Growing demand for loose diamonds has prompted Rothem Collection, an Israeli family-owned diamond manufacturing company, to open a subsidiary in Virginia that will specialize in Russian-cut loose stones, the company has announced.

Rothem Collection CEO Erez Rothem explained the appeal of Russian-cut diamonds: “Russian-cut diamonds are universally known for their beauty and spark…unlike other diamonds, such as Indian-cut diamonds, Russian-cut diamonds are polished by one person alone and not by a few people, who do different parts of the polishing job.”

Rothem also noted that the setback in loose diamond sales that resulted from the 2008 financial crisis was “long gone,” and said that the Virginia subsidiary would sell the diamonds at manufacturer’s prices.