When Christina Toh, founder and designer of Shinju Pearls Sdn bhd, was seven, her father who worked for a Japanese company at the time received Akoya pearls as a gift for his wife, Chee Kam Yew.
Though very young, Christina fell in love with pearls instantly making them her compulsory accessory, much to her mother’s amusement.
From that moment, Christina knew pearls would be a permanent fixture in her life.
The former property executive who always had an eye for beautiful jewellery said one day she started to experiment with pearls and semi-precious stones while helping her sister sell antiques at Mont Kiara’s weekly market.
She began to create and sell designs using pearls and semi-precious stones.
The response to her creations was good as working women, young girls, students and jewellery fans of all ages fell in love with her designs.
“That really boosted my ego and inspired me to start my own business. So, venturing into jewellery design turned out to be a beneficial side-effect of her love for pearls,” said Christina of her business, Shinju Pearls, which began in 2004. “Shinju” means pearl in Japanese.
Though Christina’s creativity with jewellery bloomed at a later age, the minute she embarked on the journey she never looked back.
She learnt about the trade constantly, creating new and unique designs, which sold well. The encouraging support from family members and friends spurred her to create more and more.
Her initial success prompted her to expand and by 2006, she had launched Shinju Pearls at the Lot 10 shopping mall in KL by teaming up with her younger sister Diana who still operates from the outlet today.
Despite having a vast collection of pearls, Christina’s personal favourite remains the renowned Japanese Akoya pearls, not so much for their value or shape, but because they bring back fond memories of her childhood.
“Akoyas are actually the most popular cultured pearl used in pearl strands and earrings. These are high quality pearls and the first Japanese pearls to be cultured in the 1920s. Often set with gold clasps, their white and rose tones and deep, beautiful lustre complement those with fair complexions. Akoya pearls are similar to the freshwater pearls except that they are larger, smoother, rounder and more lustrous,” said Christina, who regards her mother’s Akoya pearls as a treasure.
Shinju Pearls’ outlet in the Bangsar Village II shopping centre was set up six months ago and has a wide collection of pearls and semi-precious stones of all kinds.
“My intention when I first set up Shinju Pearls was to see every girl and woman being able to afford the beauty of pearls. That’s why I create designs with particular age groups in mind. For young girls, the designs are more modern and brash, whereelse for working women, we have designs that are more elegant and understated,” said Christina, who is the third of four siblings.
She added, “Every girl or woman should be able to enjoy wearing pearls because it gives them a certain confidence and makes them presentable no matter what the occasion is.”
Most of Christina’s designs include everything from classic designs, everyday accessories, statement pieces, to bridal jewellery.
“I like to include semi-precious gemstones like rubies, garnets, topaz, emeralds, jade into my pearl designs to give it that unique and classy look.
“I replace the usual platinum or white gold fittings with silver and there are some designs that can be mixed and matched with other sets,” said Christina, who started designing her own jewellery in 2005.
Each piece of jewellery is designed, handmade and marketed by Shinju Pearls. Today, Shinju Pearls has five shops in Malaysia — Lot 10 (established in 2006), Pavillion (2008), Great Eastern Mall Ampang (2008), Bangsar Village II (2013) and the SkyPark Terminal of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (2013). The company also has two counters within the Isetan department stores in the Gardens mall and KLCC.
Beyond its local presence, Shinju Pearls’ pieces are also marketed through a distributor in Europe.
Christina says, next year, the company is going to open another retail counter at KLIA 2.
“Each store has a unique concept and is stocked with a carefully customised product mix, all endorsed with certificates of authenticity. We hope to capture a wide range of new customers and returning clients,” said Christina, who began to expand Shinju Pearls’ retail presence in 2009.
Christina is assisted by her sister in the running of the operations and retail sides of all Shinju Pearls stores.
“It’s not easy to conceptualise and design each new jewellery collection. Besides putting your creativity to test, you have to be very detailed about every item produced. Our new collections are launched every two months because our loyal customers return time and again to check on what is new,” Christina said, adding that her creative juices work overtime when she chances upon inspirations for new designs or themes.
“The trends in jewellery are not predictable. You can’t forecast what will be hot and trendy in the future. You can only guess by the feedback you get and gauging from market trends. I try to accommodate my customers and that’s a really tall order to fill because there are a wide range of tastes across different markets,” she said.
According to Christina, the three most popular types of pearls used for jewellery these days are the South Sea pearls, Akoya pearls and freshwater pearls.
“Each has its own qualities, and depending on your personality and budget, you can choose any one of these pearls and benefit from the elegance they impart,” said Christina, adding that she has her father Toh Kam Soon to thank for her disciplined work ethic.
Among the more unique looking offerings from Shinju Pearls are baroque pearls, which can cost about RM3,000 for a necklace strand.
“A baroque is an odd-looking pearl. The shape is irregular and the pearl formation does not always occur in this type of pearl. Since these pearl cysts are unable to overcome the resistance of tough muscle fibres in some oysters, they assume unusual shapes, which makes them very unique. I normally include Swarovski crystal with baroque pearls.
“Baroque pearls are abstract and considered the oddballs because of their endless irregular shapes, but they are highly lustrous and beautiful especially if you are able to set them creatively. Natural saltwater pearls are usually baroque or semi-baroque. Perfectly round ones are extremely rare,” explained Christina who sourced her gemstones from Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar.
Christina says, contrary to the convential wisdom that you can only wear pearls on special occasions, pearls are the kind of jewellery with understated elegance that can be worn every day, from day into evening and with everything from blue jeans to evening gowns and everything in between.
“Our pearls are very versatile and the designs have special twists with nature inspired and a classic appeal. Some are timeless yet modern to complement today’s women,” said Christina who draws inspirations from things in the animal kingdom, flowers and even creepy crawlies.
“Each piece is handmade using pearls and semi-precious gemstones. And we also take custom orders,” said Christina who is assisted by gemologist Wan Ken Wee.
Wan, who is also a director in Shinju Pearls, is on hand to give his expert views on the gemstones and pearls used in the shop.
“Pearls are unique gemstones and they have different grading standards depending on the seven factors — quality, value, size, shape, colour, lustre, beauty and surface quality. Their size and quality depend on the size and health of the molluscs that produce the pearls, the size of the nucleus and also the climate and conditions of the mollusc’s growth.
“Often, customers need assurance on the gemstones that they are purchasing, whether it is a real gemstone or pearl. I normally appraise the gemstones and identify their grade,” said Wan, a gemologist certified by the Gemological Institute of America.
Christina says, next year she is going to embark on a franchising programme. She is looking at recruiting 20 franchisees for Shinju Pearls.
“This franchise programme is specially targeted for aspiring women who want to build a business with us. They will be trained for a month and should be able to carry Shinju Pearls image. There are three different modules — RM50,000 for kiosks, RM100,000 for retail counters and RM350,000 for shoplots,” said Christina.
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