Wine Diamond — future ambassador to Europe of centuries-long Georgian tradition

“I had a previous life.” This is how Tamar Abuladze, the founder of Georgian brand ‘Wine Diamond’, begins the conversation.

Have you ever heard of wine stones? These are crystals of potassium salts of tartaric acid, which are released in fermenting wine when the temperature drops and they form on the fermentation vessel. The stones of different colours are mostly of a loose consistency and resemble sugar or salt. But the shiny crystals can also make you think of diamonds. For Georgian entrepreneur Tamar Abuladze, this thought was the start of an enterprising and personal quest to create a Georgian brand and bring it to the European market – with a little help from the EU4Digital eCommerce consultations centre.

Wine Diamond is the name of the brand Tamar founded in 2021. Her desire to become an entrepreneur had emerged much earlier, after her “previous life”. Following a 20-year career in a big corporation, Tamar started a hobby making jewellery from natural stones, then also enrolled in a wine school. It was during this period that she learned about wine stones and decided to combine her new interests: why couldn’t she make jewellery from wine stones?

“‘It’s stupid, it’s impossible, it won’t work,’ that’s how the winemakers reacted when I told them about my intention and asked for wine stones,” Tamar recalls. In this way, she discovered that the practice of making jewellery from wine stones did not already exist. It became her primary objective to convince doubters that she would realise her plan. Achieving her goal was not going to be an easy mission.

A thousand attempts and first success

Crafting jewellery from wine stones is a challenging process that demands meticulous attention; maintaining the authentic appearance, colour and structure of wine stones set in jewellery is crucial. At the same time, each piece should be attractive, practical and durable – real jewellery. This quest led Tamar through numerous attempts before she eventually discovered the successful manufacturing technique — now an exclusive and closely guarded secret.

Inspired by the story of inventor Thomas Edison, who took thousands of attempts to create the lightbulb, Tamar began an arduous process. Single-handedly, she must strain her mind and vision to fully concentrate on the task of creating Wine Diamond’s productions — often late at night, under bright lights and amidst absolute silence.

Supported by her husband and encouraged by Edison’s biography, Tamar successfully achieved her goal. In 2021 she completed the first piece of jewellery crafted from wine stone. This marked the birth of the innovative new Georgian brand.

The purpose of Wine Diamond extends beyond the mere production of jewellery, however. Wanting the brand to carry special significance and the jewellery to withstand the test of time and be passed down between generations, Tamar chose a slogan: ‘Immortality of wine’. This also reflects her home country’s timeless tradition of winemaking, which endows Wine Diamond with a distinct Georgian character.

8000 years of history captured in jewellery

Wine is as an integral part of Georgian identity, with 525 endemic grape varieties and an ancient winemaking technique known as ‘kvevri’, which holds a place on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. Presenting all this, particularly to foreign customers, and positioning her brand as part of this 8000-year-old tradition was one of Tamar’s key objectives.

To emphasise this close connection, all Wine Diamond products come with a kind of passport, which includes details about the brand and the centuries-old Georgian traditions. This feature positions the brand as an ‘ambassador’ for Georgia in the European market, where Wine Diamond products will appear very soon, thanks to support from the EU4Digital eCommerce Accelerator.

Route to the European market

Like all contemporary brands, Wine Diamond developed the desire and necessity to venture into exports. Tamar had tried the online commerce platform Etsy, but got no further than creating an account. Then she learned about EU4Digital from a friend and decided to join its eCommerce consultations centre.

Operational since 2021, the eCommerce consultations centre has facilitated numerous Georgian brands’ entry into the European market, with consultations and training sessions provided free-of-charge. The emergence of EU4Digital and its advancement of online commerce proved well timed and highly advantageous for Wine Diamond – especially given its lack of a physical store.

Numerous interesting things happened within the programme, but it was during the personal consultations that I found immense value. Meeting experts in the field and receiving direct advice and recommendations tailored to my brand proved incredibly beneficial.

Tamar Abuladze, founder of ‘Wine Diamond’

Tamar received a five-page list of recommendations to help her effectively represent Wine Diamond on the European market.

Since Etsy was a priority for her, Tamar sought guidance from an expert who knows this platform well. She got advice about which products to focus on, how to create appropriate descriptions and optimise product photos. Additionally, Tamar sought counsel on digital marketing. Understanding that the product she created is very distinctive and unique, she needs to explain to the consumer what Wine Diamond is and why they should buy it.

Valeryia Kuzniatsova, EU4Digital eCommerce expert

“Know your interests” — advice to start-ups

Returning from EU4Digital consultations, Tamar was full of ambitious plans. Along with e-commerce development, she decided to launch a showroom in Tbilisi to showcase Wine Diamond and her three other brands (‘Emotion’, ‘Wine Emotion’ and ‘Marilla products’). She began preparing a nurturing environment for future employees, recalling that prioritising employee happiness was a fundamental lesson from her “previous life”.

Tamar also offers tips to other aspiring entrepreneurs:

Take the time to be alone with yourself and discover what interests you and what you enjoy doing. Once you develop a passion for your work, customers will inevitably appreciate it. Secondly, it’s crucial to acquire the appropriate knowledge, often available through the multifaceted projects offered by the European Union.

Tamar Abuladze, founder of ‘Wine Diamond’

Finally, Tamar says, the most significant risk is the temptation to give up. She advises delving into the stories of established and successful entrpreneurs for inspiration. “Edison’s biography is enough,” she smiles.

Further information

The EU4Digital Initiative helps countries of the Eastern Partnership to simplify and harmonise the process of e-commerce as part of a broader programme of activities to support cross-border eTrade. As a result, these countries will become part of the European Union’s single digital market.

Find out more about the EU4Digital eCommerce consultations centre.

To learn more about Wine Diamond’s history and products, visit the Wine Diamond website.

A longer version of this story (in Georgian) is available on the On.ge website, where it was published originally.