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The family was fully supportive of Koo’s choice. Koo said using her father’s money was not an option as she wanted to run her “own show”. In a microwave you cannot cook something like that,” she said.
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“These are things that really warm people’s heart right and these are slow cooker meals. You go back to the office, half the office is wearing the same wedding band,” she quipped.Ĭustomised jewellery, she said, were the ones that her patrons appreciated the most. “Why is your wedding band the same as hers when you marry someone else? But that was actually the trend in Singapore back then because you just walk into a chain store (and) you grab whatever that is from the counter. She wanted to customise designs for her customers. But this would mean mass-produced jewellery that had no distinguishing features.īut Koo did not want to be a cookie-cutter jeweller. She elaborated that the microwave method meant to open chain stores at a fast pace to reap in profits. “I remember replying to him and saying… ‘you are a microwave and I am a slow cooker’." Of course, she did not heed his suggestion.
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“The suggestion from my father, if I were to think back in year 2005, was why don’t I make use of his resources… money, connection with the banks, why don’t you open 20 outlets, why don’t you work with the bank we are very close with.” Microwave vs slow cooker modelĮven though Wah Chan paved a way into the jewellery industry, Koo was adamant about setting out on her own, refusing aid from her father, who had helped expand Wah Chan to more than 30 stores throughout Malaysia. She used about S$60,000 renovate the Shaw Centre space, some S$10,000 into procuring jewellery samples, and close to S$20,000 in rental deposits.įrom pulling in a revenue of S$50,000 in the first year, eClarity now makes an annual seven-figure revenue, raking in between S$250,000 and S$600,000 in average monthly sales. Using S$80,000 in savings accumulated from her years in corporate and her side hustles, Koo founded eClarity in 2005. She paved her own way financially by selling Manuka honey and nail stickers door-to-door in New York, coupled with selling jewellery on eBay. Koo flew to New York to study gemology in the Gemological Institute of America. She attained a computer science degree from the National University of Singapore and worked in a bank and a telco before she returned to her true love - diamonds. Koo moved to Singapore alone at the age of 13 for her safety and grew independent.Īlso read: This ex-Amazon exec gave up a US$400k job to sell men's underwearĪlso read: After taking the bar exam, this law grad started a gym with up to $80k savingsĪlso read: A psychologist pivots to become a florist. Things changed after she was kidnapped in Malaysia. Speaking to Yahoo Finance Singapore from her shop, Koo, 44, said that she grew up in her grandfather’s store passing her time counting gemstones and speaking with the staff. There, she toiled, young sons in hand, until she moved to her current premises at Ngee Ann City close to a decade later.
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Instead of joining the prominent Wah Chan jewellery chain in Malaysia - her grandfather’s legacy which began as a goldsmith - Koo, founded bespoke jewellery brand eClarity with her own savings in the mid-2000s, renting a unit in Shaw Centre to sell her products. SINGAPORE - She was born with a gold spoon in her mouth, but Amanda Koo decided to forge her own path in the diamond industry. (PHOTO: Yahoo Finance Singapore/Wan Ting Koh) Amanda Koo, founder of eClarity, had a jewellery empire at her back but chose to set out on her own.