Jewelry: A matter of harmony, not price

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A few months ago, a woman requested jeweler Endi Lay, 60, to make her a brooch set with a low-grade emerald. When they met at a reception recently, Endi did not recognize the brooch, even though it was his own creation.

"The brooch looked more beautiful and more expensive because it was combined with a gown that matched the color of the emerald," Endi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday at his house in Melawai, South Jakarta.

According to Endi, the choice of gowns is important in enhancing the jewelry to look more alluring. Usually, a woman also accessorizes with a bracelet, ring and necklace to go along with a brooch.

"They complement each other," he added.

Endi is among the few Indonesian jewelers who works seriously to develop this highly specialized business.

In order to do so, he converted part of his spacious house into a workshop and employed about 40 craftsmen to create his jewelry. They design, cut and set a variety of semi-precious and precious stones into charming pieces.

"I supervise the process everyday. Sometimes, I also work on the jewelry. I am both a designer and a craftsman," said Endi.

Starting his business a quarter of a century ago, Endi now has about 40 to 50 loyal customers. Today, he finds so many orders coming in that he must often decline some orders.

"It takes a month to finish a brooch," he said.

With the assistance of his younger brother, who is a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Endi does not worry about the influx of branded jewelry now flooding the market.

"The presence of foreign products does not affect my business. Our jewelry are handmade products, and we have our loyal customers," Endi said.

Jewelry with famous brand names like Felice, Frank & Co, Bvlgari, Cartier, Gucci and others are available in town.

Today, for example, Felice Jewellery operates 20 outlets in seven major cities across the country: Jakarta, Bandung, Denpasar, Surabaya, Pekanbaru, Pontianak and Medan.

Felice offers thousands of ring, earrings, necklace and bracelet designs. Some of their pieces are made of plain white gold, while others are embellished with diamonds, sapphires, rubies or pearls.

Prices start from Rp. 500,000 to Rp. 100 million, so customers can choose according to the most suitable budget.

"We target women from the middle-class and upper-class," said Felice marketing manager Linayanti Dewi.

Separately, Natalia, who owns Yanvan Jewelry in Bali, also felt that the influx of imported jewelry did not affect her business.

Instead, she said, the influx of imported branded jewelry was a motivational factor that urged herself and her employees to create more attractive products.

"We focus on making high-quality products at affordable prices. We also give a guarantee on our products, and this is why our customers have trust in us," she told the Post.

Moreover, Endi said that even though his creations were locally made, he used imported gemstones from Thailand, Myanmar and India.

"We have only a limited supply of gemstones. We have to import sapphires and rubies because we have no supply (here)," he said.

While jewelry is often displayed as a symbol of wealth and status -- that is, it is assumed that the more expensive the jewelry, the better the effect -- but as Endi noted, the most important aspect in accessorizing with jewelry did not lie in its price.

Rather, he stressed, it was the combination of dress and the personal style of their wearers that would bring out the true beauty of a piece of jewelry.