Amber has been favoured since the prehistorical era on the European continent. The amber route, transferring amber from coastal areas of northern Europe and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, defined trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe at that time. A symbol of past prosperity, the route in fact began in Poland. The source of Polish amber, also known as ‘Polish gold’, Poland’s history is embedded in amber. Gdańsk, capital of this country dubbed ‘the world capital of amber’, accounts for more than 70 percent of the world’s amber manufacture. Jewellery companies and designers in Gdańsk adhere to the centuries-long heritage and techniques with the nature’s gift - 40 million years old Baltic amber, continuing to compose the amber legend.
“Customers can find various kinds of amber jewellery all around the world. Thanks to the rich experience of amber jewellery-making with delicate designs and craftsmanship in Poland, our amber jewellery is highly competitive in the global market. We know how to find the best materials, and how to cut and polish them,” said Marta Siemionko, marketing and sales manager of NAC Amber. “For ages, the influence of family history and tradition is like a mark with us that we have to work hard with this good base for Polish amber jewellery’s future,” she added.
In 1999, this Gdańsk-based company was founded by Marcin Wesolowski who is also a designer and a craftsman. Over the past 15 years, he has insisted on using high-quality materials and traditional handcrafting techniques for his fine amber jewellery. While many Polish amber jewellery suppliers are placing heavy emphasis on the stone, NAC Amber is renowned for distinctive styles in jewellery design. Marta Siemionko told Hong Kong Jewellery: “We are fanatic about creating designs which subtly underline the beauty and uniqueness of the material, which always strongly accentuates amber’s presence in a piece of jewellery. Our jewellery expresses emotions of our brand and the wearers’.
Jewellery design trends keep changing while NAC Amber has maintained their own classic design style. Marcin Wesolowski said he never follows trends or changes anything for the market when designing. “If I focus too much on market-meeting and consumers’ tastes in order to close deals, it will only influence my original ideas of the design,” he explained. He only follows his heart and inspirations, and uses almost all materials available in the market without sticking to any particular forms.
“We love classics, and believe that classical things will stand the ever-changing trends. In my opinion, time-honoured jewellery is something that will not fade after 10 or 50 years,” Siemionko expressed. For every piece of jewellery from NAC Amber, the simple and clear lines which comprise the basic design, the harmonious match between the gemstone and precious metals, and the light weight which frees modern woman’s body, all of them indicate the spirit of classic in this company’s core value.
Besides classical style, detail-minded and quality-oriented principles also enhance the sophisticated image of NAC Amber. “Small details make big differences that consumers appreciate a lot,” Siemionko revealed the company’s basic idea about details in jewellery. For a better control of product quality, 80 percent of the jewellery is hand-made, and they even produce claps by themselves, despite the increased time and cost. “Almost 80 to 90 percent of our earrings are designed oppositely in left and right in terms of directions and shapes, matching wearers’ ears perfectly with greater comfort. The other thing is that, like I always emphasise, the back of a jewellery piece should look as good as the front. That’s why we take good care of the back of the amber on jewellery,” Wesolowski noted.
The company also strictly controls the sourcing practice to secure a consistently high-quality supply. Since establishment, they have mainly sourced from regular suppliers for Polish amber which is well-known for its colour, skin, shape and texture. Owing to the opaque surface of Polish amber, it is difficult to tell whether it is clear or with a lot of inclusions under the surface. “If we buy rough stones from new suppliers who have appeared in the market like mushrooms after the rain, we will risk having low-quality goods with cracks. Sometimes, it is much like a risky game,” Siemionko said. For this matter, she added, in view of the stable supply, high quality materials and solid relationship that their old suppliers offer, NAC Amber is not open for sourcing rough amber from new suppliers.
When they finish the first design of a new collection, they will send it to the market and then adjust the marketing strategies and production plan for the rest of the collection according to consumers’ feedback. Based on their observation, the company has found that consumers from different countries have different preferences for amber, mostly in terms of colours. “China buyers are very picky and well-educated about amber, and most of them love those with natural colours, even though amber jewellery companies nowadays are able to change colours by using many treatments. Their favourite is honey amber, or mila in Chinese, and some started to seek after white amber which is unique and accounts for only two percent of the total amber production. The milky and lemon varieties are also pursued by them. However, consumers from Europe and the United States appreciate cherry and cognac amber with not much interest in the milky counterpart,” Siemionko cited.
Realised the significance of China market, the company has partnered with Hong Kong-based amber jewellery specialist Amberozia Limited for many years. Nancy Chui, founder of Amberozia told Hong Kong Jewellery: “Poland has been known for amber jewellery for a long time, whilst most of their amber operations are only active at the wholesale level. There is yet for an amber jewellery designer brand to achieve worldwide market recognition as an international retail company. NAC Amber has what it takes to be the first successful amber jewellery designer brand in the market by its distinguished design style, quality-focused principle, and company owner’s understanding of the importance of branding and marketing.” As for NAC Amber’s future development, the two entrepreneurs plan to open a flagship shop in Hong Kong as its first overseas branch other than the Gdańsk flagship shop.
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