London: 247 Diamonds has partnered with trade platform 247 CAD Control to introduce 247Loupe, a new tool that lets jewellers generate accurate quotes for custom jewellery in under a minute using WhatsApp. Instead of waiting days for workshop calculations and supplier checks, trade jewellers can now send a simple photo or message and get a real cost estimate directly in the chat.
Custom pieces and remodelling work bring in some of the highest profits for independent high-street jewellers. However, turning a customer’s enquiry into a completed sale is often a slow process. When a shopper walks in with a sketch, an old ring to redesign, or a photo on their phone, the jeweller usually spends days calling suppliers, weighing metal, and calculating stone costs. By the time a quote goes out, days have passed, the customer’s initial excitement has faded, and many end up buying somewhere else.
247Loupe aims to fix this delay by using the messaging app most staff and customers already use every day. To get a quote, staff simply drop a photo or design details into a WhatsApp chat. The system scans the image and compares it against a database of more than 100,000 actual CAD models built by 247 CAD Control.
Instead of making rough guesses, it matches the request against real designs with known weights and measurements. It can handle detailed work such as eternity bands, where stone counts change with finger size, multi-stone rings, two-tone metals, and coloured gemstones. It then pulls in live diamond and metal market prices, applies the shop owner’s preset profit markup, and sends an accurate price directly back into the chat within seconds.
If the customer agrees to the price, starting the job takes just one reply in the chat. The order moves straight into the 247 CAD Control workshop system, where staff can inspect 3D models online and send the customer a realistic video preview within 48 hours. By cutting out lengthy email chains and file transfers, jewellers using the system report closing up to 92 per cent of their custom design quotes.
The platform was developed by CAD designer Luke Billing, whose family has been running a diamond and jewellery business since 1968. Because the system was built inside an active workshop to solve everyday shop-floor problems, it helps small shops match the fast turnaround times of larger retail chains without additional paperwork. Today, more than 200 UK jewellers currently use the platform.
