For 10 years, a Prince Albert business has persisted in trying to excel in their field and in nine of those 10 years, those efforts have born fruit.
Father and son team Mike and Evert Botha received word recently that they were successful in qualifying in the American Gem Society’s re-certification process for the ninth time. The AGS provides a form of consumer protection and guarantees clients they are working with an expert.
“For us as members of the society, there’s the knowledge that we have in terms of not just our designs, but the cutting and polishing process. There’s a lot of knowledge that we’re able to share with our fellow members,” said Evert Botha.
The society is a peer networking system which allows members to trade expertise and knowledge amongst themselves, but was designed to give buyers reassurance in what they are purchasing.
A large part of the re-certification is watching trends and this is something the Bothas embrace.
“Dad and I are diamond people.” Evert said. “We focus on diamonds and anything in the funnel that would relate to it in terms of marketing, sales and training. We have to learn and understand about the retail side of it.”
Taking on the certification challenge is daunting at first, with a large binder of information that the testee has to know. The questions cover more than just diamonds—they also learn about other gems too.
“The industry advances. In 1934 when the society was founded, it was based on getting some standards in jewellery, especially diamonds. People were using so many different terms,” Evert explained.
In the modern era, the priorities have shifted to buyers wanting to know if gems have been ethically mined and sourced.
“What is the carbon footprint? What is the environmental impact? What is the socioeconomic benefits. These are all the things we need to understand,” said Evert.
In order to obtain their updated certification, both Botha’s had to review a collection of abstracts and then write an intensive exam.
“There’s not a lot you can teach my father about cutting and polishing diamonds. He’s been doing this for 50 plus years,” said Evert.
Mike Botha started his Canadian career in Vancouver before going to Yellowknife for a while and then coming to Prince Albert.
“I was 60 and looking to retire so we started looking around and then we heard about the diamond discoveries at Fort a la Corne so we thought, why not do PA?” said Mike Botha.
He started working in design and different design concepts, with a new style about to be introduced to the world, starting in New Zealand.
“Our partners had the idea but didn’t know how to execute it so I did the design and got the first prototypes,” said Mike. “It’s 10 years in the making so a lot of research and sweat and tears went into that.”
The exact concept cannot be revealed to the public quite yet.
Mike is also a believer in the services and concept of the AGS and the purpose it serves.
“It gives you a better standing and it gives you better credibility,” he said. “It’s mainly a networking platform but it also gives you credibility because you have to meet certain criteria.”
This year, Evert was on named to the honour roll of the AGS after getting 100 per cent on the test.
