Jewellery retailer Diamonds International has a glittering future in Bermuda, according to store manager Platon Panagopoulos.

Mr Panagopoulos, who moved from the Bahamas operation of the chain to open the Bermuda store in Dockyard two months ago, said: “It’s tough living up to expectations, but we are very happy about the way things are going.

“Bermuda is a great place and the people are great — we’ve had more local clientele than expected, which is good.”

Mr Panagopoulos, who has worked for Diamonds International for seven years, added: “We’re used to the cruise ship industry and it’s something we know very well.

“July, we think, is going to be our best month of all because it has most calls. June was wonderful and we’re looking forward to the rest of the summer being as good.”

The New York-based company was founded more than 20 years ago with a single location in St Thomas and now operates from 157 locations, including Mexico and Alaska, as well as across the Caribbean.

Diamonds International, in addition to a mine-to-display case gemstone operation, offers a range of timepieces and accessories like Mont Blanc pens as well.

The company has signed up 15 Bermudian staff, backed by Mr Panagopoulos and trained managers from the company.

But Mr Panagopoulos said: “We trained our Bermudian staff and we are constantly training them.

“Our methods and ways of selling and our products are unique. We thought it would be better to give opportunities to young people to grow in this industry rather than take people who had worked in the industry before.

“They have been great and we’re very happy with them.”

He added: My mission is not to stay here, it’s to deliver this store to Bermudians. I will leave when the team can sustain itself. We didn’t bring people from abroad — the only thing we brought was managers to train people, teach them about jewellery and how to understand the stones.”

The company carries out in-store training for individual brands, while watch training for brands like Hublot and Zenith is carried out in the factories that make them and jewellery training is provided at the firm’s headquarters.

Mr Panagopoulos said Diamonds International was the number one recommended store on cruise ships and could help boost visitor numbers to the island.

He said: “People look for us — we have longstanding relationships. People cruise to find us and cruise ship companies use us as an attraction to get people to cruise.”