Jewelry investment offers opportunity for Jakartans
Jewelry investment offers opportunity for Jakartans
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Actress and singer Chintami Atmanegara was giddy when she
recently sold a ruby necklace and bracelet back to the jewelry
store from which she purchased them, and made a 5 percent profit.
"This is the first time I have sold some jewelry and not lost
money. Usually, jewelry stores only pay 75 percent of the
original sale price when they buy back jewelry," she said last
week during a jewelry exhibition hosted by PT Guna Intin Permata
(GIP).
The entertainer said purchasing a piece of jewelry was now
like making an investment; an investment you could also wear.
"Like all women in Jakarta, I want to look beautiful. People
usually think women are wasting money when they buy jewelry. That
idea has been proven wrong now that gemstones can be seen as an
investment," she said.
The deputy secretary of the Indonesian Precious Stone Traders
Association, Nasim Khan, said the precious stone trade in Jakarta
now offered customers more opportunity to make a profit when the
resold their jewelry.
"We hope this strategy will increase the volume of the
precious stone trade in the capital, and eventually in all of
Indonesia, because now customers have two benefits: they can wear
beautiful jewelry and make a profit when they resell their
jewelry," he told The Jakarta Post.
Nasim said the precious stone industry here had great
potential because the country had large reserves of precious
stones, including rubies, topaz and emeralds. However, a lack of
exploration has left the domestic industry lagging behind those
of nearby countries like Thailand and Singapore.
He said many foreign businesspeople explored and exploited
Indonesia's reserves of precious stones, and then took the stones
to international markets.
"They refine the stones and send them back to Indonesia at
much higher prices. And because Indonesia is a big market for
gemstones, many people here are willing to pay higher prices for
the stones. Why can't we export the stones and earn foreign
exchange?" Nasim asked.
He said the value of gemstone transactions in Indonesia could
reach trillions of rupiah a year.
GIP is one of the firms that now offers interest to customers
who sell back their jewelry. GIP also provides customers with
certificates of guarantee from the Gemological Institute of
America.
"We introduced the system for the first time during our
Christmas and New Year's sales this December and January. We hope
to make our customers more confident about buying jewelry," said
a GIP public relations official.