Founder & Co. with Arisa Kumar

We sat down with founder Arisa Kumar to explore her journey from growing up surrounded by her family’s diamond business in Tokyo to establishing her own design-driven jewelry brand in New York. Born and raised in Tokyo, Arisa draws inspiration from her Indian and Japanese heritage, infusing every piece with personal meaning and cultural storytelling. Every design tells a story, and every piece is truly one of a kind - a reflection of passion, innovation, and a legacy reimagined for a new generation.

Q: What inspired you to start ARIIS Jewelry, and how did your journey into the world of fine jewelry begin?

A: My journey into the world of fine jewelry began because of my father, Anil Kumar. He started his company, Nichin Impex, about 40 years ago, so growing up I was always surrounded by rare and stunning loose diamonds, and jewelry. As a woman, I’ve always loved jewelry and loved to accessorize my outfits with them, so the love and passion for it was always there. In 2020, when COVID hit the US, I graduated from music school and the music industry completely crashed, basically giving me no jobs to apply for in that field. It was a pretty hard time as a new graduate to face, but it gave me the urge to want to explore being a part of the jewelry business for real. I started designing pieces with my dad to try it out, and one of them sold over 5 times! Ultimately that was called the “Arisa” bracelet because it was my first ever original design that was actually sold through my father’s company. That experience gave me the push I needed to actually look into jewelry designing and grading loose stones, so I took a course with GIA to certify myself to do it and to also understand whether I was doing it for me, or for my father. After finishing the course, I realized that the industry was something I was interested in, but what I felt the most passion for was jewelry design. In November of 2023, I was working as an events manager whilst figuring out whether diving into the diamond industry was right for me, and realized that I wanted to start my own business, but I also wanted to integrate my family business into it as well. The goal was to elevate my family’s business, not completely take it away, so starting my own business here in New York, under my own branding and name felt like the best way. Now ARIIS Jewelry has become my baby and my legacy to pass on. All of the loose stones I use are from Tokyo from my father’s company, Nichin Impex. Even though ARIIS Jewelry is its own company here, I firmly believe that it is a stem of Nichin Impex. So, at the end of the day my father and I are a team. We work together everyday to create a future for our family business, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for us! 

Q: ARIIS pieces carry a distinct identity. How would you describe the design philosophy and signature style of the brand?

A: I would describe our design philosophy as creating pieces that are one of a kind, and have a playful and somewhat edgy image to them. There are so many kinds of diamonds in the world that people aren’t aware of, and having the privilege to see all of them through my father’s hard work allowed me to be more creative in designing my pieces. Fancy shaped diamonds have always been the most exciting to me, so a lot of my pieces will have a fancy shaped diamond in them or a few that you wouldn’t think would compliment each other. For my very first collection that I released in January 2024, I used natural pink and yellow diamonds on sterling silver, creating the constellation of your astrology sign using the diamonds as coordinates. If you would ask anyone in the industry how they felt about it, they would say it was a dumb idea because the sheer cost of the natural pink and yellow diamonds are double or triple the price of the metal itself. But I saw this as an opportunity to create a collection that was accessible to everyone, especially price wise, which would allow me to speak to my target audience at the time which was people in their 20’s - 40’s. Not only could they afford it, but they were also educated on the types of diamonds that are available, and the numerous colors they come in as well. I design my pieces to help my followers see that there is so much more you can do when creating a signature piece than just a round diamond on a platinum band. Using fancy shaped diamonds and natural colored diamonds in a majority of my designs allows people to see how unique my style is, but also hopefully it educates them on what piece of jewelry to invest in next.

Q:  Jewelry often holds personal meaning. What stories or emotions do you hope people connect with when they wear ARIIS?

A: This is a huge reason why I design and do what I do - the goal is always to connect with my clients and create or sell them a piece that resonates with them. All the pieces I create have either a Hindi name or Japanese name attached to them, and the reason for that is because I want my culture to shine through the pieces. The name that is attached to the piece usually is the inspiration behind it. For example, I have a piece in my newest ROOTS collection called Hoshi, which in Japanese means star. The way the diamonds are placed in the bracelet, choker, necklace and earrings, all look like constellations of stars you see in the sky. When I look at the sky, it’s limitless and that’s what I want someone to feel when they wear the set - like they have endless opportunities and that you can absolutely reach for the stars. The hope is that someone who understands the inspiration will be drawn to the set, and that’s the client I would love to connect with and sell to. It makes me happy to create and sell pieces to people who truly understand my vision, since every piece is one of a kind, it's extremely special.