I met Nimesh Thakrar last year at an industry event, he was very excited about the potential of 3D printing but at that point, he couldn’t reveal too much about what he was doing. Today he got in touch to let me know that his work — focused on precious metals — is all coming to fruition. The fulfilment of Nimesh’s vision is realised in Banneya.com, which, he tells me, offers CAD-proficient jewellery designers on-demand access to the latest additive manufacture (AM) technology to realise their designs in precious metals. Specifically, Nimesh is eager to convey that Banneya is “not just another online printing service or marketplace. Rather,” he says, “it is one that focuses on jewellery as well as high-quality and luxury outcomes. We place a lot of care and attention on finishing and we are working hard to educate designers about how to best achieve that.” Indeed, each piece of precious jewellery is hand-finished to the highest standard.
Banneya’s consumer-facing luxury jewellery emporium will offer hand-picked designer pieces that are customised and produced to-order in a selection of precious metals and gemstones by Banneya on behalf of its designers. The plan is to establish mutually beneficial business partnerships to jewellery designers and manufacturers. Together with a community of designers, Banneyawill build targeted networks to share B2B introductions as well as offers, knowledge, resources and ideas.
Banneya takes pride in being an entirely UK-based company that keeps all of its processes within the UK. Focussing on precious metals and fine jewellery, Banneya is registered with the British Jewellers’ Association and hallmarks all pieces produced.
Nimesh himself holds an MEng in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London and an MBA from London Business School. With a strong appreciation for high quality design and manufacture after having previously worked in the automotive industry and in Formula 1, he also recognises the challenges and opportunities of e-commerce having worked in the Fashion team at Amazon UK. He is bringing all of this experience to bear on Banneya, saying: “The design freedoms that both wax printing and direct-metal-laser-sintering offer have already inspired and empowered new and existing jewellery designers around the world. Banneya aims to treat designers as partners and offer a new route to market for digital designers interested in luxury retail.”
Banneya is a member of London Business School Incubator programme and a recipient of Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Founders Award for the year 2013/2014.
Banneya has soft launched this week with an offer of expert design and technical support, the chance to have a piece of jewellery produced in sterling silver for free and several publicity opportunities ahead of Banneya’s official launch in the summer. The soft launch also sees Banneya’s first jewellery design award being opened. Beta designers will be first in line for selection for the future curated marketplace. All applicants will receive a generous reward in the form of a Banneya voucher.
