Taking leaves from many books
Nontando Molefe’s jewellery business is bound for glory after some help from Design@50
Diamonds may forever be a girl’s best friend, but there is no love lost in the world of jewellery designing and manufacturing. This is the reality the once starry-eyed Nontando Molefe has come to appreciate on her journey to become the first top black female jewellery designer and manufacturer in South Africa.
The 30-something lass, who hails from Lamontville in Durban, has always had a designing streak. Her father was a musician and her mother Busi Molefe was a part of the first Ipi Tombi cast in the late 50s to early 60s. Sadly, her parents divorced when she was still a teenager.
After completing her matric Molefe came to Johannesburg in 1998 and decided to enrol with the National School of the Arts to study jewellery designing. Not content with her qualifications, she decided to go a step further and enrolled at the University of Johannesburg to study for a degree in Jewellery Designing and Manufacturing. She completed her degree in the record time of three years and thought she had what it takes to set the industry on fire.
“But how wrong I was. There was still much to learn,” she says matter-of-factly. She started her own business Phatsima Jewellery Design in 2009 from a garage at her home in Randburg. Phatsima is the Sesotho word for “bling” or “shine”.
In 2013 Molefe learned from a friend about Design@50, which is part of the Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct (JMP) situated near OR Tambo International Airport.
The JMP is an anchor project of the Gauteng Industrial Development Zone. It’s a multipurpose precinct development centred around the beneficiation of jewellery, precious and semiprecious minerals mined in South Africa, designed to contribute to the export of beneficiated mineral products.
The Design@50 Academy accepts only those with some jewellery work experience and those who have graduated with a bachelor degree, which meant another full year of study for Molefe.
As she explains: “The programme helped to make my work to be of international standard. It has helped me to work faster and even improved my presentation to my clients. It taught me the tricks of the trade.”
With 10 years in the industry and armed with a postgraduate course from the Design@50 Academy, Molefe says she is more mature and ready to pursue her dream. And she is not just looking at the local market: she wants her Phatsima Jewellery Design company to have an international footprint. Two months ago she was in Hong Kong, where she exhibited her wares at the Hong Kong Gem and Jewellery Fair, where she met other jewellery manufacturers from all over the world. “I learnt a lot just by interacting with other designers and manufacturers. I would really like to do more of these overseas exhibitions.”
While she praised the work done by Design@50, she feels they could do a lot more, for instance, to help students gain stronger market access. She says support for local jewellery manufacturers is limited and at the same time, pieces are expensive. She thinks Design@50 should create projects where its students work with established jewellery companies to help them establish contacts.
Molefe’s advice to budding jewellery manufacturers is that they need to ensure that every single piece they do is perfect. But more importantly, she adds: “Be fearless, be bold, and do not allow yourself to be intimidated. Be your own cheerleader.”
With role models such as Basetsana Khumalo and Khanyi Dlhlomo, Molefe says her skies have no limits. Judging by her enthusiasm, it won’t be long before Phatsima Jewellery Design is up there with the best in the industry. You go, girl!