RYA and THE MVEye Partner to Upgrade Jewelry and Watch Industries with AI-Driven Research Platform

Joint venture combines audience intelligence technology with 35 years of industry expertise to solve the "story problem" in luxury retail

NEW YORK, June 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- RYA, the first audience intelligence platform that predicts campaign impact before launch and THE MVEye, the jewelry industry's leading consumer research firm, today announced a strategic joint venture to create the first AI-driven research product specifically designed for the gem, jewelry, and watch trade. The partnership will begin serving existing THE MVEye clients immediately, with broader market availability planned for Q3 2026.

RYA enables THE MVEye to leverage a critical market challenge as a competitive advantage: while lab-grown diamond prices have fallen 74% since 2020 and now represent 45% of US engagement ring purchases, brands across the luxury jewelry sector have struggled to develop compelling narratives beyond price positioning. The new "Intelligence Dashboard" will combine RYA's real-time behavioral data analysis with THE MVEye's three-decade track record of industry-specific consumer insights.

"For too long, the jewelry and watch industries have relied on 'rear-view mirror' data—static reports that tell us what consumers did months ago. This partnership changes that," said Marty Hurwitz, CEO of THE MVEye. "By integrating RYA's real-time AI creative intelligence with our 35 years of industry benchmarks, we are finally giving brands a way to see cultural shifts in real time and act on emerging behaviors before they become yesterday's trend."

The timing proves critical as major retailers and brands navigate unprecedented market dynamics driven by demographic shifts in jewelry consumers, inflation pressures, and evolving consumer attitudes about what jewelry means to them. However, the fundamental "story problem" persists—brands haven't determined what lab-grown diamonds mean to consumers beyond offering a cheaper alternative to natural stones.

Mark Himmelsbach, Co-Founder of RYA, emphasized the platform's differentiated approach: "The question isn't whether luxury brands need better data—it's whether they can afford to keep making creative decisions based on outdated assumptions. The ultimate irony is that in an industry built on storytelling and emotional connection, brands have been operating with analytical blind spots that would be unacceptable in any other sector."

"The speed of consumer culture is outpacing traditional research methods," Hurwitz continued. "Our joint venture with RYA allows jewelry and watch brands to stop guessing and start asking. The 'Intelligence Dashboard' isn't just a data dump; it's a direct line to consumer passion points, allowing for data-backed creative ideation that keeps brands relevant in a rapidly evolving luxury market."

The platform will serve THE MVEye's established client roster, enabling the diamond industry's biggest players to double down on consumer intelligence and behavioral trends.

The joint venture leverages RYA's proprietary technology that analyzes 9 billion data points across 200+ passion signals to predict campaign performance before launch. This is the first application of predictive audience intelligence specifically calibrated for luxury retail markets, moving beyond traditional demographic analysis into previous unreachable territory - the behavioral drivers that influence luxury purchase decisions.

"This isn't just about another research tool; it's about the first-of-its-kind AI-driven research product specifically built for the nuances of the gem, jewelry, and watch trade," said Hurwitz. "We are combining 'AI Speed' with 'Trusted Industry Authority' to provide major brands with a competitive edge that simply didn't exist until today."

The Intelligence Dashboard will function as a dedicated workspace where brands can submit high-stakes marketing questions and receive answers grounded in THE MVEye's 10-year dataset combined with RYA's real-time behavioral analysis. This hybrid approach addresses the luxury sector's need for both historical context and emerging trend identification. The platform launches as digital advertising costs continue rising while efficacy decreases—a trend particularly challenging for luxury brands that rely on emotional storytelling rather than pure performance metrics.

ABOUT RYA
RYA was born out of Episode Four, a creative agency that spent years serving Fortune 500 brands and quietly building the proprietary audience intelligence system that would eventually become its most valuable asset. Today RYA is an AI-powered platform that any marketer can use to deliver what typically takes an agency weeks in a single day. It's trained by two sets of proprietary data collected over the past decade — insights and ideas. To discover what RYA can do for you, visit www.askrya.com.

ABOUT THE MVEYE
Founded in 1989 by third-generation jewelry retailer Marty Hurwitz and co-founder Liz Chatelain, THE MVEye is the jewelry industry's leading consumer research and trade intelligence firm. The company specializes in customized market research, strategic analysis, and consumer insights for the global gem, jewelry, and watch industries. THE MVEye's client roster includes major brands, retailers, and financial institutions across the luxury sector. The company's flagship LGD Market Intel Report provides weekly intelligence with exclusive founder access through monthly strategy calls. Learn more at themveye.com.

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SOURCE RYA