Jewellery by a modern woman for the modern woman.

By Ashima Sethi

As Thai-Indians, the thought of purchasing luxury jewellery is often reserved for celebrations like weddings or anniversaries. We have essentially become the experts at buying beautiful sets of jewellery that will set us back quite a hefty chunk of change, only to keep them stored away until further notice.

Someone who is hoping to change this approach to buying, and more importantly, loving fine jewellery is Giuliana Loglisci, the Founder and CEO of Lucy G. Jewelry, who tells me all about her unique approach to design when we meet over afternoon lemonades. “An essential part of my brand is that all the pieces can be worn every day, even the most limited edition items are easy to wear. My jewellery is definitely not jewellery that you store in a safe, it is luxury that is wearable,” she explains.

Born and brought up in the South of Italy, Giuliana decided to move to London, UK, when she was 18 years old to explore her interest in the world of gemstones. “I was always fascinated by gems, particularly the design aspect that goes into crafting jewellery,” Giuliana enthuses. “Ever since I was young, I wanted to own something that was mine. A brand where I could create something unique and see people wearing it. Of course, this is much easier said than done!” She laughs.

In London, Giuliana enrolled at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) where she took an initial course about diamonds while she sought out employment while she studied. After two years of living in London, she decided to do a second GIA course about gemstone colours in Bangkok. “I had actually never been to Asia, but I wanted to experience it and London was far too cold and rainy for me!” After completing her studies in Bangkok, Giuliana fortified what she learned by joining a well-known company here as a gemologist.

In 2016, Giuliana decided to make her dreams of owning a jewellery brand come true. “I was 23 when I decided to resign and venture out on my own, and 24 when I actually established a company. I started slowly, because when you launch a brand, you actually need money to invest and I didn’t have that much saved up. So, I started the brand with whatever I had, but the first years were definitely a slow burn. It took a lot of effort. My first collection was 30 small pieces and I decided to go back to Italy to see what buzz I could generate. I went store-to-store introducing myself, showing each what I was working on. It took a lot of patience, but I took it all in stride,” Giuliana explains.

Eventually, her hard work and commitment to her vision began to pay off. During the third year, Giuliana tells me how she leveraged jewellery exhibitions to her advantage. “I began participating in Vincenzaora, one of the best jewellery shows in the world that takes place twice a year in the North of Italy. When I started to do that, I drew in more customers. Then, three years ago I decided to open a small store in a shopping mall in the city-centre of Milan. Since then, I’ve been working a lot. I haven’t been participating in many shows due to the COVID period, but I am looking to resume doing that soon. In January, I will be featured in the ‘design’ area of Vincenzaora, which is a very elite and particular area of the event featuring more niche designers than just big brands.”

Of course, the COVID pandemic saw businesses in several industries forced to adapt and professionals in the jewellery business experienced no different. As as Giuliana explains, “it was during this period that I envisioned Pop Colors by Lucy G., which took me over a year to develop because even though the concept was easy to understand in theory, creating the website was quite a complex process. I collaborated with someone to build a website where the customer has 140 options to customise their piece of jewellery. They can pick gemstones, the setting, the size, allowing for over 1,200 customisations in total. Although it took a while to put everything together, when I launched the website it was successful almost immediately and I think this has a lot to do with the price point as prices start at only THB 3,550++ and it is fun to be able to customise your piece and create exactly what you want.”

As someone who does not know the details of what goes into crafting fine jewellery, Giuliana gives me some insight as a professional who has been in the business for almost a decade. “The process of crafting jewellery can be very tricky and ultimately each piece is made by hand, whether it is the setting, the polishing or even the wax moulding, it all requires someone who is creative, professional, and knows the business. And so, I consider many of the people I work with artists.”

Giuliana continues, “I am still a small company so I have to follow up and oversee a lot of what happens during the aforementioned processes. Big brands have someone dedicated to every step, but being an up-and-coming brand, I have to be involved in every step. Thankfully, I have found a great factory to aid with my production and have been working with Thai-Indians when it comes to sourcing gemstones, it has been a great working relationship so far. Having trust in the people you do business with is imperative in this industry, and you also need strong foundation knowledge.”

Personalisation, attention-to-detail, and the ability to customise are clearly at the heart of Giuliana’s approach to design. Although it’s clear that Pop Colors is more geared towards those who enjoy customisation, her upmarket collections through Lucy G. Jewellery also take into accord the shopper’s preference. “For example, the I Colori Della Frutta collection, which is my bestselling collection in Italy, offers four sizes for each ring. Keep in mind this does not mean the size of the ring that goes around your finger, but the size of the ring as a whole so you can wear it on a preferred finger.”

As she discussed earlier, Giuliana aims to craft fine jewellery that is ultimately very wearable and in order to do so she focuses on several pillars including customisation and a personalised shopping experience. She also has a focused target audience, who she explains is “independent women who know what they want. As a woman who continuously tries to be successful in everything she does, my target is other women who are just like me. Instead of having their husbands show up to buy something for their wives, my clientele are the women who can buy things for themselves because they are CEOs and Directors. This is my target.”

For said target, where does Giuliana find inspiration do you ask? She explains her love for colour that forms the foundation for her work. “I love colour and I think I am great at matching them. Nature is another source of inspiration, and I have recently been experimenting with more geometric lines to give my pieces a modern touch.” Giuliana also discusses her passion for being able to foster a strong rapport with her clientele. “I love creating custom designs that will only be worn by one person. I like understanding their style, the kind of person they are, and then being able to design something they love. It is a very rewarding experience.”

With so much on her plate already, I ask Giuliana what she has in store in the months to come. “At the moment I am working on two collections, and they will be very different from anything else I have created so far.” Without giving away too much, Giuliana also shares her goals for expansion, “I want to continue developing here in Bangkok and connect with more private clients. I am considering opening a store here, too. I am also looking to expand through Italy, and have my eyes on Germany and the Netherlands as well.”

If you are based in Thailand, you can message Giuliana via her social media channels to set up a private appointment.

You can browse her pieces at the following:

www.lucygjewelry.it
www.popcolorsbylucyg.com

Instagram:
@lucy_g_jewelry
@pop_colors_bylucyg