LUXE ITALIAN JEWELER DAMIANI ARRIVES IN JAKARTA

“The pleasure of owning something gold with precious stones is from our ancestors in the caves. Even cavemen were decorating themselves with jewelry,” says Silvia Damiani, in Jakarta to open a boutique for the 91-year-old high-end jewelry brand that boasts her family’s name.

Isabella Rossellini, Brad Pitt, Sophia Loren and Sharon Stone have collaborated with Damiani, which won an 18 Diamond International Awards, the industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Silvia, however, gives full credit for the success to the 100-or-so people who work in Damiani’s factory in Valenza, about 80 kilometers from Turin, in the Piedmonte district of Italy’s northwest, near Switzerland.

OLD SCHOOL

The tradition of making runs strong in Valenza. Bulgari and Cartier, too, have factories here, with craftsmen producing high quality pieces.

While tools may now be powered, work at Damiani–mixing gold, making molds, polishing diamonds and setting gemstones–is still done by hand, Silvia, the firm’s vice president and director for style and communications, says.

The head of the diamond-setting department has been at work for 52 years in Valenza, where craftsmanship depends on the eyes and ears of men and women who spend months working on the one-of-a-kind pieces for which Damiani is famous.

For example, the tiara from the Romanov Collection that was display at Damiani’s boutique in Plaza Indonesia during its opening has returned to the firm’s archives; those wanting their own can place an order from Valenza–if they’re willing to wait six months.

“The challenge is to find the right stones to compose everything and put together gems of the same brightness and florescence,” Silvia says.

From Damiani’s Masterpiece Collection, the Plaza Indonesia boutique currently features the Shirodara, a stunning necklace of emeralds was crafted with 11.2 carats of diamonds. The one-of-a-kind piece is priced at Rp 1.261 billion rupiah.

“Of course, you notice the accuracy, the design,” Silvia says. “The design is really in the quality of construction.”

However, those with budgets in the millions, and not billions of rupiah should not despair: Damiani offers several price points, including wedding bands.

BUSINESS OF LUXE

Founded as a family business in 1924, Damiani went public in 2008; although Silvia says about 85 percent of the firm remains under her and her brothers.

Sales are split almost evenly between Italy and other nations, such as Japan, Damiani’s next-largest market–and also a proving place for the brand, Silvia says. “You cannot sell to Japan for so many years if you don’t provide extreme service in every sense. They look for quality and that’s what we do. Japan for us was a test. If you can pass that test, you can pass anything.”

On the global economic slowdown, Silvia says the fallout has been relatively minor, with Damiani launching 12 stores in China and two in South Korea in recent years. “The change that affects us is with the one-of-a-kind pieces. The kinds of customer who choose us are people who know Damiani and want something unique. Maybe they stopped buying over a million Euros–but under a million, there is still much to do.”

ENTERING INDONESIA

Damiani’s local bow was made easier by the recent lowering of tariffs in Indonesia. “These are some very interesting things the government is doing to open up,” Silvia says. “You can go anywhere–you can buy in Paris, you can buy here. We don’t want the prices to be inflated by customs.”

In the end, however, Damiani is built on respect and loyalty. “There is nothing worse than pressuring someone to buy,” she adds.

“We are selling dreams. If you don’t deliver dreams, your reputation is gone. A piece of jewelry is a piece of eternity,” according to Silvia. “We are not eternal. The only way to the eternal is to fix a moment so that it is for eternity.”

LUXE NOTES

Three questions about Damiani CEO Silvia Damiani’s tastes for luxe and la dolce vita.

Fave vacation spot?

Sardinia. In the winter, I get sick if I don’t get a vacation in the sun during the Christmas period. If it’s a two-week vacation, then I need one week in the water. The water makes me happy.

Fave Michelin restaurant?

Locande de Pilone, in the Piedmonte, where I was born. It is one-star but I love it, because it is very genuine. It remains very authentic.

Fave city?

London. It is so expensive that’s it’s just window shopping, except for a few brands that I find only there. But, at the end of the day, the place that I stop by the most is still Milan.”

Damiani
Plaza Indonesia shopping center
damiani.com
Instagram &Twitter: @damianiofficial

Popular

Volcano erupts in North Sulawesi, hundreds evacuated

Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

Ramadan boosts consumer confidence, retail sales