Pieces of silver

When Asuncion Maria Syquia de Faustmann parted ways with her partner in the silver jewelry export business, she put up Michelis Gifts & Jewellery, which is both the company and the brand name.

"A strong brand is one that revolves around dynamic designs, creative features, and knowing what the market wants or even projecting what the market will look for," said Faustmann.

Michelis’ eight outlets are mainly located in the jewelry sections of Rustan’s department stores and in the shopping sections of de luxe hotels.

"I like opening stores at Rustan’s because they take care of everything, including advertising for its consignors," said Faustmann. "The chain is our natural market. Although Rustan’s is noted as a high-end retail chain, we have buyers from a broad spectrum of society because we sell products at different price points."

Sales peak on Valentine’s Day and Christmas while the lean season is immediately after enrollment and August.

Production

Since the Philippines has the second largest reserves of silver in the world, the company easily buys its silver from suppliers in Meycauayan, Bulacan. It also tries to locally source other raw materials such as stones. These are then turned into jewelry and gift items by a subcontractor in Antipolo.

"We give the design and materials; the contractor executes according to specifications. Since silver is a lot cheaper than gold, we are able to be more experimental and versatile in our designs and to do bigger pieces," said marketing manager Alexandra Faustmann. "Our products are designed for volume production. We customize length or size or color of stone but we do not do made-to- order pieces."

Worldwide, interest in silver pieces, both jewelry and gift items, has been sustained over the past 20 years, in part because of the stability of prices. Silver currently costs between P12 and P15 a gram while gold costs P260 a gram.

Protection

To protect itself from forgery. Michelis is locally certified by the Intellectual Property Office.

"In the end, only design versatility and creativity will actually protect jewelers from fakes. In the end, that is the edge that Filipino jewelers have over the more formal and stiff designs in Europe," said Faustmann.

Outside the Philippines, Michelis is handled by sister company, Seven Castles, which mainly exports to Europe. Consignment agreements have also been entered into with family friends based in Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia. The bulk of foreign orders, which account for about 10% of the company’s total revenues, comes from buyers who visits the company’s booth in Italian trade fairs.

"We hope our brand will formalize its entry in Asian markets once our consignors put up stores of their own," said Faustmann.