Our Story
Sri Lanka is a country where the story of precious gems has its own exotic origins dating back 2000 years, and we are honored to introduce our own chapter in this long and fascinating story.
From the outside Nowgem Jewellers is a manufacturer, a supplier & exporter of fine quality gemstones and jewelry. From the inside we are a tight-knit family, from our management to our store personnel we all share a strong but simple philosophy on how we engage our clients.
Ours is a family business spanning across four generations and our story began 75 years ago with a single gem merchant determined to make his mark in a competitive industry.
Today Nowgem Jewellers is recognised as established dealers and exporters of gems and jewelry. In the early 1900's during the time of my great-grandfather things were different. Gems were in abundance and suppliers could transport bagfuls for buyers to inspect and the focus was primarily to supply buyers in Colombo.
In 1935, my grandfather Saly Mohamed Jabir entered the business. Traditionally suppliers set the terms of purchase and buyers could take it or leave it. It was during these times that my grandfather soon realized something that would be crucial to his success. While many suppliers in his time set the rules for their customers, he began to approach clients differently...taking time to find out the individual needs of his buyers and paying great attention to detail in delivering each order.
As the President Partner of C.M.H.M. Saly & Sons together with his three brothers, he took his responsibilities to heart. Travelling was not easy during the mid 1900's but my grandfather made his first visit to the US in 1948 and to parts of Europe, even Japan in the 1960's, meeting and talking directly to buyers and building a network overseas.
Already established as a strong exporter of his time, my grandfather's philosophy was strengthened by what he learnt during these visits... that customer service mixed with Honesty, Integrity and Fair dealing earned him and the Company a truly unique position locally and internationally. His approach won him great loyalty if not trust in an industry which had many shortcuts to success.
Mohamed Jabir Saly's eldest son, my father Nowfel Saly Jabir entered the business in the year 1958. Between the years 1960 and 1990 the business of gems was a lucrative one, as the boom in the world economy fetched incredibly high prices for Sri Lankan gems.
Trained under the watchful eye of his father Nowfel Saly Jabir faced new challenges during this learning curve. He began by encouraging more buyers to visit Sri Lanka, using his personal influence and capitalising on the growing appetite for Sri Lankan gems he secured a network of long term buyers for both his own company and many other suppliers as well. All this while he was also busy working on developing the jewelry side of the business as well. It was he who officially founded Nowgems in 1984.
His influence and wisdom still contribute to the continuing transformation of Nowgems as it enters this virtual new territory of online trading. Nowfel Jabir served as the President of the Sri Lanka Gem Traders Association, which under his presidency initiated the FACETS show in 1990. Today FACETS is the largest annual exhibition of gems and jewelry in Sri Lanka.
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