Our People
Our staff are here to help you pick the right stone, with right cut and at the best price! Let us know what you need.
JAIMEEN SHAH
Partner
Jaimeen has been based in the United States, representing Prima Gems USA for the past 9 years. Before that he went through multiple years of training in the Prima Gems buying Office in Arusha, Tanzania, where he was involved in studying and procuring material for Prima Gems’ clients.
He also had training at the Prima Gems’ manufacturing offices in Jaipur, India, where he learned the various aspects of cutting and polishing rough gemstones. Moreover, he was involved in our Tsavorite mining operations in 2007, when Prima Gems co-owned the Lemshuko Tsavorite Mines in Tanzania.
With around 20+ years of experience in the Gem and Jewelry field, Jaimeen is responsible for running Prima Gems USA and is based in New York, USA.
MILEEN SHAH
Manufacturing Manager
Mileen is responsible for fulfilling any special orders that come in from our New York office.
He is based primarily in India but is constantly traveling to Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Mozambique to source material for our production facilities or heading to the USA throughout the year for major wholesale trade shows.
He oversees the calibrated material production as well as our beautiful gemstones.
Geoffrey Sim
Show & Sales Manager
Geoff is a native New Yorker who completed his pediatric residency and is a trained pediatrician. His interest in the gemstone business began back in 2006 as a fascination but quickly developed into a passion.
He enjoys gardening, carpentry, auto repair, pencil sketching and scale model building which further contributes to his eye for color and detail and color.
Geoff is currently the account manager for the Luxury and special projects unit at Prima.
Amy Brown
With experience ranging from production work to production director and even creating her own jewelry, Amy has spent over 15+ years in the jewelry industry.
At Prima Gems, she is the account manager for our designer clients helping them source stones that work best for their collection.
Julene Phillips
With over 20+ years in the wholesale industry, she brings her customer service and sales experience to the team.
Julene is the account manager for all the retail store accounts at Prima Gems USA.
Who We Are
Prima Gems are a family of entrepreneurs bound by the love for color gemstones and jewelry. It was love at first sight, with the discovery of Tsavorites’ and Tanzanites’ which changed the course of our existence and opened a door to the gemstone world 40 years ago. Since then, Prima Gems has expanded its horizon from Kenya and Tanzania to Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Congo, Ethiopia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and last but not least to the USA. Along with mining and procuring material, our love for gemstones is so big, that we have also been directly and indirectly involved and on the forefront of new discoveries in the Eastern African region such as: Merelani Mint Garnets, Masasi Color Change Garnets, Serengeti Spessartites, Mahenge Spinels, Rwanda Amethyst, Mahenge Malaya Garnets.
What We Do
Unlike other gem houses, Prima Gems is equipped to cut all gemstones from 1.0mm gems to 100 carat single stones. Along with that, we specialize in beads, cabochons, rose cuts and carvings.
By employing cutters from different countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Ukraine, we get the best results from each piece with different specialized cuts.
With our dedicated Sales and Customer Support team based out of New York, we have the unique capability of understanding our clients’ needs, relaying this to our cutting houses in order to get the best results.
We have the power to store thousands of gemstones in house and ship worldwide at a moment’s notice.
You can visit us and our inventory all around the world at multiple tradeshows, keep an eye out on where we will be next, you will see the brilliance from far.
How We Do It
At Prima Gems, everything is done in-house.
We have a sourcing advantage with our dedicated rough buying office in Tanzania, along with a manufacturing advantage with our gem cutting houses in Eastern Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Ukraine. On top of that, we have a dedicated Sales and Customer Support team in New York comprised of experts that have been in the field for over 15 years.