Gems and jewellery: a boost from the social community

"We started at the dawn of Instagram: we didn't even have an ecommerce at the time, but we focused on business-to-consumer communication to make the customer understand what they are buying." Recalling the beginnings of her business is Veronica Varetta, born in 1992, a degree in economics and experience abroad in luxury, in 2014 she founded Lil Milan, a brand of jewellery designed and made in Italy that has made social - and in particular Instagram - a decisive tool for building a community that today arrives from all over Italy and in the future, potentially, foreign markets. "Our customers are between 20 and 45 years old, there are people who are now loyal customers who have been following us since 2014, others are new consumers to whom we have to make it clear what kind of products we are dealing with, that we deal in gold for example, and that the price of gold at the moment is very high, 82 euro per gram". A dialogue, the one via social media, which is not simple but which has been refined and evolved over time, also thanks to the physical spaces that Lil Milan has opened: the Lil House, a space that goes beyond the classic idea of a shop and points more to the concept of a speakeasy, but also corners at Rinascente and a temporary store at Rome's Termini Station. "The idea is to strengthen the brand, telling its identity," says Varetta. In Lil Milan's future there is definitely experimentation: "The price of gold is pushing me to experiment with new materials such as marble, mother of pearl".

L’anello Caterina di Isambrosiana, in oro 18kt con zaffiro non scaldato dal taglio ovale in tonalità rosa pesca e diamanti

Again from Milan, but this time during Covid, the adventure of Isabella Cantù Rajnoldi, a gemmologist, started instead. She has built her own independent business also thanks to the power of Instagram where, as @isambrosiana, she began to tell about gems and jewellery, to sell them and, now, to also hold auctions of gems that she buys at the world's main fairs, from Hong Kong to Santa Fe: "My passion is gems," she explains, "and I started telling about them on Instagram with 'mini-courses' at the time of the lockdown and then I moved on to sales. At the end of 2020, I quit my job and started my own business in March 2021". Today Isambrosiana sells natural stones, designs jewellery made in Italy from 18kt gold and sells all over the country: 'They buy from Turin to Sicily, but I also have some customers abroad. Most of the pieces I sell via social media, then those who want a customised ring or perhaps rethink a piece of jewellery they already owned with the Fenice project do it in person'.

Buyers 'are many women who give themselves gifts, but there are also men who want a ring for an engagement proposal'. The latest in chronological order is the gemstone auction business: 'I was inspired by an American account, I created a dedicated profile and sell quality stones, always natural, with a good price. Forty per cent of those who buy them then also commission the jewellery from me'.