Ohanes Agopyan, CEO of exclusive brand MIIORI with offices and stores in New York, Madrid, Moscow and Hong Kong, is a recognized player in the international market of elite gemstones, a real devotee of high-end diamonds. MIIORI absorbed the experience of three generations of jewelers upholding European traditions in jewelry making. Two years ago, the company patented MIIORI’s own one-of-a-kind gem setting technique, Flash-Set, which allows people to see gems changing their color in movement from a different perspective, giving them a holographic effect.
MIIORI is known to have very serious plans for the Russian market. Do you really produce some collections specially designed for Russian women?
Yes, we do have a lot of Russian clients. During the last five years we experienced big interest to our jewelry from the Russian market and from the Russians who live in New York, Monaco and other places. That’s why I started to focus more on the design of what the Russians would like. From that we came up to open a flagship in Moscow just to remind people the name of my company, so when they will go overseas they can buy. The main purpose for the store is not really to sell in Moscow what we have. The purpose is just to keep in the mind of people that this brand exists in Moscow and they can have it in Monaco, in New York or Hong Kong wherever they travel. We are not expecting a lot from this store, it’s just promotion for our brand and that’s our gain from it. We hope that everything will be set up and done by the next month, and the store will be located in the Nikolskaya Plaza shopping center.
What does the name of your brand mean?
Miiori derives from the Italian phrase “mio amore,” which is translated as “my love,” and the word “oro” for gold entwined together to form the word “Miiori” pronounced as “me-orie.”
What is the price range enjoyed by your jewelry?
Our fine jewelry pieces start from 5 000 euros going up to 500 000 euros; it is fine luxury jewelry plus very special and rare color stones and diamonds, which we source form different places around the world.
You collections are very rich in diamonds. Do you have jewelry with Forevermark diamonds?
No, not yet. But for the market may be. My idea is to promote design, to promote fashion. And Forevermark is promoting diamonds.
What do you think about the future of diamonds?
Diamonds have always had a special place among precious stones. Even if diamond prices sometime go up and sometime go down, these gems always keep the value, keeping people believe in what they buy. These stones will never lose their value.
How much has the world changed in your view and how much has it changed people's attitude towards diamonds?
Before, not everyone could afford buying a diamond, while today almost every second person has more than one piece of diamond jewelry. The world has changed, but not the attitude towards diamonds. The standard of living has changed, and now there is too much money in the world.
Nowadays, many manufacturers started to produce jewelry containing less gold, they use less expensive stones making something which is not expensive and quickly sold. How would you comment this situation?
I don’t think that I will start to create jewelry with wooden or plastic things. I prefer to stay whatever what I am. I love jewelry, I love to create unique pieces with value items, and our clients are there, with the same preferences.
I don’t like the idea to go down to a lower point, lower price point. Instead I’m going to a higher price point, to more expensive pieces, because those who love to buy nice items can’t go down in terms of quality. I won’t go down in terms of quality either and I’ll keep my standard high.
Where do you take your designers from?
We have different teams and different designers from different parts of the world. I only give special leads to my designers as to what we have to do for the coming season, for the coming exhibitions, and what kind of new ideas we should use. We have Italian, French, American, Armenian, Chinese designers and we work with different environments in the world, so there a need in expression coming from different parts of the world, because, for instance, Italian and American designers may not understand the Chinese mentality, what Chinese people want. So we have Chinese designers to feel such things.
How often do you use celebrities in your promotional projects?
We frequently use them for advertising campaigns, but now actually celebrities are using us.
What are your main big markets?
The United States, South America, Brazil, Chili, Panama, Europe, Spain, the Middle East, Hong Kong.
Where do you buy diamonds for your jewelry production?
We source diamonds from different suppliers in India, Israel and Belgium.
How much important are certificates for your jewelry to your customers?
To be honest, our customers trust more to the brand, more than to a certificate. This piece of paper is nothing for them. They choose the brand and trust it. Of course, we provide certificates for diamonds set into a jewelry piece describing its color and qualities etc., it’s very normal. But the most important thing is that we have to give confidence to our clients.
Do you get any support from the U.S. Government as jewelry producers?
No, we don’t have any support. I heard that Chinese jewelry manufactures enjoy a lot of support from the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.
You are visiting many world exhibitions, which trade shows do you prefer?
There are trade fairs, which are productive for business purposes and there are fairs more aimed at PR and promotional ends. I think today the most profitable show in the international market is Vicenza in January, where you can promote your brand, have your brand exposed to various clients from different countries, while in September it is the Hong Kong show.
What can you to say about the Indian market, which is lately developing so fast?
You have to be Indian to be in India. They are powerful buyers, but they are very difficult. They have specific mentality in doing business, and I think we need to adapt to their mentality.
During the VicenzaOro Fair in January you presented the Style of Jolie Collection, a very colorful and very unusual collection. Please, say a few words about it.
The Style of Jolie Collection has stunning pieces of jewels; it is the result of artistic collaboration between Robert Procop Exectional Jewels and Angelina Jolie. It is entirely philanthropic and all the proceeds raised from these valuables will be donated to Angelina Jolie’s foundation to be used for children in need around the world. We will have the Style of Jolie Collection in our Moscow store, which is representative for the line of jewelry. And it will be inside our store there that this presentation will be run for the first time.
Veronica Novoselova, Rough&Polished, Vicenza
