Story behind successful duo
EVERT FINE JEWELLERY IS ABOUT AS FAIR DINKUM AUSSIE AS YOU CAN GET WHEN IT COMES TO THE LOCATING, MINING, CUTTING AND THEN THE RETAILING OF OPALS, WRITES HAYDEN SMITH
Evert Fine Jewellery’s Mary Mohun (above) has never doubted the importance of a story when it comes to doing business.
CAIRNS jeweller Mary Mohun has never doubted the importance of a story when it comes to doing business.
After watching her father Vince Evert pioneer boulder opal mining at Winton in Western Queensland, she can appreciate the fabled yet tiring industry’s narrative better than most.
“Dad knew the product was in the area but it had not been commercially explored,” said Mrs Mohun, who grew up with nine siblings.
“He’d go bush for days and we’d be dragged along kicking and screaming. In hindsight I realised my mother was trying to get rid of us all.
“He’d been dabbling in it for a while and then seriously started to put time and money into working out where to find it and how to cut it.
“Marketing it was the biggest obstacle because nobody knew the product.
“He would go to international gem shows and practically be giving them away, trying to educate people.”
Mrs Mohun studied nursing and met her husband Joe, formerly a mine surveyor, in Emerald. They travelled for about two years, living in the US and London, before coming home to try their luck in business.
Mr Evert, who has also been recognised for pioneering Winton tourism, had opened an opal retail store in Townsville and turned to his family for help.
“Joe and I weren’t particularly fussed about going back to our professions, so we decided to have a go,” Mrs Mohun said.
“But after two years in Townsville we realised he should have had a shop in Cairns.”
Mr and Mrs Mohun relocated to the Far North, opening Evert Fine Jewellery on Abbott Street in October 1990.
Over the past 26 years they have ridden the ups and downs that come with owning a tourism-reliant business.
Things got off to a flying start as the Far North’s inter- national visitor numbers swelled.
By the late 1990s they had opened stores at Kuranda, Palm Cove, Port Douglas and on the Cairns Esplanade.
During this time Mrs Mohun said her family’s opal mining caper went from “strength to strength”.
“He was putting his stones into his own shops and therefore had this constant cash flow,” she said.
But the Global Financial Crisis brought new challenges.
In the five years to June 2011, Evert Fine Jewellery closed its operations at
Kuranda, Palm Cove and the Esplanade.
“We got to the point where there was really good stock sitting there but it wasn’t turning,” Mrs Mohun said.
But things have slowly recovered and, in 2014, the business opened a second Abbott St site to cater for a more diverse range of jewellery.
Mr and Mrs Mohun also helped deliver a new Cairns CBD Swarovski store, which has received a “great response” since its launch last month.
Although, having broadened their offering, Mrs Mohun said opal remained at the heart of Evert Fine Jewellery, which employs more than 20 people in Cairns and Port Douglas.
However, she was concerned about the long-term supply of the famous Australian gemstone.
“A lot of suppliers are getting old and not getting re- placed. You can sit on a mine for six weeks and come away with half a dozen gems,” Mrs Mohun said.
“Not many people are doing it. You might look at our collection and think, ‘yeah right’, but that’s from 55 years of collecting them.
“My dad passed away in 1998. He had a lot of material, and we’ve always had supply.”
Mr and Mrs Mohun have four sons and live in the Cairns CBD.
After almost three decades, they have no regrets about going into business.
“We’ve made many sacrifi- ces to make it work. I was a nurse and didn’t know how to run a business,” Mrs Mohun said.
“The longer we’ve been here the more we’ve liked, but we never thought we’d stay in Cairns this long.”
She said the authentic Australian story behind their opal products had always proven popular with customers.
“Customers are astute, they won’t just buy anything. You have to sell the story,” Mrs Mohun said. “If you can’t supply the stores with quality material, then you’re not going to pay the bills.”
CUSTOMERS ARE ASTUTE, THEY WON’T JUST BUY ANYTHING. YOU HAVE TO SELL THE STORY MARY MOHUN