Olivia Landau, CEO and co-founder of Clear Cut.
Since its launch in 2018, Clear Cut has seen an average year-over-year increase of 136% in sales, generating more than $1 million in monthly diamond revenue. Founders Oliva Landau and Kyle Simon take a modern approach to selling diamonds to millennials and Gen Z. Even as they use TikTok, Instagram, and provide customers with an impressive front-end experience, they’re constantly dabbling in every aspect of an antiquated industry and understand they have to find a way to create a more seamless experience for all parties. Most specifically, they discovered that their clients needed virtual access to a GIA gemologist to design a custom engagement ring.
This led Landau and Simon to create Gem by Clear Cut, a proprietary technology that provides a personalized gemologist service that enables couples to create their own diamond engagement rings. “Our gemologists work directly with you to carefully select the highest quality diamonds at the fairest prices and help you design the ring of your dreams. Whether you live in Seattle or San Francisco, if your budget is $500,000 or $5,000, average. Gives you access to expert GIA gemologists, great service, and craftsmanship. We bring diamond expertise to your fingertips and put the power back in the hands of couples,” they shared .
Gem not only solves a consumer-facing problem, but most impressively creates a streamlined process for the industry backend. “As a fourth generation diamond expert, my parents have always discouraged me from entering the industry. They told me that the diamond industry was dying and it was impossible to build a scalable business. After graduating from GIA in 2013, I started working at Tiffany, Then worked in the wholesale diamond industry. From these experiences, I realized how antiquated every aspect of the industry is. From the publicly traded luxury retailers to the large manufacturers and wholesalers, the industry is still pen and paper and handshake work on the web,” shares Landau. “I can’t believe that tens of millions of dollars in diamonds and jewelry were exchanged in handwritten envelopes. When we started The Clear Cut, we kept finding partner mistakes and human errors.”
Customers using Gem have their own profile in the portal where they can access all content … [+]
The only way The Clear Cut was able to scale its business so quickly was by building technology tools that would allow its suppliers to scale their business along with theirs. “The key to building great technology is making it look simple and effortless. For example, our suppliers can scan a QR code with their mobile phone to notify us of a status change or update. Although it may look simple to them , but it’s much more complex on the back end. We leverage this data in real-time to make informed business decisions and continually improve the efficiency of our models. Our goal is to be this generation of jewelers for life. Our Gem Portal is our The client created a virtual jewelry box where all their creations, records and documents were brought together. As our pieces went into production, we were able to provide our clients with accurate and transparent updates and ensure all timelines were met,” she explained. “We are also able to gather a wealth of data on diamond specifications, pricing and customer feedback to ensure we offer the best selection of diamonds on the market at the fairest price. Respecting the artisanal Made in New York craftsmanship while extending the experience and process through technology And tradition is poetic. Gem enables these artisans to focus on their craft while we optimize our workflow.”
Another technology that was just recently added to Gem is Clear Cut NFT. Last year Landau wanted to have her ring reappraised and insured, but realized she had lost her physical GIA report. So she needs to have her diamond removed, send it back to GIA and get a new report before she can insure it again. The fact that she had to rely on a piece of paper to authenticate her diamonds and show ownership was very frustrating to her. Using NFTs is a seamless solution around this timely process. “All customers at Gem who create custom diamond engagement rings with us now have the option to purchase an NFT of their ring. Not only does this show the provenance, it also keeps all important documents such as appraisals and GIA reports safe and secure. We are powered by Authentic ’s NFT is tied to GIA’s API,” shares Landau.
Clear Cut is gaining popularity among millennials and Gen Z for its custom engagement ring designs that feature … [+]
The average age of our Clear Cut customers is 24-35 years old, and over 80% of our engagement ring customers buy entirely remotely, never seeing the diamond in person before shipping. The vast majority of Clear Cut’s clients work together, either explicitly or implicitly, as husband and wife. Rarely does one partner complete the process without the involvement of another partner that Landau shares. This is when gems step in. The process always begins with a 10-15 minute phone consultation with a gemologist (and sometimes even Landau) to discuss diamond and ring preferences, budget, timeline and the process ahead. Create Gem profiles for customers in the portal, track and complete the process. It takes a gemologist about a week to hand-select a batch of loose diamonds for clients to view on the portal. Once a diamond has been selected, the custom design process begins, which can take three to five weeks. Once the ring is complete, customers can watch the video in the portal and suggest any final adjustments before shipping.
Gem Leveraging automated integration with GIA, real-time dynamic pricing, and automated variable pricing based on market conditions, suppliers use a data-centric system to track and analyze diamonds and are able to allocate multiple diamonds to multiple clients, allowing Customers gain the time and money saving advantages of custom engagement rings.
In addition to Gem’s success, Clear Cut is constantly innovating and adding new products for its customers. Most recently, in light of the uncertain economic climate heading into 2023, Clear Cut added to its holiday gem collection and launched a beta invisible rental program for brides. Landau and Simon shared that they hope to introduce more colors in the next year, as well as new tools to integrate crisp cuts across platforms.