Jewelmer breaks out of the mold by making the Philippines’ top matinee idol its brand ambassador YOU’D NEVER GUESS it. Jewelmer’s newest brand ambassador is Piolo Pascual.
The homegrown luxury jewelry brand has been synonymous to beautiful women who have worn its precious golden South Sea pearls in past campaigns, such as model-actress-TV host Angel Aquino and ramp queens Tweetie de Leon and Apples Aberin.
Careful not to divulge details of the brand’s new directions, Jacques Christophe Branellec simply said the matinee idol fits the image of the brand: Pascual’s environment efforts and community projects are in sync with Jewelmer’s.
“He’s the ideal pearl ambassador,” Branellec said. The young man, who joined the company’s marketing team only last August, is the son of the managing director, his namesake, who co-founded Jewelmer 30 years ago. “Like us, Piolo sponsors kids to school. He also has his own green projects.” The actor is Branellec’s friend.
At the opening of Jewelmer’s 15th store in Ayala Marquee, Angeles City, this week, only its second outside Metro Manila, Pascual wore a golden pearl pendant suspended from a black silk cord around his neck. It was a gift from Jewelmer when he represented the country at the Cannes Film Festival. He has been wearing it quite a lot since, he said.
Branellec himself owns a similar necklace; at times he even wears a keishi stud on his ear.
Pascual’s appearance was the highlight to what could’ve been just another store opening. While Pampanga’s women of leisure tried on pieces from the Spring 2010 collection in the store, a huge crowd gathered outside as mallers got wind of the actor’s presence.
Pampanga is one of Jewelmer’s more important markets. “It’s becoming highly developed and it’s also a prosperous area. We want to bring Jewelmer closer to our customers because many of our Manila customers are from here,” Branellec said.
In the past, the company would hold trunk shows in provincial cities like Davao and Angeles. It was a productive setup as two days’ worth of sales from those shows equaled a month’s worth in a store, said Abelardo Mondoñedo, senior sales manager. When Ayala opened its mall in Angeles, however, they decided to finally open a store.
Building local patronage
Branellec and his team are aggressive in their efforts to build local patronage. “This is the first Filipino luxury brand, and we want Filipinos to understand what it is, to educate them on their national gem and this brand that represents them abroad.”
Even as the bulk of Jewelmer business is export, for both jewelry and loose pearls, Branellec said the company feels very strongly about making locals appreciate the golden South Sea pearl, which is unique to the country.
He also announced a design revamp of their website, done by Filipino web designers.
Three decades ago, the senior Jacques Branellec, a Breton pilot, decided to sail on his boat from France to the Pacific, winding up in Tahiti where he would learn black pearl farming. “He was among the first black pearl farmers,” said his son.
He continued his journey and wound up in Manila where, a week later, his boat was destroyed by a typhoon. He took it as a sign to stay put for good. It was here where he met a Filipina marine biologist, who would become the mother of Jacques Christophe.
Jacques Branellec and businessman Manuel Cojuangco set up what the world now knows as Jewelmer, with pearl farms across the open seas of Palawan. “The farms are his baby,” said the Frenchman’s son. “The production is where his heart and soul is.”
Apart from Jacques Christophe, his older sister and a cousin are also involved in the business.
“I always knew I would like to work in Jewelmer,” said the son. “I grew up around it; on vacations we would go to the farms and help out. It’s quite inspiring how a company could make a difference in the image of the Philippines abroad.”
Like his sister, Branellec worked in other jewelry and luxury brands abroad before joining the company, he in Australia where he studied, she in France.
Since Jewelmer is the largest producer of golden South Sea pearls, “there’s a very high chance that when you see them in high-end jewelry brands abroad, they came from us,” Jacques Christophe said. He declined to name the brands, but in a book on golden South Sea pearls published with Jewelmer, those featured using the pearls are De Grisogono, Chanel, Chopard, Mikimoto.
“We want Filipinos to associate themselves with the pearl,” Jacques Christophe said. “We feel the pearl has a lot of qualities and virtues seen in the Filipino spirit as well. It takes hard work, patience and time to raise pearls”—up to five years for a single pearl—“so we want Filipinos to own that pearl before we bring it overseas.”
And yes, this includes men, he believes.
By Cheche V. Moral
Philippine Daily Inquirer
