The changing face of diamond jewellery website design in Bangkok

Of all the things I’ve learned in the last six months, the most valuable is that the world is much smaller than I thought. When you put your mind to it, distance isn’t an obstacle but an opportunity. Let me explain. About a year ago, I began an exchange with Wit Sudjaimpun, the director of Above Diamond, a custom jeweller in the legendary Ban Mo diamond district of Bangkok. Wit’s family have been involved in the diamond trade for generations, both in the wholesale and retail sides of the business. With an eye on the future, Wit was keen to start again online. His challenge to us was – can we complete the branding and diamond jewellery website design project he had in mind, from London? This is that story.

How we engaged

Sometimes the most unlikely connections (on paper, at least) end up being the simplest. Having found our website, Wit got in touch in early May this year to ask if we were interested in working on the Above project. Over the years, we’ve had a fair amount of experience working in the diamond and jewellery industry, but each project has been a fundamentally different shift in audience, design aesthetic and brand. For me, that had to continue.

The shift in this case covered so many angles, having a great deal in common with our design work for luxury hotels. Firstly, Above Diamond was going to be our first Thai client, with a marketplace almost entirely within that region. Second, this was a return for us to working on physical retail, with a brand identity central to the project. Third, Above’s approach to selling jewellery online was quite singular, requiring us to devise, totally from scratch, how their clients would approach a purchase both from a design and technical perspective.

Having established all this, it was an easy decision to work together. As we began work in June, we had been operating under lockdown for almost three months and this exotic project felt like the most amazing opportunity, a total shift in mindset and approach to business. Creatively, the first step was an evolution of the Above brand. This elegant upgrade seemed to set the entire project on a fantastic trajectory – very much a taste of things to come.

Taking Above to new heights

Central to the success of this project has been collaboration. This is at the heart of my fascination with the Above project and how it totally upended preconceptions I had about working remotely. The fact is, by virtue of necessity, by the time we had begun work on the Above project, we had completed, or were completing a series of design projects, particularly websites, for which in several cases we had never even met the client in person. Working with a client in another part of the world such as Bangkok felt like a natural progression of that. I think it’s only now I reflect on the process and the way we worked that I realise how remarkable the whole process was.

One of the reasons I say ‘remarkable’ is that very little of our process was conducted over email. Rather, for the first time we created a Slack channel specifically for a piece of work that our client was a part of. In a sense it could be a risky move, but I saw it as a natural next step in an evolution of our working practices. In recent years we’ve been keen for our clients to move ever closer to our creative process, such that they feel invested, feedback is swift and hardly any time is wasted. This project saw a client take a step closer and be a direct witness to our design, build and upload process. Distinctly ironic, considering Wit and his team were more than 7,000 miles away.

It’s fair to say I’m biased, but I consider the website redesign to be really beautiful. One of the most distinctive elements is its use of type, with fonts designed by Pizza Typefaces, based in Paris and Oh No Type Co., in California. The typography completely transforms the project, giving it a very particular look which I particularly enjoy.

Details of our diamond jewellery website design project for Bangkok's Above Diamond

Thais that bind

Speaking of type and fonts, there’s a significant part of this project which I’ve not really dwelled on, which is – it’s mainly a website for Thai people, set in the Thai language. This aspect of the project was for me one of the most fascinating. We’ve worked on multi-lingual websites many times, so that wasn’t new, but working with Thai typefaces certainly was. Wit and his team led the choices there, but as with our decisions on type, this is no run of the mill decision, opting for a pairing of open source fonts designed for the Thai language.

In a sense, this dual approach, applying as much consideration to the Thai as English typefaces is symbolic of the entire project. Essentially, it embodies a pairing of approaches, both aesthetic and retail. In theory, the distance and language barrier ought to complicate and frustrate our partnership, but what’s thrilled me is how in fact this has been the easiest part of the work. Modern communication tools like Slack have certainly helped, but a willingness to embrace the difference and opportunities that presents is the real story here.

The end result of our brand and web design work with Above Diamond is one which I hope forms the basis for a long-time partnership between London and Bangkok, building on this first project and evolving over time.

The Thai language version of our diamond jewellery website design project for Bangkok's Above Diamond

“The experience we had working with Richard, Sak and Kyle on our new Above Diamond website was so seamless – they operated like an in-house team, even though we were working across continents between London and Bangkok. Timezone differences of 6 hours weren’t an issue at all, especially as we kept the conversation on our Slack channel going back and forth daily between our working teams.

“Richard’s experience on branding and marketing plus his insights on the diamond jewelry industry that he provided were invaluable for us. This helped shape our brand and bring it to the next level precisely when our brand value communication became so important.

“The end result is a lot more than just a refreshed logo and a new website. It’s the intangible, yet visible value that we now have to provide for our clients and create a remarkable, meaningful experience for them. We can feel that Richard and his team were just as delighted as us to craft this beautiful masterpiece together.

“We really appreciate the experience of working together with Richard and his team. Highly recommended.”

Wit Sudjaiampun
Director, Above Diamond

Details of our diamond jewellery website design project for Bangkok's Above Diamond

Looking for a diamond jewellery website design team?

If you are an international firm looking for a diamond jewellery website design team, look know further. We can work on a wide range of designs from private to retail, depending on your brief and requirements.

Call us on 020 7351 4083 or email us direct.

Find out more

Discover further detail about our work on the Above Diamond project and visit the new website:

MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE ABOVE DIAMOND PROJECT
VISIT THE ABOVE DIAMOND WEBSITE