Former Overseas Diamond Exec Forms New Company

Just days after Overseas Diamonds NV closed its operations in Antwerp, former managers and employees of the company’s U.S. branch announced they have formed a new company that offers a branded diamond and jewelry line.

Joseph Srodawa, former managing director of Overseas Diamond Inc, and the isee2 brand in North America, heads the new company, Gembrooke. The New Jersey-based firm is offering its Solenza Diamond brand to fine-jewelry retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

The diamonds are provided with a full certificate of origin and an independent evaluation of their light performance, the company said in a release on Friday. The Solenza brand consists of a loose-diamond program and a jewelry collection, “designed to showcase the intense brilliance and beauty of the diamond.”

This is similar to what Overseas did. Its isee2 device showed the light performance of Ideal Cut diamonds. The marketing idea was that once a consumer would be convinced to buy an ideal cut diamond, they would buy one manufactured by Overseas.

“Gembrooke designed Solenza to be the first diamond brand created from birth for online sales and distribution,” according to the company. The firm plans to test a new website in the fourth quarter, designed to provide its retail partners with a full turn-key e-commerce platform and integrated online marketing as well as internet-focused sales training.