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A lifelong passion for jewellery

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In the first half of 2018, Macao’s retail sales reached MOP38.8 billion, and jewellery, watches and clocks continue to remain in the lead with record sales since 2014, according to the city’s Statistics and Census Bureau. Macao’s jewellery sector boom is very much linked to how local jewellery retailers go the extra distance to give their customers the very best.

One such jewellery retailer is Cloé Jewelry & Art. As one of Macao’s first jewellers to offer custom-made services, Cloé specialises in tailor-made fine jewellery, design of wedding rings and affordable luxury jewellery as well as the redesign of vintage jewellery. The signature redesign service was inspired by a piece of jade from a former client of Chloe Chan, the founder of Cloé Jewelry & Art.

“[Jade] was what her late mother left her,” Ms Chan says. “She didn’t know how to carry it with her, so she wanted me to redesign it and add elements representing her mother, little sister and herself. She wanted to wear it around her neck so that it would remind her of her mother whenever she saw it,” recalls Ms Chan, who finds a true sense of purpose in her work.

Ms Chan’s family has been engaged in the traditional jewellery business for years. However, rather than taking the traditional approach to jewellery, she decided to branch out and created her own brand in 2015 so that she could redesign and custom-make jewellery in a more modern and innovative way.

She began by posting photos of jewellery pieces that she redesigned for her friends online. Her posts quickly began to attract the attention of local customers, who then introduced even more business to her. As her orders increased, she teamed up with her husband and her jewellery teacher to open a workshop at Village Mall a few months later, where they would work long, 14 to 15 hour days, virtually every day.

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Cloé Jewelry & Art first retail store opened in 2017

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“We realise that building this business could really take a lifetime, and we are happy to spend our lives doing just that.”Chloe Chan, founder of Cloé Jewelry & Art

“When we are engrossed in something, we are ‘200 percent’ focused on it, whether it be procurement or design. We could actually be that crazy,” Ms Chan told Macao Image.

She also went to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China to take diamond and gem courses, and received internationally recognised diplomas. Some of her classmates would later even go on to become her suppliers. “When you study, you meet many people of similar interests. They were all running jewellery businesses.”

Growing business

The continued growth of Cloé Jewelry & Art led to the opening of its first retail store on Rua Nova à Guia in 2017. The store welcomed new clientele ranging from jewellery enthusiasts to tourists from Hong Kong, Japan and Mainland China. They hired people to take on the increase in work, but found it difficult to retain employees. “When you grow from an online business to a retail store, customers come to you once you become popular, but finding the right people to maintain the business as you grow is tough,” said Mr Aska Ng, Financial Director of Cloé Jewelry & Art.

They quickly moved to address the problem by improving employee benefits, offering quality professional training and providing medical coverage. These strategies proved effective and they now work as a tight knit team of 10 people.

Human resource issues aside, Cloé Jewelry & Art must face the challenge of intense market competition, as a growing number of jewellery brands are now offering similar customised services. Irrespective of this, Ms Chan remains confident about staying competitive. What makes Cloé Jewelry & Art stand out from the rest, is that they share their professional knowledge about jewellery with customers so that they too can gain an appreciation of gems and jewellery. They also provide certificates of quality for products upon request and offer an unparalleled variety of gems for people to choose from.

“What makes us special is that we have everything,” says Ms Chan. “We have some very offbeat gems, such as emeralds, as well as extremely rare gems like the Muzo Emeralds from Colombia,” she explains.

Having a good eye for beauty and understanding the tastes of the customer are certainly very advantageous. “We now also offer vintage jewellery that date back to the ‘40s, the ‘50s or more than 100 years ago. Having an eye for beauty is important. We make sure what we buy is beautiful. It’s only sellable when at least half of our customers like what they see. It is our eye for beauty that they are buying.”

In March 2018, Cloé Jewelry & Art also opened its second store inside A Porta Da Arte on Rua dos Ervanarios, and exhibited their products in Japan for the first time this year, which were well received by Japanese clientele. Their next goal is to launch a jewellery collection of their very own in future.

“We realise that building this business could really take a lifetime, and we are happy to spend our lives doing just that. So no hurry,” said Ms Chan.

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Cloé Jewelry & Art aims to launch a jewellery collection of their own