São Paulo – With a store in Saudi Arabia for just over a year, Brazilian Isabel Oliveira Fine Jewelry has stood out in a high-competition market. The point of sale in the Al-Faisaliah Mall capital Ryiadh draws attention due to its uniquely designed jewels featuring exuberant stones, as Arab women like it.
“We landed on Arab soil with support from my branding agency, which took us to visit Dubai and Saudi Arabia three years ago. When I visited these two markets, Dubai struck me as a city with many international jewelries, so we decided to invest in Saudi Arabia,” said Cristiane Oliveira, the brand’s creative and expansion director and daughter of its founder. “As the country didn’t boast as much international brands, I supposed we’d have less brands to compete with, so we’d have more chances to be exclusive.”
By then present in Brazil and the United States only, the firm decided to prioritize expanding into the Middle East first instead of Europe, as they noticed the Arabs are more welcoming to the larger stores that are prevalent in the brand’s pieces. This is how the Brazilian company arrived in a market where jewels are a very common item.
“Arabs love jewels. The experience of having a store in Saudi Arabia has been spectacular. Customers have so much respect for me being a businesswoman representing a family business. They are all so friendly, welcoming and nice, and they love that our firm is environmentally aware.”
Upon arriving in the Arab country, Oliveira had to make few adaptations to their jewels. “The unique design has won customers in Saudi Arabia. But since Arabs like larger stones, I took higher value-added items featuring higher-quality stones.”
The jewelry’s establishment
The brand was established in 1988 when Isabel Oliveira started selling jewels by other jewelries. As her customer base grew, the entrepreneur decided to open her first store of in-house made items in 2004 at the Shopping Iguatemi Alphaville in Barueri, São Paulo state.
At the studio, she started making originally designed pieces from Brazilian stones like Paraíba tourmaline and rubellite. Gold, Colombian emerald, and diamond rounded up the raw materials used in designing the pieces.
Cristiane and Eduardo, who are now partners, started working alongside their mother with their eyes set on expanding the family business. Eduardo is in charge of administrative procedures, while Cristiane works on creation and expansion.
Sales channels
As the number of clients grew, the family opened two stores in the city of São Paulo at Anália Franco and Cidade Jardim malls. Despite having a website, sales are conducted via WhatsApp and during events held across the country.
“The client chooses the desired jewels on the website – which serves as a showcase – and closes the deal via messaging app. We cater to customers across Brazil. Sales are carried out via WhatsApp, because we focus on conducting a special, personalized service. Buying a jewel isn’t a simple thing – you have to feel comfortable and be introduced to the jewel,” Cristiane Oliveira says.
The jewelry has diverse target audience of women from their 30s-70s. “I’d say 80% of my clients are women, with 20% being men buying jewels for their partners. I want the person coming into my store to be assisted in finding the item they want. For this reason, the prices of our pieces vary widely – I have wedding rings at BRL 2,700 [USD 500] and items for BRL 5 million [USD 900,000].”
With loyal customers who pass on jewels from mother to daughter, Oliveira speaks of their competition. “I don’t feel I have much of a competitor, as we’re an office-quality mall store. In addition to the stones, we stand out for using recycled gold from the disposed electronics and reused jewels.”
Stores in Miami, Riyadh, and Paris
The brand, which had made its first international sales to Brazilians living in the US, established a store in Miami in 2019. As sales increased, the businesspeople decided to establish a branch office in the US city to make dealings easier.
After the US and Saudi Arabia, the firm expanded once more. By the invitation of a London-based modern designer store, the jewelry opened a store in Paris, France. The inauguration at the Flying Solo Paris Store, right next to the Louvre Museum, took place in June 2024.
“We haven’t had the time to see the response of the European audience, as it’s something quite recent, but we’re excited, after all we have a store in the fashion capital. It was a major achievement for my family. Entering the European market wasn’t in my plans, but the opportunity appeared, and we seized it,” the brand’s director says.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
