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Diamonds, they say, are forever and gold, precious but very few know they can be such good investment as well. One of Nigeria’s top jewelers, Sherifat Mohammed who has been dealing in the precious stones since 2016 has given some reasons why they are more than precious stones.
“Gold somewhat has more value than diamonds in their elements but in jewelry form you really cannot separate because diamonds are set in gold, they go hand in hand. But in their elements (raw form), gold seems to be more valuable because the value is more predictable and stable compared to diamonds. Rather than keeping cash, it is better to invest in gold because it doesn’t fall and rise like the dollars. It is the most secure and stable investment known to man,” she said in a recent interview.
“Like every other investment it all depends on the demand and the supply in the market at the time you’re considering buying, selling or investing. For hundreds of years, gold has been considered a very secure investment. The price of gold per ounce is the same across the world. The price doesn’t change if gold is new bullion or heirloom jewelry,” she added.
Sherifat Mohammed does nothing but sell everything from solid gold to diamond jewelry. For this, she has become popular and has dined with the rich and the famous of the society. But for married couples and about-to-marry, which form the crust of her customers, the Okene woman has a piece of advice.
“I would say go for what you can afford at the moment, there will always be room for an upgrade. Buy from a tested and trusted vendor as it can be difficult to spot a fake jewelry at first sight, a gold plated and solid gold jewelry can look identical but overtime the true identity of the gold plated will show,” she said.
Sherifat Mohammed herself stumbled on the business of jewelry after she was relieved of her former corporate job. Her experience from skint in other businesses like the fabric business showed her the way and from then on there was no turning back for her.
Recalling how it all started she said, “It happened that my wedding rings had become too small for my fingers after childbirth, so I surfed the web to see if I could get something low priced to manage with the hopes that my finger size would return to normal later. I did find some low priced silver rings and on arrival they were more beautiful than imagined and looked more expensive than the price I got them. I decided to put them up for sale on Facebook and to my greatest surprise I got a buyer the next day. I was so happy after my first sale and bought a few more rings. I used the same platform to market and sell and within a few days the little stock I had was also sold out. My husband noticed how excited and driven I was so he gave me some money to buy more which I did and that was how my jewelry business started.”
Sherifat Mohammed, has a BSc in Accounting from Bowen University, Iwo and a Masters degree in Human Resources Management from the University of Bradford in the UK.
She started working in 2010 with an engineering company called Global Ocean and moved to British Council in 2013 till September 2015. She started business in 2016 by dealing in human hair, fabrics and even telephone accessories before finding a niche in the jewelry business.
Sherifat Mohammed is happily married with kids and from Okene in Kogi State. She was born on September 26 1985 in Lagos, Nigeria.
Her BOZ Jewelry company which was officially registered with Corporate Affairs Commission in July 2019 operates from three outlets, namely; Lekki and Yaba, in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
