Quality jewelry can be an expensive gift to buy, especially if you want it to be just right. Customizing jewelry in store can not only expensive but a hassle, and sometimes not even completely what you want. Matt Lauzon recognized this need and build his own website and company to offer a convenient method of building that perfect piece for that perfect someone. Gemvara.com is a place where you can go and make that piece just right for you. You start by picking out the jewelry type, then style, and finally specific gem and metal types. The result is a simple, reasonably priced place for anyone to become their own jewelry designer.

At just one-year-old in 2011, Gemvara had a $10 million run rate which was drastically increasing. Matt’s goal for Gemvara was to someday, “take Tiffany head-to-head.” (Matt Lauzon) Each piece, designed and ordered online, is made to order with supplies all bought and made in the United States.

Matt started his company, which was originally called Paragon Lake, while he was a student at Babson College. The original business model had a business-to-business approach but ultimately he wanted to be in more control over customer service and pricing, so he shifted to a business-to-customer model for Gemvara. Matt launched the Gemvara website in 2010 with $5.8 million from Highland and Canaan Partners. With the recession working to his advantage, and “by the third month, we were seeing six figures in revenue and our average sale was $1,000.” (Matt Lauzon) 20% of customers gave testimonials to the quality and creativity of Gemvara.

“I think about us as Amazon early on.”

So why not go try it out yourself? Gemvara is perfect for any occasion and is excellent since you control the price.