Pristine Gems’ New Supply Tool Offers Diamonds on Demand

The diamond industry is known for being rooted in tradition, with retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers following the same systems and processes for decades. Today, the proliferation of custom orders is posing a challenge for industry professionals, since it can be difficult to forecast what inventory to keep in stock. 

Kunal Shah, president of manufacturer Pristine Gems, has come up with a solution. Just over a year ago, his company – which specializes in fancy-shape natural diamonds – launched its Calibrated Ordering Platform ahead of the 2025 JCK Las Vegas show. The platform allows retailers and manufacturers to order the exact natural diamonds and gemstones they need, when they need them, for custom projects. 

The idea for the platform came about two years ago, after a summer weekend in the Hamptons during which Shah and two jewelry-manufacturer friends found themselves discussing the aforementioned difficulties of inventory forecasting. Today, over 100 retailers, manufacturers and designers use the Calibrated Ordering Platform to acquire the specific stones they need when a custom order comes in. 

The natural diamonds and gemstones on the platform come in a wide selection of shapes and sizes. Pristine also prides itself on its delivery speed, with US buyers receiving the goods within 24 hours of placing an order.  

How much to hold 

Just-in-time inventory like this has been in use for a while in the automotive, electronic, retail, and food and beverage industries, among others, but it’s a newer concept for the diamond trade. 

Shah estimates that about 40% of orders in the diamond and jewelry industry today are custom. Shoppers no longer walk into a store and pick out something from a case, he explains; they spend a lot of time on social media or talking to friends about the custom pieces they want to create.  

“Now, [a client] walks in, she’s got money, she knows what she wants,” he says. “You’re not going to be able to convince her that what’s in your showcase is what she should be buying. Those days are gone.” 

Every two weeks, the back end of the platform uses AI to create a report that lets Pristine Gems know exactly how many of each stone have sold and in what sizes, so the company can gauge how much it needs to produce in the coming months.  

“Ultimately I believe the future of jewelry manufacturing isn’t inventory ownership – it’s inventory access,” says Shah.  

Before this year’s JCK Show, Pristine added gemstones such as Zambian emeralds and Ceylon sapphires to the platform, allowing retailers, manufacturers and designers to order diamonds and gemstones in one place. 

“Traditionally these categories have existed in separate supply chains, often requiring multiple vendors across multiple countries,” Shah says. “By bringing them together, we help our customers simplify sourcing, shorten production timelines, and respond faster to consumer demand.” 

No more ‘flying in the dark’ 

Romil Shah, cofounder of jewelry manufacturer Guild and Facet, has been using Pristine’s platform since it first came out. 

“The user interface makes it very easy for me to go in, place the orders that I want, and be off the platform [within] minutes,” he says. “What’s nice about this is, I no longer have to keep a stock of inventory that I don’t need.” 

Since Guild and Facet does a lot of work with independent and online retailers, he explains, forecasting can be a difficult process. “We don’t necessarily get the same forecasting [capacity] that the majors would get. We’re almost flying in the dark. We have to use our prior year’s sales to get a [sense] of what we need. Having this platform just makes things a lot easier.” 

His company doesn’t have the luxury of time, he adds. Once an order comes in, he and his team have fewer than 10 days to fulfill it.  

“There’s thousands of those orders, so rather than having to stock for months at a time, I need to stock for shorter timelines,” he elaborates. “A platform like this makes it much easier for me to plan and to better manage my cash flow as well.” 

Pristine’s technology also assists him with giving clients price quotes for custom pieces: “I have [the platform] at the tip of my fingers to see what updated pricing might look like. If I created a computer-aided design (CAD) based on certain measurements…I can quickly adjust those sizes to match the sizes that are available in Pristine’s inventory.” 

Cut to size 

Like Guild and Facet’s Shah, Alex Novikov has been using Pristine’s technology since it first came out. As gemstone procurement director for fine-jewelry manufacturer Sasha Primak, he echoes the importance of moving quickly in the industry today. 

“This platform saves me so much time, because at any point, I have maybe around 20 people who will ask me a question that’s price- or gemstone-size-related,” Novikov says. “This platform gives me instant access to both.” 

About 80% of Sasha Primak’s orders are custom pieces, according to Novikov, “so you always need some kind of new size, and it’s impossible to stock that kind of stuff in inventory.” 

Another advantage of the Calibrated Ordering Platform is that Pristine cuts its stones precisely to the millimeter, unlike diamond parcels from years ago, which could contain stones that diverged slightly from the given size category, Kunal Shah explains.  

Novikov finds this is especially helpful, because “in custom jewelry, there’s little wiggle room. You cannot fit a 2.8-millimeter [stone] in a 3-millimeter setting; it’s going to be too metallic, or the other way around.” 

Shah’s goal for his platform is to ensure that manufacturers and retailers don’t end up stuck with inventory they may never sell. He wants to help them spend less time on sourcing, and more time creating the custom jewelry their customers want. 

Main image: Sasha Primak platinum ring featuring pear and marquise diamonds from the Calibrated Ordering Platform. (Lauren Collins)