A ringing success

A ringing success

Asniar Sahab, Contributor, Jakarta

When she was in the early stages of her pregnancy, Mira Sayogo
was still on the catwalk for Sebastian Gunawan's and Oscar
Lawalata's solo fashion shows.

After her son was born, she decided to spend more time with
her family and less time on the catwalk. But she never entirely
left the fashion world, and the past year has seen her teaching
at the OQ modeling school and appearing in a number of fashion
shows.

Then about seven months ago, a jeweler came to her house to
visit her father. Mira was impressed by the beauty, uniqueness
and color of his gems. Mira, who was a collector of rings,
bought several gems and asked the jeweler to fit them on rings of
her own design.

Much to her surprise, her ring designs and the gems she had
chosen matched beautifully. So impressed was she by the results
that she asked the jeweler to show her more gems.

"I liked the gems a lot. They were colorful like candies.
Their shapes were also different -- oval, round, rectangular,
etc. -- and beautiful. I was so impressed by the gems that I
often dreamed of them. Later, it struck me that I should do more
ring designs and buy more gems. That was the beginning of my
jewelry business," she said one afternoon in a cafe in Plaza
Senayan.

Since that time, Mira, with very limited funds at her
disposal, has busied herself with her new enterprise. But this
was not her first foray into the world of business. She was
involved in a multi-level business scheme while still a model,
and her success made her realize she had a knack for business.

So she read books on jewelry and carefully studied a wide
variety of gem and ring designs. Then she developed her own
designs and took them to a jeweler, who turned the designs into
rings.

Satisfied with these early results, she began to make more
rings. At first, she wore the rings herself, but soon her friends
in the fashion world got wind of what she was doing and started
wearing her designs. Soon, it became fashionable among singers
and fashion models to wear Mira's rings, with their trademark
large gems.

Mira designs the stones in big and attractive heart, oval,
circular and square shapes. She makes only three rings for each
particular design, and her creations are not mass-produced to
ensure that they remain exclusive.

Noted model Okky Asokawati was the first to buy Mira's rings.
Soon the rings were spotted on the fingers of numerous
celebrities, including Ruth Sahanaya, Robby Tumewu, Melky Guslow,
Indra Safera, Peggy Melati Sukma, Denny Malik, Inggrid and Titi
DJ.

To stay on top of the fashion trends, Mira has kept busy
coming up with new designs. She has also spent time studying
different types of stones.

She took a trip to Malaysia to compare the stones found there
with the ones she was using from Indonesia. She found that the
Malaysian gems differed greatly in shape and color, and she says,
with some amount of pride, that Indonesian gems -- from emeralds
to sapphires -- are superior to Malaysian gems.

In making her rings, Mira emphasizes fashion and style. "In
the future, I hope that my rings will come with a certificate and
be covered by a guarantee. Yet, I've been doing things slowly. I
try to avoid haste. My concentration is firstly on the market and
then promotion.

"I'm still considering an offer to display my products in one
corner of a department store. Perhaps Bali is the right place for
my business because of the presence of many foreign tourists.
I've got a good friend there with whom I can set up a joint
business undertaking," she said.

In the meantime, Mira makes her rings at home and employs only
a few craftspeople.

And are there any particular characteristics underlining
Mira's rings? Yes, they are robust but simple in shape, and a
little masculine without altogether abandoning the feminine
aspects.

Mira is convinced that her jewelry business has good
prospects, and with so few jewelry designers in Indonesia the
future does indeed look bright for Mira and her rings.