SAMMY Chong had to learn to be independent at an early age. With only RM200, she combined what she knew from working at a premium jewellery store and her interest in e-commerce to start her enterprise.
Now 28, she is known as the founder and owner of Celovis, the first female titanium jewellery brand in Malaysia. From humble beginnings, building on almost a decade of experience, Chong has big plans for her brand.
How did you start Celovis?
When I started the brand, I picked the name Celovis because it didn’t have a meaning. I had to build the whole brand by myself.
I started my business when I was 22 in 2014. I am very interested in e-commerce because I used to buy clothes online.
I was fascinated by it all, we could buy clothes online and have them shipped to our house, it is so convenient.
So, I was into e-commerce when I was young, even before it was popular. I even wanted to study e-commerce but I could not find classes for it, so I studied psychology instead.
During my third year, I met a friend who worked in e-commerce and I learnt a lot from him.
He encouraged me to get into business.
When I started, I didn’t have any focus, and I only had RM200.
How difficult was it to start your business?
I had to figure out everything on my own. When I started, nothing was as convenient as it is now. We had to separately buy almost every component of our website.
Nowadays, e-commerce is just “plug-and-play”. There are many platforms that you can choose from. Just start with good visuals and you are on your way.
Before, we had to learn simple coding and even photo editing on our own.
But, it is so much easier now. The logo that I made and still use was done on Microsoft Paint. Seriously, everything was hands-on when I started.
In what category does Celovis titanium jewellery fit in?
It’s premium fashion jewellery, but if you are talking about fine jewellery or costume jewellery, this counts as costume jewellery.
In terms of metal, we could only afford to buy gold jewellery once a year, maybe a little bit more. One of the reasons is because it is expensive, but there are other reasons as well.
Some people worry that titanium could cause an allergic reaction like itchiness. Some worry about its durability and that it could tarnish. However, the titanium that we use is the same quality as the type used for making scalpels for surgery.
It is very skin-friendly and is affordable. If the piece of jewellery is tinted rose gold, for example, dipping it in chlorinated water will not tarnish it, but the colour might fade, turning it closer to its original silver metal.
Do you design your own jewellery?
I’m not a designer, but we do have in-house designers. We work very closely with the manufacturing side of the process as well. We work on the fashion trend, analyse the upcoming popular design and then put our twist on it.
We currently have more than 500 designs and we introduce a new design every month.
The idea is similar to fast fashion. I put in a lot of research when picking or getting into a design, which is why you don’t see any brooches or men’s accessories in our collection.
Currently, we are researching designs for brooches and are planning to introduce the product soon. As for men’s accessories, I am not familiar with them so that will require more study.
How has the pandemic affected your business?
I thought that during the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of people would lose their jobs.
Most people would want to save money and spend on essentials and necessities. I was also worried that it would affect my business.
However, I noticed that every time a lockdown is announced, the business would spike two or threefold. Once, we even hit six figures.
So, I figured, women still want to look good despite the lockdown, such as during video calls and meetings. There are also a lot of people who buy jewellery as gifts.
