pricing. This is what being a broker is all about, negotiating on behalf of my clients, and you can only negotiate when you have relationships that are built on trust. There have been times I have been taken advantage of as a woman in the diamond trade business, what has made the difference is I have stood up for myself. I have proven that I am a real player in the diamond business, I move diamonds and I am true to my brand and in turn true to my clients. I am here to stay, I love this business, and I see this as a very revolutionary time in the diamond business, a time where the woman will truly move beyond jewelry designing and into diamond dealing.
ELL: I am always so impressed at your ability to juggle so much! You are not only running the Cherry Creek Store but you also recently had a baby and opened a second location downtown in the 16th Street Mall. How do you do it all?
KT: It isn’t always easy. The reason I can do all this and do it well is because of the people on my team. I have Erin who runs the back-end of my offices, has her own clients, and designs jewelry; I could never imagine a more loyal and dedicated teammate. My marketing team I have built, I didn’t just hire a big name company. I built a team that I can trust and that knows my brand. My bench-man, an incredible craftsmen and diamond setter. My husband, truly my rock and my biggest supporter. My mother-in - law, always there to listen and give good advice. And so many more. It’s not me who makes it all happen, it’s the people who believe in me and support me that make my dreams reality.
ELL: Tell us more about your second location on 16th street. Is the same designing and buying experience replicated there? Do you have any more plans for expansion of the company?
KT: My new office downtown is the same concept as my office in Cherry Creek, a private jewelry buying experience. I opened this office to tap into the downtown market and make booking an appointment more convenient for my clients as they can choose which office they would like to go to. There are so many jewelers downtown, I just had to compete. My very first client was exactly what I had anticipated, a gentleman on his lunch break! For now the two offices are just right, but knowing myself there will be more to come, maybe Boulder next.
ELL: What are the hottest trends in the engagement ring market now? And if clients want to design everyday non diamond jewelry, what other stones do you carry and recommend?
KT: We are seeing our clients wanting diamonds, diamonds and more diamonds! The oval cut and the elongated cushion cut are really popular right now. We are also seeing a lot of yellow gold being used in bridal. We have a large selection of rose cut opalescent and grey diamonds in all different shapes for our non-traditional brides and are currently designing a lot of fashion rings with them for our clients! Yellow diamonds are back on the rise as well, we are making the most stunning three carat pear shaped yellow diamond ring right now!
Kaeleigh Testwuide: @thediamondreserve
Cherry Creek Fashion TV’s My Design Life with Kaeleigh Testwuide