Students at work in SinGem Jewellery School

Rashi Kaul was ecstatic about the diamond ring she had bought for her fianc?. But her jewellery designer friend informed her after inspection that she had been cheated, since the diamond was of inferior quality and the setting was poor. Rashi then joined a consumer course at SinGem to learn more about gem assessment and pricing.

Computer hardware-sellers, insurance agents, bankers and even a stockbroker or two are all on the student register at the Calcutta-based gem and jewellery institute. Headquartered in Salt Lake, there are branches in Sovabazar and Bhowanipore, as well as in Bangalore, Mumbai and Surat.

?Some of our students are from jewellery families like PC Chandra, others come to learn about designing or gemstones out of interest. There are housewives and teenagers, businessmen and professionals,? says Richa Srimal, head of SinGem Jewellery School.

Mita Rungta makes cookies and chocolates for customers on order, and is now doing a diamond designing course at the institute to branch out into the jewellery business. The 36-year-old from Salt Lake has already learnt more than the layman in a month-and-a-half.

For Leena Mitra, it was a hobby to pass time after she quit ABN Amro bank when juggling job, kids and home became too much. ?I?ve started designing gold and silver jewellery and I?m passing around my portfolio to boutiques, some of whom are interested in retailing my designs,? smiles the 30-year-old from Tollygunge.

There are year-long diplomas and short-term courses at the institute, including grading and identification, diamond grading and pricing, gemology, jewellery designing and appraisal and jewellery making. The cost ranges from Rs 9,000 to Rs 60,000.

Experts in the field ? often trained abroad ? teach students in the art of buying, selling and valuing gems using knowledge, working skills, technology and tools like gem polariscope, colourometer, spectroscope, gem refractometer and hardness analysers.

?I did the diamond course, and I?m now ready to expand my business into that area,? says Pawan Khaitan, a gold jewellery exporter.

?Today?s youth are more fascinated by gems than gold ornaments,? observes Srimal. The 26-year-old started SinGem with brother Puneet in 1998. ?We attend the annual jewellery show in Las Vegas, so that we can tell our students about the latest trends.?

Hailing from a jewellery exporting business family, she won the best jewellery designer award at Gemological Institute of America, and has also worked with designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Srimal is involved in Manikanchan and the Centre?s Entrepreneurship Development programme.