In episode 477 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Ankur Daga, CEO and co-founder of Angara, a vertically integrated online jeweler that sources and procures stones, designs jewelry, and manufactures pieces in-house. Listen in as Daga talks about his background as well as the founding of Angara (1:45), including the white space the brand intended to fill in the jewelry industry using an online store to optimize variety for customers (3:55). He discusses the customer behaviors and trends he's seeing in the jewelry buying experience (5:25), the large role that customer education and research plays in the business (6:20), and the advantages of Angara's online-only jewelry shopping experience (8:00).
In addition, Daga discusses how being a vertically integrated brand enables speed and customization in product creation (9:50), the impact of lab-grown diamonds on the jewelry industry (12:15), and the growth in customer preference for affordable lab-grown gemstones (13:55). He shares the challenges associated with the switch to lab-grown diamonds (15:55) and the differences in acquiring a lab-grown vs. natural-mined diamond for jewelry businesses (17:10). Lastly, Daga details what's next for Angara in 2025 (18:30) as well as its decision to remain an online-only retailer (20:00).
Ankur Daga grew up in the jewelry industry, having started as an apprentice at age 13, spending his summers selecting quality Columbian and Zambian emeralds that would later be cut and polished by skilled artisans. Over the years he spent more time with all kinds of gems and dedicated his time to learning various aspects of the gem and jewelry supply chain. Ankur received his Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and then joined McKinsey & Company in New York.
While at McKinsey, he focused on various strategy projects for Fortune 500 companies. His last project, though, changed everything. Consulting on one of the world’s now largest jewelry retailers, Ankur realized he needed to return to the industry he had so loved as a younger man. Ankur saw that there was a better, more intuitive and customer-friendly way to sell jewelry. Ankur attended the Harvard Business School MBA program to learn everything he needed to know about running a business and disrupting a market with an innovative business model. While at Harvard Business School, he spent time as assistant to the CEO of one of the largest diamond companies in the world. He saw the jewelry industry supply chain in detail and saw tremendous opportunity in online jewelry retail. From there, Angara.com was born.
Angara.com is Ankur’s vision — a U.S.-based high-growth fine jewelry e-commerce retailer with a unique, vertically integrated business model leading to superior economics. Predicted to be the fastest growing jewelry e-tailer in the U.S., Angara is overtaking competitors with a net income that has doubled for the past two years.
