While driving home, I listened to the radio out of the corner of my ear. I got hooked on the big news - the Sunlight jewelry store is closing. I figured that over the past 10 years I’ve seen announcements about their closure so many times that I’ve lost count.
The guys tried out the popular scheme - “warehouse liquidation, 100500% discount, fly in and buy” - and are cutting down the profit. And so freely that even regulatory government agencies show interest and impose fines.
A drop in the ocean, judging by the result. In any case, the news is worth figuring out what happened there this time.
History of the Sunlight SL brand
The SL brand's signature engraving is applied at one of the factories in Hong Kong. A domestic brand is renting a production line from a company from the Middle Kingdom. The choice is justified by the latest high-tech equipment installed at the Chinese plant.
He was assigned class “A” or, more simply, the highest category. Competitive rental prices also play a significant role. Hong Kong belongs to a free zone or, as it is also called, an offshore territory.
In other words, the city has significantly reduced tax rates. This allows you to reduce the cost of Sunlight products without sacrificing quality. The Sunlight brand is the property of Onyx. And this wholesale player in the Russian jewelry market is not interested in tarnishing its good name.
Onyx was registered almost 20 years ago. Sunlight appeared in 2005. Over the 10 years of its existence, the brand has managed to develop connections with four hundred retail representatives.
The number of brand stores in the country this year has exceeded 140. The total number of retail outlets selling products labeled SL is more than a thousand. All regions of the country are covered.
The number of people wishing to become distributors of Sunlight jewelry is growing. This is justified by the high demand for the company’s products and favorable franchising conditions. The brand's franchise is very democratic. To open a point of sale of products with the SL brand name, only about 400 thousand rubles are required.
Who founded Sunlight
Sunlight is a Russian retail jewelry chain. The company emerged from the bowels of the Onyx Group of Companies, founded in 1995. At first she simply extracted raw materials for other domestic jewelry factories, but later she went into retail.
At the origins of the company was Sergei Gribnyakov, a land reclamation specialist by training, but a businessman by vocation.
Having invited his former classmate Mikhail Maslovsky as a partner, he founded a distribution office, which by 2005 was transformed into a separate brand - Sunlight. In 2009, the management of Onyx Group of Companies turned Sunlight into a whole network of branded stores - both their own and those opened under their franchise.
Source: rbc.ru
As of 2022, Sergei Gribnyakov works as the head of the board of directors. A certain Alexey Konovalov became the general director and co-owner of Sunlight.
The remaining founders and partners wished to remain in the dark and not come into the light of day. The company is non-public, so they have the right.
Sunlight SL brand jewelry
The brand has set its sights on so-called budget diamonds. The brand produces products with diamonds that are an order of magnitude lower than analogues from other companies.
The fact is that the brand’s craftsmen often use stones with minor defects. They do not affect the appearance of the mineral in any way, are visible only under a microscope, and do not affect the service life of the diamond.
Microscopic inclusions or bubbles are the main defects that reduce the cost of a diamond, but not its aesthetics. The choice of cut can also significantly reduce the cost of production.
Sunlight Jewelers perform processing on a small number of sides. The most expensive diamonds with 57 facets. Experts note that such crystals shine most effectively during any consecration. However, such a number of planes can only be obtained on large diamonds.
The area of small specimens does not allow the use of cut No. 57. It is small diamonds that Sunlight craftsmen use. Therefore, there are only 17 facets. Several diamonds are placed in one product. They are reflected in each other, compensating for the lack of light reflection.
“Diamond scattering” is a favorite technique of the brand’s craftsmen. They use a lot of very small stones. Products strewn with them sparkle like status items and are inexpensive. Other companies often filter out such small crystals as illiquid.
This, by the way, is caused not only by the parameters of the stones, but also by the reluctance to tinker with them. It is not so easy to process and cut a diamond a millimeter in diameter, even if only 17 faces need to be polished.
At the same time, each diamond is inserted into the products manually, which allowed the brand’s products to become known among consumers as reliable and durable. All Sunlight products , like those of its parent company Onyx, undergo quality testing. The examination is carried out by the Russian Instrument Supervision Inspectorate. It was created in 2002. The laboratory is located in Moscow.
The downside is that SL diamonds cannot act as an investment. They are too small, their characteristics are not ideal. Banks do not accept such stones. It is also unlikely to be able to resell them profitably.
Sunlight Brand Policy
The company's policy is not to produce capital goods, but to make diamonds accessible to every woman in Russia. The lower price threshold for diamond products from Sunlight is 4 thousand rubles. The brand management assures that only stones of natural origin are used in production, and not artificially grown ones.
Among the creations of Sunlight masters are not only bracelets, rings, earrings and other jewelry, but also watches. In addition to diamonds, other precious and semi-precious stones are also used, for example, cubic zirconia, amethysts, rubies, and emeralds.
The metal is usually 585 with the addition of copper, but sometimes white gold (an alloy with zinc and palladium) and yellow gold (minimal impurity content) are also used. SL jewelers also work with silver. Every year the brand presents new products.
One of the latest developments is transformers. These are jewelry that are laid out and folded so that one item turns into earrings, a ring, and a bracelet. There are other variations, transformers for 2 or 4 items.
Every Sunlight product comes with a warranty. In 2013, the company pleased fans with the “Olympic collection”. Her face is not a famous model, as is usually the case, but the title bracelet of the series. It contains precious figurines of skates, cups, and figure skaters.
Fantasy jewelry is another smart tactical move by the company. By releasing not only discreet classic models, but also jewelry with futuristic, unusual designs, the brand reaches a larger number of customers. Sunlight products, as they say, are purchased by both young and old.
It is noteworthy that Sunlight specialists do not order jewelry designs from outside, but draw them themselves. The only thing that the brand's management buys is watch movements. They are delivered from the Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese signed a contract with the Russians 5 years ago.
How to determine gold at home
So how can you identify real gold at home? There are several ways to determine the quality of gold and its authenticity using available means. We are sure that you have most of the items needed for testing in your medicine cabinet or kitchen. Therefore, if you have long wanted to check the authenticity of a gold ring or chain, let's start experimenting.
How to test gold with iodine
Let's start with instructions on how to test gold with iodine at home. This antiseptic is in the medicine cabinet of any home, so you don’t have to go far. So, what does an iodine test consist of?
Testing gold with iodine
Take a cotton swab, iodine and something sharp (knife, pin or needle). On the jewelry being tested - preferably from the inside - make a small scratch or lightly scrape off the top layer of metal. Apply a little iodine to a cotton swab and wipe the scratched area.
If the iodine turns white and begins to evaporate, this is a fake. The reaction of gold to iodine is completely different. When in contact with real gold, iodine remains dark and does not evaporate for a long time, and a dark spot will appear at the test site. After the experiment, wipe off the iodine as soon as possible so that the dark stain does not remain on the jewelry forever.
Testing gold with acid or special reagents
You can check the authenticity of gold jewelry using reagents at any pawnshop. Buyers use a touchstone (silica shale) to test and then apply acid. After contact with the stone, a small amount of metal remains on the gold, which reacts with one or another acid. Under the influence of acid, the fake coating will evaporate. A qualitative reaction to gold is when the trace of the stone remains in place.
Testing gold with vinegar
Another thing that is in every home is vinegar. It can also be used to test gold for authenticity.
Test gold for authenticity with vinegar
Pour the vinegar into a clear glass, then place the decoration in it and leave for a few minutes. Fake gold will darken very quickly in vinegar, while real gold will retain its shine and color.
Checking with a magnet
Gold is not magnetic
The main thing you need to remember is that gold is not magnetic. At all. Only gold-plated jewelry made of steel, iron, nickel and other heavy metals are magnetic. Therefore, if your ring or earring “sticks” too much to a kitchen magnet, you have a fake.
How to test gold with a lapis pencil
A lapis pencil, which is sold in any pharmacy and costs no more than 150 rubles, will also help you recognize gold. The lapis pencil is based on silver nitrate, which reacts with metals.
Testing gold with lapis pencil
To test, wet the jewelry, then draw a small line with a lapis pencil and wash it off. If there is a mark left from the pencil, the gold is either fake or of very low standard. There will be no harm to high-quality gold from such a test.
Watch video: How to test gold at home
