Caratwise Launches Custom Bridal Platform, Names Former Signet Exec as CEO

Caratwise, a new custom bridal platform backed by Indian diamond giant Hari Krishna, has publicly launched and named David Berdugo its chief executive officer. Berdugo spent more than a decade at Signet Jewelers, ultimately serving as chief operating officer of both Blue Nile and James Allen, the digital-first brands that fundamentally reshaped how engagement rings are sold online and sharpened competitive pressure on independent retailers across the country.

That history makes his appointment something of a full-circle moment. The executive who helped scale the platforms that challenged independents is now leading infrastructure built specifically to strengthen them. Caratwise is designed to solve a problem that has quietly plagued independent jewelers for years: the inability to configure, price, and confirm a custom order during the same customer conversation. The platform integrates product configuration, automated pricing logic, and vertically integrated manufacturing through what the company calls its own operational engine, enabling a jeweler to design a piece, set a price, and commit to a delivery date without the customer leaving the store. Caratwise describes this capability as a "same-day yes."

"Independent jewelers don't need another tool," Berdugo said. "They need certainty. Caratwise gives them control over pricing, production, and delivery in one seamless workflow. When a jeweler can confirm a custom order with confidence at the counter, it transforms the sales experience."

The distinction Caratwise draws against existing options is pointed. Unlike standalone ring builders or digital marketplaces, the platform claims to unify every stage of the custom process rather than hand off between disconnected systems. The target problem is real: independent jewelers have long faced margin pressure, supply volatility, and the rising consumer expectation for bespoke work that the large online players normalized. Berdugo's second quote, reported by JCK, captures the competitive dynamic precisely. "Many independent jewelers are familiar with customers coming with a screenshot from Brilliant Earth or Grown Brilliance and saying, 'Can you design this?'" he said. "This lets customers do it from the jeweler's website, and gives jewelers access to size and choice like never before."

Caratwise is currently working with a select group of jewelers and plans to broaden access later this year. Its initial focus is bridal design, with expansion into other categories intended down the line. The platform's owner, Hari Krishna, is one of the largest diamond manufacturers in India, a corporate parentage that lends credibility to the vertical integration claims at the center of Caratwise's pitch.

Whether the platform delivers on that pitch will depend on how seamlessly the manufacturing side absorbs the variability of custom bridal work at scale. But the strategic logic is sound, and the hire of someone with Berdugo's operational history at the precise intersection of digital commerce and independent retail suggests Caratwise understands the problem it is trying to solve.