Alexander Chamovskikh is the founder and owner of the CHAMOVSKIKH Jewellery House, Chairman of the Ural Jewellers Guild. He was born in 1978 and graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Ural Radio Engineering College named after A. S. Popov. He lives and works in Yekaterinburg.
He has been in the jewellery business since 1996 and founded his own jewellery manufacture in 2001. In 2015, he registered the CHAMOVSKIKH Jewellery House brand, under which exclusive jewellery pieces with rare precious gems are created using innovative technologies.
The head of the CHAMOVSKIKH Jewellery House told R&P about the current state of the Russian jewellery market.
Are the changes in the world and the jewellery industry really beneficial for our national manufacturers; if so, in what segment and in what way? In particular, what is the situation with your company?
Of course, it’s a long and hard journey but the benefits are obvious. What I mean is that we make ourselves work much harder and become less dependent on those countries and companies that have been trying to manipulate Russia and many other countries for many years. The recent events have shown, we cannot rely on the companies that were, for example, our equipment suppliers. Where are they now? There is none of them. What guarantee obligations do they bear to their customers? None. Many companies blocked their online services - the applications that work with 3D printers and CNC machines. They have just left the Russian market, slamming the door, and left the hardware, which had to be reflashed so that we could keep on using it. And we are becoming more self-dependent and focus on the Russian equipment manufacturers. And, of course, there’s a great advantage in this as our business will become more sovereign. And the fact that Western brands have left our market and our customers pay more attention to the Russian manufacturers contributes to an increase in sales. The Russian consumers understand that those companies that provide them with services in our country will not behave so dishonourably. They will not cheat the Russians, otherwise they will not be able to make their business as their reputation can be quickly lost.
This is true not only for the premium segment, in which we operate. The Italian and French jewellery mass industry players entered the Russian market quite actively. Of course, some companies keep on working in our country, but the trend that the consumers choose domestic jewellery manufacturers began during the Covid-pandemic when it became difficult for major sector players to import jewellery, and in recent years, they have shifted to the Kostroma-based company. It has become more reliable for them. Firstly, there is less dependence on the dollar exchange rate, and secondly, there is no need to travel abroad to carry out regular viewings and select goods, create and control supply chains destroyed by the Covid-pandemic. All this began at that time, and the trend has only strengthened now. Firstly, the jewellery industry has developed quite rapidly in terms of technology. We quickly equipped ourselves with advanced equipment - both Russian, European, American, and Japanese machines. Our domestic manufacturing companies have all the required equipment now, including automatic chain-bending machines, CNC machines, laser equipment, and casting machines. Russia can without any problems fully provide its consumers with jewellery - from silver and gold mass-market jewellery to luxury goods. Just like we fully provide our Russian consumers, for example, with grain, which we imported seven years ago, and now, we have become the leading grain exporter in the world. Where there is a will, there is a way.
In our company, there is also a significant increase in turnover by three and a half times. The manufacturing facilities are loaded, and we keep on expanding the production and acquiring new equipment, new production facilities, and creating new jobs. We have a portfolio of orders for five to six months in advance.
How did you come to the decision to design and manufacture family heirlooms, museum collections and fine jewellery?
The matter is that my team and I (now, I can probably say this, I used to hear this about myself from others) are perfectionists. And we cannot make any kind of mass market goods as we will not be competitive even in this niche because we are a team of highly-qualified professionals, and this means we get an appropriate salary. And to be able to pay these salaries and make the goods profitable, certainly, we had no choice but to occupy the niche of luxury jewellery. We use the best-quality and high-end gemstones, as well as advanced technologies and highly paid professionals, our employees.
Accordingly, we began to delve into this segment and came to an understanding that it is such jewellery that customers prefer to acquire as family heirlooms that are stored and inherited, and for which they are not ashamed before their next generations.
Museum collections also appeared quite naturally. We created the Peterhof Collection not for the state museum-reserve, but for ourselves. But when we showed this collection to the leadership of Peterhof’s museum, it impressed them very much, inspired them and we struck up a friendship at that moment. After that, we collaborated with many other museums and theaters, and regularly act as organizers and partners of important cultural events.
The CHAMOVSKIKH Brand jewellery has more than 70 awards won at the international professional competitions. What award is the most memorable and valuable?
It is difficult to single out just one award. In general, the most valuable awards for us are the Grand Prix ones, the main awards recognizing you as first among the best manufacturers. And the most memorable award is, perhaps, the first Grand Prix we were awarded in 2019, it was an unforgettable experience. But the prizes won later on are, of course, also valuable for us.
Your company is engaged in technological developments, three patents have become famous.
Right, we have a Laboratory of Innovative Technologies at our jewellery house, which, in fact, is not so common in the jewellery industry. Usually, there are specialists at jewellery factories who follow the production process flow of casting and setting the gemstones. Our specialists do more than just control the production process.
Many of your jewellery designs can be transformed - what does it give to you?
Both the company’s chief technologist who is fond of various mechanisms, kinematics and metal properties and I personally are looking for new interesting solutions. Why is a jewellery piece transformation good and useful? Because it gives a possibility to combine one piece of jewellery with different clothes and wear it at various events - a jewellery owner can go to a party or to the fitness room wearing the same piece of jewellery but in different configurations. In addition, the jewellery piece can be some kind of unique jewellery invention, for example, a pendant ‘key’, in the core of which a combination of numbers (a password or an important date) is placed hidden from prying eyes. Another patented mechanism is a swinging mechanism of an earring used in the Singapore at Night earrings. Thanks to this technical solution, the most advantageous angle can be chosen.
You have worked your way from retail to the most famous holding in Russia. Is there a room for new achievements?
That’s right. We started with retail and when we realized that there was nothing to sell (even at that time, we wanted to sell high-quality jewellery but we could not find reliable suppliers), so we decided to set up our own manufacturing company. As for your words that our company is the most famous holding company in Russia... Well, in the premium segment, most likely, our company is the most famous one. And we strive to occupy a bigger share of the world market, first of all, in the markets of those countries where a large Russian-speaking diaspora lives. There is great trust in our company and our compatriots prefer to purchase jewellery from our company. There is also an Asia’s market and the Chinese one, and we keep an eye on their development.
Does the brand have plans to expand?
Yes, the company has such ambitions. We plan to ramp up production, train new personnel and work closely with the institutes training our potential employees and team members. We do our best to expand our equipment fleet and intensify the supply of precious gems and materials. And, accordingly, we plan to set up stores in several more countries.
Please tell us about the structure of the holding: I understand that your manufacturing facilities are in Yekaterinburg, and signature showrooms and representative offices are abroad.
According to the today’s structure of the holding, its manufacturing facilities and headquarters, artists, 3D designers, a technology department, marketing department and commercial division are located in Yekaterinburg. We love our Sverdlovsk Region rich in jewellery traditions. After all, the first jewellery factory in Russia was the Yuveliry Urala (Ural Jewellers), and before that, Carl Fabergé invited local Ural craftsmen to work at his jewellery house because precious, semi-precious and ornamental gems are primarily mined at the Urals, including rough diamonds, but rough diamonds are mined, of course, mostly in Yakutia. At the moment, we have three universities and one college training designers, artists and jewellers.
Our company operates a sapphire mine in Sri Lanka where we suspended mining operations during the Covid-pandemic but we work with major industry players and have the opportunity to use top-quality sapphires for our collections only.
Our company has signature showrooms and a seasoned agency network in Russia and some foreign countries, with which we cooperate.
As for the latest CHAMOVSKIKH Brand collections, how is the work going on?
The work on the collections was and is going on as usual. I have already said that a team works on each collection, including jewellery artists, 3D designers, and craftsmen. The CHAMOVSKIKH Brand jewellery is made using unique gemstones that are the drivers, inspire an idea and design. Now, we have a lot of designs on the table... Lots of gemstones, lots of ideas, and lots of plans. The Royal Collection, as well as the Discovery, Classic, and NeoCity ones are regularly updated with new high jewellery pieces.
What are the plans of the holding for the near-, medium- and long-term future, do you expect the participation in competitions, brand development and its promotion?
In several competitions, we take part on a regular base. We do not take part in some competitions that are not of great importance for us. But we will continue to take part in the major ones. We are engaged in the development of our brand and its promotion regularly. Our marketing department has a photo and video studio, and we also have colour correction artists and graphic designers. Therefore, we create all photo and video content, as well as layouts for printing at our jewellery house. There is an event department and a press service office that work in close cooperation with our regular partners and the media. Often, our company is an organizer of major events for our brand enthusiasts and supports business, cultural and sporting events. In 2023, we held a large-scale High Jewellery Show at Burj Al Arab, the iconic ‘sail’ hotel in Dubai. This is another step towards achieving our main goal - the revival of the world glory of the Russian jewellery art.
Galina Semyonova for Rough&Polished
