Why Wait For A Man, When You Can Get It For Yourself?
Why wait for a man, when you can get it for yourself?
Diamond heart-shaped ring mounted with 6 round brilliant diamonds 0.63 in 18k white gold.
A Token of Love, for Myself
A token of love, for myself
Dangling heart-shaped diamond earrings with 10 round brilliant diamond 0.8 carat in 18k white gold.
From St Nicks, ACJC, NUS to becoming a Serial Entrepreneur: Singapore First Natural and Labgrown Diamonds Online Store
People outside the jewellery industry would find Amanda Koo as an unfamiliar face. However, in the industry, she is a renowned figure being a trend-setter, an experienced and influential gemologist with 3 generations of jewellery heritage before her.
A Computer Science graduate from National University of Singapore (NUS), who subsequently pursued gemology at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) at New York, some of her most notable acts include being the most technological-advanced jeweller in Singapore, by offering a large live-time database of certified diamonds on her websites and allowing full wedding bands customization with a simple menu to pick.
Besides single-handedly built three diamond jewellery brands under her name in Singapore, she has also helped up in her family business, Wah Chan, through ground-breaking innovations and her expertise in social media. Wah Chan continues to be one of the largest jewellery chains in Malaysia, expanding from 33 outlets to 50 outlets within the last 10 years.
Impressively, she has also created many firsts in Singapore.
Amanda was the first to launch gemological seminars at jewellery gallery, the first to host webinars during circuit breaker, and most recently, the first to launch a jewellery monthly rental membership platform “The Sample Line” in Singapore.
She founded her first diamond jewellery brand, eClarity, in 2005. It is now an award-winning brand having one of Singapore’s largest live-time diamond database, with over 20,000 diamonds listed for sale on website. The specialized eClarity team aims to fulfill every jewellery dream, with on-site Gemologist to answer the most pressing questions about customizations, design recommendations and resetting of heirloom pieces.
eClarity team.
On top of that, in 2019, BA.SG was launched as an environmental spin-off brand of eClarity, supplying certified Labgrown Diamonds as an eco-friendly alternative. The online real-time platform offers thousands of labgrown diamonds at any one time, at highly competitive prices. Customers looking to learn more about labgrown diamonds are actively signing up labgrown diamond webinars and online/instore consultations.
To further extend on the quest as an environmentalist, Amanda also launched Singapore’s first ever jewellery monthly rental subscription membership, The Sample Line, offering 1000+ designs of jewellery worth 2 million, available for rent with just a tap on the phone application.
All of this has been accomplished by the homegrown company with Amanda’s saving from working for MNCs.
The First Brand, eClarity: How eClarity Started Out
“I’m a practicing gemologist, a computer science graduate who has a master’s degree in counselling psychology. My mind is fully integrated with 3 fields of knowledge that segmentalized into tech, specs and love. The result is a ferociously structured, delicately mindful, diamond nerd,” Amanda shared.
What truly transpired from this fusion, is an award-winning jewellery brand, which was one of the firsts to provide real time diamond database, bespoke service wedding bands and fine jewellery, and gemological consultations with pre-wedding counselling.
The company started in year 2005 with Amanda herself covering sales, production, marketing, IT and accounts.
“I would vacuum the carpet and changed the lightbulbs too,” said Amanda.
Owing to her experiences in corporates (M1 and Citibank), she created a complete systematic process with imaginary departments. Since day 1, with just herself, there were 10 email address with 10 different department names as usernames, customer email database, order records, she created the first website, even printed member cards and laminated them herself.
“I just really wanted to create a different buying experience for couples looking for diamonds.” she said.
Her closest friends and ex-classmates (from St Nicholas, Anglo-Chinese Junior College and National University of Singapore), who are mainly bankers and engineers, are her first batch of customers. It is interesting that these ex-classmates and ex-colleagues also dropped by supportively to stand in as sales assistance when she ran events.
“None of us had sales experience, that makes us painfully honest, and yet looking totally trustworthy.”
The first batch of referred customers, seeing how she earnestly tried to sell diamonds using excel sheets without the physical stocks, while carrying a baby, in turned became close friends, who would buy take-away lunch and drinks for her so that she can take a break from seeing clients.
The $80,000 start-up capital from Amanda’s savings was only sufficient to pay off rental deposit for Shaw Centre (eClarity is now located in Ngee Ann City), renovation fees, bought 7 pieces of diamonds and crafted 3 trays of wedding bands designs.
The first notable partnership that helped to move the needle was with United Overseas Bank (UOB). The bank had approached eClarity to seek discounts for its credit card holders. Subsequently, more and more invitations for collaboration came including the Formula 1, Miss Singapore and Mrs Singapore.
With Amanda’s vision and the support of friends and family members, today the homegrown venture has grown into a multi-award-winning brand with multi -million inventory. Amanda herself has clinched a Young Entrepreneur Award in 2013. eClarity too has bagged a couple of awards, including Promising SME Award, Top 10 Special Achievement Award, Singapore Quality Brands, and Spirit of Enterprise Award.
“I have noticed every jewellery shop has the same generic designs, everyone was wearing the same design of rings and wedding bands. There is no structured customization, everything can only be illustrated with a 2D drawing or a picture. ‘
Noticing couples have the same generic designs repeatedly, she wanted to create a fully customizable wedding band system. Thus, the birth of 500 designs on wedding bands that is fully customizable, whether is it the band size, types of material, number of diamonds, engraving. She introduces the options of special 18k gold alloys like pink, champagne, black and brown gold, and made sure the alloys are stable and pure.
“Customers who visit eClarity with appointments, will be guided to browse through the options and structured menu. They get to pick their preferred colour, broadness, finishing, and gemstones they like to add on,” explained Amanda.
“Furthermore, the jewellery chains always have extra branding costs that is added to the ring price. To me, I always want the best for my customers, I have no marketing costs for my brand, hence the burden of marketing costs is not added onto my customers.”
Other than wedding bands, she is also one of the firsts in Singapore to have a live updated diamond database. Customer could select the diamond, view the certification and specs, and place the order directly on the website to have the diamond of the dream.
“Also, I have noticed there is a lack of academic sharing for proposal rings. Customers are buying diamond rings, listening to salespersons or googling online, without knowing much about the diamonds.” And thus, the birth of the first diamond webinar in Singapore that educates the public about choosing diamond and diamond jewellery.
The First Diamond Webinar in Singapore
During the circuit breaker, it is inevitable that the jewellery industry as a whole was adversely affected. The industry also saw a dip in sales from the high spenders from overseas, typically from China and Indonesia.
eClarity was not spared too. The sales in the months of April and May had dropped up to 87 per cent, due to the cancellation of weddings and other celebration events. However, eClarity was very quick to turn the setback into a great comeback.
“I saw some trading webinar ads appearing on my Facebook feed, and I thought, we can do better than that, about diamonds!”
In the second week of circuit breaker, Amanda and the eClarity team very quickly put together a series of weekly webinar topics, ranging from “How to choose the perfect engagement ring”, “How to customize wedding bands”, “The difference between natural and labgrown diamonds”, to “All about gemstones!”
The response was overwhelming. Speaking remotely, having only limited pieces of diamond pieces at home, Amanda and team saw customers from not only Singapore, but also from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and even the United Kingdom signing up. With Amanda’s in-depth Gemological knowledge and light-hearted delivery, the Webinars series continued weekly till this day.
In hindsight, Amanda feels that the lockdown served as a “reset button” for the jewellery industry. Aiming to maintain and strengthen brand presence even during these special times, the webinar has provided eClarity a platform to educate and resonate the love of diamond with existing and new customers.
Thanks to the continued engagement with customers during the circuit breaker through webinars, online consultation and EDM, Amanda feels that eClarity emerged with a strengthened brand presence after the circuit breaker, witnessed strong sales growth from November 2020 onwards, amidst the different Heightened Alert phases and Safe Management measures.
“Love expression is truly, essential, I guess,” said Amanda.
They offer the largest lab-grown diamond database in the region – BA.SG
“I have always been watching on the labgrown diamond space, since 2005.”
Labgrown diamonds are formed under the same extreme conditions as natural diamonds, in a lab, without the need for unearthing processes.
In the initial years, labgrown diamonds were typically created in large sizes, in the range of 20 carats. This was due to the high cost of production to create the HPHT (High pressure high temperature) environment which mimicked the temperature 90-120km below the earth, where natural diamonds are formed.
Besides the large sizes, the labgrown diamonds tend to be colored ones too. Amanda shares that the presence of Nitrogen creates yellow diamonds, Boron for blue, higher pressure than usual would change the crystal structure for pink. These conditions are similar to that of the natural diamonds.
These heavy carat sizes and fancy color diamonds were only attractive to a closed group of high spenders, who were also the early adopters of labgrown diamonds.
“As technology advances with better managed production cost and environment, stone sizes and colors that are more commercially attractive in the 1-2 carats, colorless range, are grown and cut.”
“Only then I felt that both the product and market are ready, and we slowly introduce the concept to local customers by sharing articles, videos and speaking at webinars.”
The response was overwhelming. She observed that for the younger generation, particularly those who are in their 20s, the sustainability aspect is a huge draw for them. On the other hand, the refreshing price range is a surprise to the shoppers who are in the age group of 40 and above, who are looking for their anniversary rings or celebration pieces.
That decision proved to be the growth inflection point for eClarity. Today, BA.SG has 5,000 certified labgrown diamonds listed on their website, with the largest carat size 5.06 carat colourless, and have sold numerous rare fancy pink, blue, grey diamonds, making it one of the most extensive in Singapore and the region.
However, the journey is not linear.
As the terms are not regulated in Singapore, there were jewellers (remain unnamed) who are not fully in tuned with the difference between natural diamonds, lab grown diamonds, and simulants, promoting and selling stimulant as lab grown diamonds. On the other hand, some traditional jewellers conveniently termed labgrown diamonds as “fake” diamonds.
To prevent any confusion, Amanda launched BA.sg, the labgrown diamond brand of eClarity serving a different segment of the market, aiming to educate Singaporeans of the differences and similarities.
The name BA originates from the initial of Amanda’s 3 sons and her, symbolizes the brand that is for the future generation, that addresses environmental concerns as labgrown is eco-friendly, compared to the mined natural diamonds.
“The name always reminds me Why I created BA.sg. Besides providing an eco-friendly option, having my children’s initial as part of the brand reminds me that it is for a better tomorrow for children of their age, and their children.”
“It has to start from our generation, in any specialization.”
“I often compare with this quick analogy of babies (natural diamonds), versus IVF babies (labgrown diamonds). These never fail to put smiles and the look of instant enlightenment on people’s faces.”
Just like how it’s impossible to identify if a baby is naturally or artificially conceived, natural and lab-grown diamonds are also impossible to tell apart with the naked eye.
It is also interesting to note that Lab-grown diamonds are also typically a more affordable option compared to natural diamonds, going at about one-third the price of the latter.
Aligned to BA.SG’s mission to empower eco-friendly options for diamonds, the team is lean, and running an online platform. This greatly save their operation cost, which means that they can then offer highly attractive and competitive diamond prices.
In addition to labgrown diamonds, BA.SG offers worldwide best-price challenge against all online and in-store diamond quotations, for both natural and labgrown diamonds.
Customers are free to shortlist any pieces they like anywhere, global websites included, BA.SG is confident to offer a piece with even better price. They even give personal recommendation and advice.
It is no wonder the launch of BA.SG has become exceptionally successful over a short period of time. BA.SG now receive diamond orders daily, beyond Singapore. Customers from all over the world, especially Malaysia and Australia, are also attending webinars and placing orders through their website.
“Some Singaporeans would request to view the diamonds, labgrown or natural, before placing orders, we invite them to schedule an appointment to visit our office gallery at Ngee Ann City.”
In the webinars that Amanda hosted, she often does her part to debunking a misconception that some traditional diamond shoppers have, about labgrown diamonds are “fake” diamonds. She explains the differences by sharing the chemical and physical properties of labgrown and natural diamonds.
Lab-grown diamonds are also certified by world-renowned diamond grading labs like International Gemological Institute (IGI) and Gemological Institution of America (GIA) and are graded using the same grading chart as natural diamonds.
Singapore’s first jewellery rental membership
To Amanda, entrepreneurial journey is exciting because of the ever-changing nature, and that she can make a difference in people’s lives. And in her expertise, it is to lead Singaporeans in the ways we express of personal styles, and the ways couples express love to each other.
After successfully bringing award-winning brand eClarity to greater heights and launching BA.SG providing eco-friendly diamond options. Amanda has bigger plans.
“I’m very excited about our new launch, The Sample Line. It is a jewellery rental membership program.”
This prestigious membership empowers like-minded sustainable shoppers to rent premium jewellery monthly, “if you are an invited or approved subscriber, you get to rent a piece of our Sample Line every month.”.
The sample line is a term used to describe a collector’s portfolio that keeps the first masterpiece of reputable designers. With 17 years of experience designing new pieces every day, eClarity and BA.SG have a large collection in its sample line, which they do not plan to sell.
By sharing these beautiful pieces jewellery out to subscribers, who then have the option to rent instead of buying, it empowers sustainability and beauty to Singaporeans.
For S$199 a month, eClarity will send a piece of your chosen jewellery to your doorstep on the first day of the month. This jewellery will then be collected at the end of the month to be swapped with a new jewellery piece.
This sharing model is already prevalent in the fashion industry, but there are no players doing it for jewellery in Singapore yet, so eClarity wishes to offer this option to people who also like an unlimited jewellery wardrobe.
“I think it’s the right time to offer this service, the younger generation is less asset-oriented and prefers to have wider selections.”
Preparing for it’s official launch before Christmas, The Sample Line already has more than 100 subscribers. It has been well-liked by socialites, influencers and people who see clients and wish to look more polished. They got wind of this upcoming brand through Instagram (@thesampleline) who subscribed to the service, and in turn shared this new service to their friends through their own Instagram pictures that they took with the jewellery.
The Sample Line app is available on major app platforms, and Amanda further shared that they are also looking at launching a “jewellery care plan”, in which customers can send their jewellery — regardless of where they bought it from — for care and maintenance services.
This is an upgrade from their existing diamond spa services, which is currently offered to all its members for free, for a lifetime.
Sharing future business plans, Amanda aims for a regional expansion.
“I have always hope to multiply our services to different countries, so that it can benefit people outside of Singapore. We will most likely invite investors funding for the next phase.”
“Together with eClarity and BA.SG, which are having steady request from Malaysia and Australia, we plan to strengthen our footholds in these countries first.”
“We are the market leader in this bespoke segment. People come to us with different challenges and preference, in diamonds, gemstones, timeline, budgets and love and life phases. eClarity, BA.sg, and The Sample Line collectively offer options and advice that have every dream covered. That is something I am proud of, because we truly created something unique fulfilling the needs for jewellery needs in customisation, eco-friendly alternative, or in the rental ecosystem,” added Amanda
To check out eClarity’s and BA.SG’s extensive diamond offerings, you can visit their respective websites here and here. You can also sign up for Amanda’s webinar here, and The Sample Line’s monthly jewellery subscription here.
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