It’s rare that Ashkan Asgari ever takes the easy path in life, which is why he argued with his gem cutters over creating his latest offering: Diamond beads.
For sure, the founder of Misfit Diamonds, USA, has built his business on the oddball stuff, the quirky gems, and the materials that others deem less desirable (think salt-and-pepper Diamonds). But he also can’t resist pushing the envelope on inventory, and his new Diamond beads fall into this category.
“Vision drives everything,” he says. “The playful materials we offer get strong responses.”
Diamond beads from Misfit Diamonds, USA
Origin Story
Asgari originally tapped his cutting team to make some Diamond cabochons, so they first cut spheres that would be halved. But when Asgari saw them, the wheels in his mind started grinding. What if they didn’t halve them? What if they left them as beads?
“Our cutters want me to be successful, so they discouraged me from leaving them as spheres,” he adds. “Conventional wisdom is to go with what has always done well, but I’ve always been an advocate of the unconventional. The orders for the conventional will come to you whether you like it or not, but the power to stand out and engage people’s minds and imaginations has always helped Misfit to grow. Plus, we did a run of Montana Sapphire orbs for a client last spring and had positive engagement when we put those up on social.”
There’s also cost to consider. Conventional cuts maximize yield, permitting up to 50% of material to be utilized in final products, but fancy cuts—like step cuts—can have up to a 75% loss of rough just to get the final product. Ovals and cushions are closer to a 35% to a 45% yield.
“What you get for going outside of the box is significantly less, but those are the products that excite people,” he adds.
Rough Diamonds from Canada
Bead Debut
After convincing his cutters to leave the spheres intact, Asgari posted a few on Instagram just ahead of AGTA GemFair Tucson. The response, not surprisingly, was robust.
“My phone was blowing up for a month, and we gained a ton of new followers,” he reveals.
That cemented his decision as a good one, and he ordered a few undrilled samples. They can be drilled but he’ll leave them intact until customers order otherwise.
“We’ll play with the concept and see how demand plays out,” he says. “We’ll probably make some strands. We’re in conversations with cutters to see what sizes we can do. The salt-and-pepper rough we get [from Canada] is available in larger sizes, but we’re being conservative to see what the market wants to do. We don’t want to be stuck with $100,000 in Diamond beads.”
The Canadian rough lots he buys are sorted by size and quality and can produce stones from 0.60 ct. to 3.0 ct. The beads he has now range from 1.5 ct. to 2.5 ct. and keystone prices start at $1,800. Reach Asgari at hello@misfitdiamonds.com.
Progress & Scaling Up
These Diamond beads are just the latest example of Misfit’s ability to pivot quickly and create a grassroots demand for unique materials. It’s a talent that lies at the root of the brand’s growing success.
“We’re constantly getting material we ‘can’t use’—and you want to use everything from the lowest grade to the highest—so we’ve focused on creating markets for lower-grade materials that can’t be ignored. And by the time others catch on, we’ll be onto our next ‘big thing’ to continue scaling this operation.”
This is proprietary content for AGTA and may not be reproduced.
