São Paulo – Businesswoman Conceição P. Rodrigues exports costume jewellery with the face of Brazil to Germany, China, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Romania. In the Arab world, present are buyers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. From the city of Soledade, 230 kilometres away from state capital Porto Alegre, she manages Gold Stone, a maker of accessories like rings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants and key chains made from precious and semiprecious gems.
“International sales represent 90% of our revenues,” said Conceição. According to the entrepreneur, the contact with foreign clients is made two ways: through agents who travel to prospect the market and offer products or directly, with those interested in travelling to Soledade after the items. The city is a costume jewellery production hub.
Among the Arabs, for example, deals are closed when buyers travel to the interior of Rio Grande do Sul. “Our client in Saudi Arabia always comes here,” said Conceição. “He even speaks very good Portuguese,” he said.
Among the most sold items are stone pendants. “We may even engrave text onto the pieces,” said the businesswoman. “We have already done so in Arabic, in fact.”
Gold Stone uses raw materials like agate, amethyst, citrine, crystal, opal and quartz. In their majority, the stones are purchased in Brazil, except for the amethysts that come from Uruguay. Which are her favourite ones? “Amethysts, beautiful in that lilac tone.”
in the domestic market, sales are mainly to states like Bahia, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. According to Conceição, the Brazilians “could have greater appreciation for stones”, but the trade of this kind of item gained strength last year, with, the exhibition of soap opera Tititi, by Globo TV. “A businessman from the region sent some jewellery to the producers of the soap opera,” she explained. “After the programme, everybody here started selling more,” she added.
Gold Stone has been in operation for seven years and, as informed by Conceição, grew and won the world due to the artistic method of production of the articles and to the care in production. “We make delicate and rustic costume jewellery,” guaranteed the entrepreneur of the amethysts.
Contact
Gold Stone
Telephone: (+55 54) 3381-1894
E-mail: goldstone.biju@gmail.com
*Translated by Mark Ament_
