A MODEL OF ONLINE INNOVATION: JAMES ALLEN’S JEWELRY

James Allen, one of the biggest jewelry retailers in the US and today claiming to be the largest e-commerce platform in the US for loose diamonds and jewelry, was established in 2006.

Oded Edelman, James Schultz, Dean Lederman, and Michele Sigler formed the company in New York. According to JamesAllen.com, the company “soon became the largest privately held online diamond and bridal jewelry retailer in the world” with a mission to “offer consumers online the highest quality diamonds and largest selection at the best price”. Today, JamesAllen.com presents each of its ring settings and more than 150,000 conflict-free diamonds “in highly magnified 360° HD”.

2017 was a big year for the company: in June, Dominion Diamond and R2Net, owner of JamesAllen.com, signed an agreement to bring CanadaMark certified diamonds directly to online consumers. Several months after that, in September, Signet Jewelers acquired R2Net for $328 million. R2Net is also the owner of Segoma Imaging Technologies, who provides R2Net machines “to enable delivery of next-generation digital shopping experience for jewelry”, according to a press statement.

Following the acquisition, R2Net brands operate as an independent division of Signet. In addition to his role as President of JamesAllen.com, Oded Edelman also serves as the Chief Digital Innovation Advisor of Signet.