AFTER CONSULTING WITH MY BATTALION OF LAWYERS, IT IS SAFE TO DECLARE WINNIE SIN IS MALAYSIA'S MOST BEAUTIFUL, SEXY AND ALLURING JEWELLER. I CANNOT THINK OF ANOTHER UPSCALE FEMALE JEWELLER WHO CAN CLAIM TO BE LOVELIER OR MORE CHIC THAN WINNIE SIN.
Perennially clad in exquisite jewels and designer garments, Winnie Sin personifies her trade, looking as polished, precious and pricey as her unique, one-off investment jade, pearls and rubies.
First, Winnie Sin is usually mistaken for a Hong Kong movie star, Taiwanese singer or Chinese superstar whose name you cannot quite recall. She has the star quality in spades. Then she is very tall, 5 ft 7 inches and taller than her daughter Sin Hui Cin who has just joined the family firm Rafflesia.
Winnie Sin is also the only jeweller who looks like one! Those I know hardly wear jewels and they expect others to do so! I am usually mistaken for a jeweller as I glitter like a Christmas tree with bulbs on full blast. I can never recover from female jewellers who seem to wear costly jewels under duress when they should be doing so when asleep.
I get the impression most female jewellers sell bling as a business they way they sell computers, second-hand cars, armaments or spare parts. If I sell expensive jewels, I will be the male version of Winnie Sin, beautifully decked in sumptuous jewels and looking like a million US dollars which Winnie Sin looks like whenever she leaves her house. Her mansion, by the way, is around 27,000 sq ft which is bigger than my palatial condo as she sells top quality jade, rubies and pearls to top grade clients!
And now her beautiful daughter Sin Hui Cin, 24, has joined Rafflesia Pearl Centre and Mandalay Jade & Ruby as marketing manager and this new photo campaign is her brainchild. Sin Hui Cin graduated in Business Management from the posh, prestigious and pricey London School of Economics.
Many of Malaysia's biggest stars and celebrities have been associated with Rafflesia over the years as Rafflesia is synonymous with red-carpet, star-studdedand bling-heavy events.
Rafflesia Pearl Centre sponsored pearl-laden gowns for the weddings of Dato Siti Nurhaliza, Amber Chia and Memey while Ning Baizura looked resplendent in a Malay wedding dress.
Famous stars Erra Fazira and Lisdawati wore Rafflesia jewels for their weddings to ensure they looked fabulous on their big day.
Bond Girl Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh wore Rafflesia pearl jewellery at Cannes Film Festival when she walked the red carpet.
Winnie Sin also worked with Dato Professor Jimmy Choo for bespoke Jimmy Choo Couture shoes hand-sewn with pearls, jade and rubies which were exhibited at Muzium Negara, not once but twice! Winnie Sin of Rafflesia has thus entered history as the only living female Chinese jeweller to exhibit her creations in the national museum.
However, the best model to model her wares remains herself. She has take dazzling photos of herself glowing radiantly in jade, pearls and rubies but this time she has roped in a back-up model!
Says Winnie Sin, "Hui Cin says it is time to release new photos of me but I said OK provided she would also model with me! At first she was reluctant as she is not the flashy type but I reminded her the main appeal of Rafflesia and Mandalay is the personal touch! Our family firm is now into the third generation as my mother-in-law started the business.
"Rafflesia is tiny compared to Cartier or Piaget but we have carved a niche after three decades in supplying best grade jade and pearls. Customers have long become my friends and they buy because they trust me and have my hand phone number!
"Now the children of many of my original customers are buying from us! The new generation is the same age group as my daughter Hui Cin so it is a perfect fit."
Adds the new model, "So I said yes and suggested the photos should be in black and white. This sounds like a radical departure as no jeweller would dream of promoting their bling in black and white as potential buyers would be unable to see the actual colours.
"But I proposed we would be in black and white and the jewels retain their colour. Mum is always receptive to new ideas and quickly agreed as she likes the novelty of it all."
Lest we forget, there is a man behind the scene. Sin Cheang Loong the husband of Winnie Sin and daddy of Sin Hui Cin! He concurs. "The black and white concept sounds wonderful as the focus is totally on the jewels which are in colour. The viewers' eyes are automatically drawn to the only things that are in full, vivid colour which are the jewels we are marketing!"
HAIR; DICK CHIN OF HAIR GALLERY AT JW MARRIOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY; NIZAR HAFIZ MUSTAFA OF WHITELIPS
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