Actually we were expecting big problems all over because of the US dollar. The rate of exchange between the dollar and the euro is affecting exports. Price is important but what is more important is brand awareness. Customers all around the world are getting more conscious about brand. With this help, we have seen a very good show. With the euro (being high), we were not expecting anybody because, in Basel, people only buy in US dollars – American, Asian, European markets. We were really expecting a difficult time and have been working (flat out) since the first day. It hasn’t happened in the last three to four editions of the show!

It is very hard to see and judge the market at the moment. One thing is for sure, all over the world, more than in Europe, they are buying a branded product rather than an unbranded one. We are seeing two ways of buying now: One is the unbranded, very cheap products. The other is from the old brands, old producers such as the Italians, Germans, French. We are seeing that people are buying because we have a little bit more than only the price. We have the design, brand, service. We have a story to tell. This is why I see we were six tables full yesterday, today and maybe tomorrow.

Just after World War II, my father and my grandfather started together. My grandfather travelled and my father was in the workshop producing jewellery with a few people. After WWII, the economy started booming and the demand for jewellery started growing. My father then decided not only to start his own jewellery production, but also to go into diamonds. He started going all over the world to buy stones, and rare gems. He became very competitive in this. It helped him build very fast relationships with customers, and in the end approach the world market, which is much more competitive than the Italian market.

It was difficult to travel at that time but coming to Basel in the early ’70s, doing a few shows, we started growing although we were unbranded then. When my brother and I came into the business in the early 1990s, we decided to go one step higher - to make a brand, which means years and years of investing, of believing in building new products. We are an old company but a new, growing brand.

There is good and bad. There is always a limit to expansion in the family business. Families are where tensions are created, and solved. The challenge is to put managers within the family. This is very tough. But on the other side, family businesses tend to be very stable, because somehow they protect themselves from the outside, so this gives you the opportunity to grow step-by-step. That is what we have done. This means you grow with the company, and your skill and everything that is making business, grows with you. And in this way you can manage your company.

Otherwise, if you double, if you triple every year, you come to a time where the company does not suit you, and you are not for the company. I am not talking about financial problems. Financial problems can be solved. It’s personal ambitions and skills to run the business (as it grows). My father is still involved in the business. He is 82, President of the company and still working 10 hours a day. Nobody can stop him. He is a rock. He is in charge of all diamond procedures and all diamond buying. He is the point for customers with any problems, or any specialities. In the family business, you do a bit of everything.

We were born into it. What I like about this business is to create something. That is the best part. Relationships with customers are very nice but the best is when we develop new styles, and the ambition of creating new lines, having them out on the billboards, in magazines and to be able to say, “I thought about this, my team”. And in the end, when you see a catalogue and it is full of nice things, it’s a great feeling. Then there is the excitement at fairs like Baselworld. It starts with our arrival in Basel with new things and a lot of tensions. We see customers who go to the best brands in the world and you are afraid that when you open up the packs and say, this is my new collection, they are unimpressed. This is very stressful, but also very exciting. That is what I like.

We sell just to retailers. Our main goal is to go to independent retailers. We have around 1,200 independent retailers around the world. We believe in independent stores run by family businesses. We try to avoid big chains and franchisees. We don’t like huge systems because we do not think our jewellery can be sold in an anonymous environment. You need to love it to sell it.

Accessible luxury, everyday luxury. Luxury doesn’t mean the piece is worth 10,000 or 50,000. It means what it is worth to you. You give the value to the piece, an emotional value. You like it, you like it. When we design, we always have in mind that a woman should wear it everyday, because the piece we want to design should take her from the office to a cocktail to the evening in her metropolitan, everyday life. Sure, there are some pieces done for special occasions. We understand the need for that too.

Over a short period of time, there may be a big difference in trends but over 20 years, you can see that a lot of trends come back. Take black diamonds for example. We were one of the first companies using them. That was in 1995. Today, we are producing new lines in black diamonds. But in 2000-2001, nobody wanted black diamonds. Now it is coming back.

When I came into the company in 1994, there was a big change from yellow gold to white. In 1997, we were producing 100 per cent white gold jewellery. Now, in one year, from Ukraine to Paraguay, it is pink gold and white. There are some trying yellow and white. Trends come and go, but what remains is the quality of designs. It doesn’t matter if it is in enamels, semi-precious stones or white gold with diamonds. What remains are the designs.

In my opinion, in a piece of jewellery, it is very important that the name of the brand is present but not as a prominent symbol. You have to recognise first the quality of the craftsmanship, the stones, the gold and the design.

We look at the women first - what they are wearing and how they are living. This year there is big change in our designs. We were more on the classic side in the last two years. At the end of last year we said we needed to make something more special. That doesn’t mean more funky pieces or very strange and unusual pieces. Rather, we have to focus on very usual pieces but make them different.

We went back to basics – basic shapes – hearts, stars, animals. We re-designed them in a different way using more colour, more wavy surfaces. It came out really, really nice. And very successful, thank God! We didn’t want to shock our customers because we have customers coming back every year. This customer (pointing at a customer) 10 years. That customer from the Ivory Coast, 22 years. So when you think about new designs, we have to think about our old customers and what they expect from us because if you change every year, you shock them, and they are going to go away. But we want them to come back.

A company like us needs to have the best service for customers everywhere in the world. It is not easy. Service means we are there when our customer needs us. If they need a piece, or a special piece or a modification done, it cannot wait because the people who have decided to buy, want it right now. In terms of production and special productions, we can work very fast. We have a lot of stock we can work with and this means a very short waiting time for the customer. We don’t want to sell one piece and say bye-bye. We want to keep this customer forever, so we have to be there. In Italy where we started and where we have the biggest audience, we are very well known for good service.

Not a big company. Altogether we are about 100 people. In terms of percentage of growth in the last 10 years, we are four times bigger. Last year was the best year ever: We grew 28 per cent. We hope this year is going to be a very successful year. This year we are really looking internationally, especially Asia. As we have already been a long time in the States and Europe, we think it is time to grow more powerful in Asia.

We think the best areas to be in now are Beijing, Shanghai and Canton. Japan soon. We are already working in Japan now to create more awareness of our plans and brand. We also started working on our Chinese distribution. China, I think, is one of the most important challenges in the future for us. It is going to be a tough war with prices and designs and everything, but it is the most exciting challenge for our company in the future.