Hatton Garden
is in my blood.
Jewellery is all I've ever known. I've been around this trade for as long as I can remember. This is where JewelTec comes from.
Born Into It
My earliest memory of Hatton Garden is being six years old and visiting a watchmaker called Jack. On one of those visits he gave me a Mickey Mouse clock. Such a small thing to give a kid. I've never forgotten it.
Jewellery wasn’t something I discovered.
It was something I was born into.
The family business
My grandmother came to the UK as an immigrant. My father grew up with very little and left school young to work on the bench for a jewellery manufacturer. During the day he worked for someone else. At night he took work home and sat under the stairs making jewellery of his own.
He started with nothing more than determination and a suitcase.
He visited the local dress factories where my grandmother worked and sold jewellery to the women there. Slowly, he built relationships and a reputation. Every Saturday the local Greek community gathered at my grandmother’s house. While everyone drank coffee, my father showed them engagement rings, christening gifts and pieces he’d made himself.
One customer became ten.
Ten became one hundred.
Over time he saved enough to rent a counter in a local watchmaker’s shop. Eventually he bought the shop altogether and built the family business that would support us for decades. My grandfather was a jeweller too. The trade ran right through our family.
It was never just a job. It was a way of life.
School holidays weren't spent on beaches. They were spent in the shop. For pocket money my brother and I changed watch batteries, polished jewellery and cleaned showcases. Long before I understood business, I understood people. Jewellers, setters, polishers, watchmakers, diamond dealers, suppliers. Many of them I still know today. Some of them have watched me grow up.
The Turning Point
After more than forty years of hard work, my father was finally talking about retirement. He told my mum that if Christmas went well, it might finally be time.
Then Everything Changed.
Just before Christmas, our shop was burgled.
£2.5m
STOCK STOLEN
£300k
CUSTOMERS' JEWELLERY
£0
INSURANCE
40 yrs
GONE IN ONE NIGHT
In One Night, Everything My Father Had Spent A Lifetime Building Disappeared.
The financial loss was devastating. What came after was worse. I watched my father slip into depression. His health suffered. For the first time, I saw someone who had always been strong completely broken by circumstances outside his control.
The Trade
Showed Up.
- Local jewellers arrived carrying trays of diamond rings.
- Suppliers came to the shop offering stock.
- Italian manufacturers flew to the UK and arrived at our home carrying bags of gold chains.
Nobody Asked For Contracts.
Nobody Demanded Guarantees.
Nobody Wanted Security.
Why We Exist
That Is Why JewelTec Exists.
Not another marketplace. Not another piece of software.
JewelTec came from a belief that this trade deserves better than it's been given. Better tools, better connections, better ways to work together. And above all, somewhere that puts trust back at the centre of everything.
Verify
Every member vetted with KYC/KYB before they ever trade.
Transparency
Every transaction recorded and visible to the parties involved and to JewelTec.
Settle
Funds released only when legitimacy and delivery are confirmed.
Because this industry gave my family a second chance when we needed it most.
Built by jewellers.
For jewellers.
Founder's Story
Built by jewellers.
For jewellers.
Founder's Story
The people building it
Operators. Technologists. Trade insiders.
Christopher Kyriacou
Founder & CEO
Neil Patel
Chief Technology Officer
Varun Gupta
CFO / Compliance
Kris Jadeja
Chief Legal Officer
Kushall Amlani
Chief IP & Regulatory Officer
Prejesh Patel
Chief Investment Officer
A marketplace where trust isn't
hoped for. It's guaranteed.
Request access and our team will walk you through membership,
verification and getting set up.