Taiwanese jewellery brand comes to town

WHILE other boys played with toys growing up, John Yu was messing around with diamonds.

And that’s just what happens when your family is in the diamond wholesale business in Taiwan, he says, laughing. A gemologist by training, he says it was his friend’s request for help in buying an engagement ring that made him realise how clueless men are about buying rings.

In 2005, he set up the Aluxe jewellery brand – a name derived from the phrase “a luxury moment”. Today, some 90 per cent of the brand’s collections comprise wedding rings. The company, which sells over 30,000 engagement or wedding rings annually, has cornered a fifth of this market segment in Taiwan.

“We carry a lot of loose diamonds,” he says. “Right now, we have over 3,000 Gemological Institute of America-certified stones in our inventory for customers to select from.” These range in size from 0.3 to 5 carats, which customers can pick to go with their ring design.

Wedding rings under its Japan-made collection called “The Moment” feature blue diamonds to symbolise connection and trust.

Its “Acredo” collection from Germany, on the other hand, is a range featuring fully customisable rings. Clients can play with millions of possible design permutations and preview their picks on a computer before settling on the final creation.

Aluxe also has a range of Disney-inspired jewellery in subtle and charming – but not childish – designs. “They are very popular in Taiwan,” he says. “We’re quite surprised that people in their 30s, and even 40s, like the Disney story.”

Aluxe has 10 stores in Taiwan, one in Hong Kong and has just opened its first South-east Asian store at Ion Orchard in Singapore. A second outlet will be at Jem in Jurong East, with Yu planning four to five stores here by next year.

Although the Singapore jewellery market is crowded and competitive, coming here is “a no-brainer”, he says.

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“Our plan is to open 30 stores in South-east Asia over the next three years, and Singapore is the best place to start.”