【South Korea】[Interview] Logomondo Challenges the Traditional Jewelry Market… “Collaboration with Artisans No One Else Has Attempted Will Become the New Standard for Business Models”

[News Culture Reporter Shin Myung-geun]

These are the words of Yang Hee-jae, CEO of Logomondo Co., Ltd., who is presenting a novel direction through the traditional jewelry industry. In fact, CEO Yang has a somewhat unique background. He majored in film directing in university and worked as a reporter for KBS, TVN, and CBS, operating in a field completely different from his current Logomondo business.
An interview with CEO Yang Hee-jae was conducted at the Cornerstone booth set up at a jewelry exhibition.

Logomondo is a jewelry e-commerce specialist company operating a fine jewelry marketplace called Cornerstone.
The Cornerstone operated by Logomondo presents a new direction to the traditional jewelry market through data and technological capabilities. Using its independently developed real-time rendering/AR technology (3D LIVE service), it converts 3D files into images, allowing customers online to change product colors, rotate them 360 degrees, and easily make selections. Cornerstone operates through this technological prowess.
Cornerstone systematically analyzes and datafies product information from master jewelry craftsmen and stone distributors with the highest technical skills. It then matches this data with customer needs in an optimized way to assist customers in making rational jewelry purchases. The goal is to provide new opportunities and sales platforms for jewelry craftsmen and sellers, and trustworthy, rational purchasing experiences for buyers through data and technology.

Properly making jewelry requires diverse expert knowledge and skilled craftsmanship. However, because it is made from liquid materials, proper labor and the product’s intrinsic value are not recognized. Unless it’s a brand, when purchasing diamond, colored gemstone, or gold rings, consumers focus on price. Yet, it’s also difficult for consumers to fairly purchase good products. Especially with jewelry, the quality of unseen parts is important. If this isn’t resolved, significant losses can occur later in terms of liquidity, so we judged this to be an important issue.
Unlike other electronics or luxury clothing/bags, well-bought precious metals can be a good investment. Cornerstone believed that expert know-how is essential for purchasing high-value jewelry well. We wanted to create a platform where experts are properly compensated for their skills, and customers can compare and purchase good products at the most reasonable prices in one place.
We started the business by exclusively branding and selling jewelry from master craftsmen with the highest technical skills in Korea. Naturally, we began researching customer purchasing experiences. Consumers receive a lot of information even when buying general products. We started preparing based on questions like: ‘Why don’t customers get such information when buying jewelry?’, ‘Would customers appreciate being provided key information about jewelry?’, and ‘Can’t high-value fine jewelry be sold online?’

We pondered when at a critical crossroads deciding the company’s direction.

We hoped the jewelry market would also develop into a rational and predictable market, while simultaneously wanting to create a marketplace that conveys the emotional beauty of jewelry. We never gave up on these two criteria from MVP development until now. Because these two criteria were contradictory and difficult to coexist, the development process was painfully difficult.
However, the result was the birth of a beautiful jewelry marketplace where professional fine jewelry products like diamonds and colored gemstones can be compared in one place and purchased at the most reasonable prices online. Although we started vaguely, achieving big and small growths in the process made it clear what I am good at and where I find happiness.
I realized I enjoy and am good at solving the world’s inconveniences and inefficiencies through creative ideas and strong drive. That’s why I think I’ve continued without giving up until now.

We have applied for a patent for ‘Cornerstone 3D LIVE’ with our 3D real-time web rendering technology.
From a creator turning an idea into a product and selling it to a customer, significant costs are incurred from product planning, 3D design, printing, product manufacturing, product photography, to advertising expenses. Especially for jewelry, unlike general clothing or electronics, expressing stone cutting, metal texture, and color is crucial. Photography costs per single product alone are at least 150,000 to 300,000 KRW. Cornerstone’s technology allows the 3D files naturally produced during the jewelry manufacturing process for precision manufacturing to be uploaded to the Cornerstone service. Within 10 seconds, without a separate rendering process, colors are automatically changed, and rendering and display are freely possible on the web.
Customers can immediately rotate the displayed product 360 degrees in a virtual environment, change colors for each element, and make purchases. Additionally, by providing data-based inventory and product information, customers can check transparent and accurate information during the purchasing process, adding the value of ‘trust’ to the purchase journey.
As unnecessary costs and processes like product launch costs and inventory costs have decreased, sellers no longer need to lower product quality to make sales. Consumers no longer need to laboriously visit 4,000 stores in Jongno 3-ga. They can now compare high-quality products, diamonds, and colored gemstones in one place, make purchases with accurate information, and most rationally according to their budget.

Our company aims to become a specialized marketplace enterprise for diamonds, colored gemstones, and fine jewelry by implementing all B2B and B2C transactions related to jewelry, traditionally conducted offline, online. Through the Cornerstone service we developed and launched, we plan to provide comprehensive services ranging from retail functions enabling consumers to make purchase decisions without visiting stores, to online wholesale functions connecting sellers and manufacturers, and production functions directly linking manufacturers and consumers. We are currently launching and providing some of these services.

Jewelry itself, unlike clothes or shoes, possesses clear value, requiring immense effort to achieve high quality and reasonable prices. Cornerstone can currently provide customers with the best choices through collaboration with artisans and its own technological capabilities. Based on this, in the long term, we aim to become a global jewelry-specialized marketplace enterprise by implementing professional service functions not only for domestic users but also for international users.