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.