“It was so scary. I was moving from earning a salary to this do-or-die business and it was really so intense,” said Sarah Ng, the director and founder of Daughters Diamonds
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Considering that Sarah Ng, the director and founder of Daughters Diamonds, a bespoke jewellery store in Paragon, grew up watching her mother, a jewellery designer, create and sell her creations, it certainly is a surprise that she only learnt to love diamonds and precious gems by accident when she was 25.
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“I studied Mass Communications and Psychology in school and worked in an advertising agency. I didn’t intend to work at the store at first,” Ng shared. “I was 25 when I started developing an interest in jewellery and decided to work with my mum full-time.”
At that point, Ng’s mother had been running her jewellery store, Sulin Serio, for about 20 years.
“I grew up watching my mum run her store and watching her create beautiful pieces in her home studio. So I think at that point, I decided to just give it a try. I quit my old job and began helping her out at the store full-time,” said Ng.
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However, Ng’s decision to move to help her mother full-time at Sulin Serio was not a quiet one. “Many of my friends and my mum’s friends and long-time clients knew I had made the move. That said, not everyone knew I wasn’t the one doing the designing and that my mother was still in charge of that," shared Ng.
“One day, I got a request from a friend who was looking to get an engagement ring made. He wanted a diamond on it and asked if I could do it,”
Not wanting to turn down a friend, Ng decided to pool all the skills she gained watching her mother as well as the contacts she had made over the years to get this project done.
“I was actually in Hong Kong at that point so I had access to a few specialists in diamonds and jewellery making. So I tapped on them and the end result was this gorgeous one-carat diamond engagement ring that they loved,” said Ng.
It was this single ring that ignited Ng’s passion for diamonds and precious gems.