São Paulo – Jewelry by the Del Lima brand, owned by two Brazilian female entrepreneurs, are known for sparing no diamonds. All pieces contain 18-karat gold. High luxury collection items start at US$ 80,000 and the commercial line begins at US$ 1,500. The second leading market in the world for the products is Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, according to one of the brand’s partner directors, Rio Grande do Sul state native Ali Pastorini.
Pastorini, who works in marketing and was born in Bagé, runs the business alongside Joaçaba, Santa Catarina-born Dione Del Lima. The two friends had a shared taste for jewelry and decided to design some for their personal use. After commanding attention at events and parties, they decided to try their luck setting up a business. Pastorini was working with sports events marketing in the United States, and Del Lima was involved in architecture in Brazil.
“You know that point in your life where you feel you can go farther?,” Pastorini says about herself and her partner. They started placing their items on the market in 2011. The company is based in Arizona, United States, but the jewelry is sold from six stores in Brazil, the United States, the UAE, Panama and France. Manufacturing is outsourced everywhere but in the US. But Pastorini makes a point of saying that the choice of suppliers is thorough. Del Lima designs most of the items.
In Dubai, only the high luxury pieces are sold. This line features diamonds and other high-priced stones such as tanzanite, Paraíba tourmaline, kunzite, morganite, ruby and emerald. The commercial line, which is not sold in the Arab country, features stones such as quartz and citrine. But even this line’s items are made of 18-karat gold. For the more sophisticated line, price tags range from US$ 300,000 to US$ 400,000. The most made items and flagship products are rings and earrings.
Pastorini says sales in the UAE began in October 2013, at a Dubai Mall outlet. An Arab entrepreneur who’s a member of the emirate’s royal family saw the Brazilian women wearing the brand’s jewelry in London, United Kingdom. He took an interest in the products and eventually became the brand’s representative in Dubai. He is the owner of the outlet that sells the items in Dubai. Pastorini prefers not to disclose his name.
She and her partner, she says, enjoy using blue and pink stones, which also appeal to the tastes of Arab consumers. They also favor diamonds. “For them (the Arabs), it’s not jewelry if it has no diamonds,” she claims. The brand is also discussing selling in Qatar, but there are no plans in place for the entire region. She believes the UAE are the most interested market when it comes to international partnerships, and that breaking into other local countries, barring Qatar, would be a more complex affair.
Pastorini is also the Marketing director of the Panama Diamond Exchange. Del Lima joined the exchange as a member and shortly thereafter, Pastorini got invited for the job. The diamond exchange, the first of its kind in Latin America, is a private equity company and sells diamonds, gold, silver and jewelry.
Del Lima
Website: www.dellima.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
