Once - a Lilliput among Gulivers

by Lakmal Welabada

Little far away from the town of Horana, a young man of 18 years amidst a gem auction was battling with some buyers in high tone. The 'veterans' were bewildered to watch this young rascal who looked like a Lilliput among Gulivers jumping on his toes to battle his voice across the crowd. He was still a school boy and there he was with a team of his school mates, trying to break into the world of business.

Pinsiri Wijayapala (alias Wijaya) was benevolent. Sitting at his cosy chair revolving around in his air conditioned boardroom of his newest outlet, 'Christina'.

Wijaya looks at the glitz of the jewellery placed ostentatious in the show cases at 'Christina'. He took a few of the dummies to his hand while chatting about his 'history'.

On and off he was describing the value, shapes and colours of the blue sapphires instilled in extremely expensive metals -platinum, white gold and yellow gold; which were on the dummies in the form of enchanting jewellery.

He recollected of how he looked at the few stones placed on his palm which he bought from the auction that day for Rs,200. It was the very first 'gems' he had purchased. The next step was to find a buyer for them. He tried. Opportunity would not pass on to someone at once and with ease. It took a long period for him to sell them. But he was never discouraged. Any other eighteen-year-old would give up. It's a risky job.

Risking ones money. But this man never felt it. He never wants to turn back. Gain and loss; both he accepted with a sense of modesty.

Wijaya was born to a family with six siblings. He was the fifth out of the seven. His father was a small businessman who tried to give the best of everything for his children. Wijaya had his education at the Vidyartha Pirivena, Horana. After A/Ls he began to do the external degree in Arts. Econ, History and Sinhala, were his subjects. Meanwhile he joined his brother who was conducting a tutory in the Horana town. Wijaya started teaching A/L history and O/L Maths at the tutory.

The money he earned from teaching was invested in his gem business. The commission and profit of Rs. 50 or 60 that he made was a great for him. His feet treaded every nook and corner of the Horana area looking for gem mines, competing with veteran buyers, investing his money on the precious stones.

In two months. The little man won over the trust and faith of miners and sellers. Soon his shirt pockets were filled with gems. His in-born skill and intuition to identify and value the little 'hard pieces' of stone soon showered him profits.

Many young tend to go astray when money starts to show up on them, they tend to waste it on night clubs and women. But Wijaya was wise. He re-invested which opened up the golden gates for him.

At the age of twenty (during the year 1979 - 80) he became a leading seller of gems to Thai buyers in the Horana area. He became a owner of a 50 acre rubber estate which he bought for 14 Lakhs alone with a house worth of 14 Lakhs. He was only 23 years.

He grew with his business. Nothing demoralised him and there was no turning back or stepping downward.

All through out he was dealing with gems and in un-polished stones. His target was to enter the international market. After ten years Wijaya installed machines (that could cut and polish gems) in his own workshop. This helped him to supply the local market.

"Other than Thailand, Japan and the US were the other two big buyers of gems. However the Japanese gem market dropped. But the US market rose," he explains. "Sri Lanka is famous for the blue Sapphires though we produce other stones as well.

Some countries prefer pinks (red rubies) while another would prefer yellows. This depends on the weather and the light condition of that land. The glitz of a stone under the bright sun in Sri Lanka would appear differently in comparison to the gloomy weather as of in a western country.

So the response and the demand for each colour and shine defer from one place to the other. As for example German, Switzerland, Italy and France would prefer blue sapphires, while the Japanese and Koreans market will go mainly for Rubies. At present blue, white and yellow Sapphires have a big demand," he said.

"The best gem mines are said to be in Kashmir a nd Burma. A blue sapphire known as the 'Kashmir Sapphire' even found there would be certified according to the incursions and colour of the stone no matter where it is found. It can be found in Sri Lanka, India or Tanzania. It would be categorised and the value would rise up extremely high accordingly.

"The 'Ceylon Sapphires' are the second best. No matter where it is found, 'Ceylon stone' is the standard reference given. At present the mines both in Kashmir and Burma are not functioning and Tanzania and Madagascar are the two competitors in the present market," he explains.

Discovering the heat treatment method in Gewuda gems stirred the gem market. Wijaya says that the colour and shine in a gem stone is adhered by being in the heat of the earth for centuries.

Same effect can be achieved for the Gewuda stones under the heat treatment in a laboratory. "But the value would differ. Earlier the heat treated stones were not accepted by people though they were within the reachable price. But later, eventually these stones were accepted as alternatives since genuine stuff is highly expensive. The heated stones are bright or in colour, but the natural stones are 50 percent more expensive than the treated ones," he points out.

Five years back Wijaya opened up his first Gem Centre at the World Trade Centre, under the name of Wijaya Gems and Jewellery Collection.

It opened more doors for him for the retail local market. "Since I travel all over the world as a gem merchant, I could gather a vast knowledge in jewellery business as I have been always dealing and associating with jewellery manufacturers, retail sellers, brand names, newest trends and fashions in the world trade of jewellery.

I've been upgrading myself in jewellery as well. This provoked me to get in to the jewellery trade as well, I suppose. That dream had been in me for a quite a long time. And 'Christina' is that dream which came true," he smiles contently.

Six years back Wijaya bought the property on Galle Road, Kollupitiya. After constructing the building, 'Christina' was installed in it with world class standard jewellery of the finest standard blue Sapphires and many other high valued gem stones.

They were some of the great master pieces of local and best designs made by craftsmen. "Whether it is a tiny piece of blue Sapphire for a young office girl or a luxurious piece studded with gems and diamonds for a demanding lady or a gent we cater with no fuss.

Ours is top class and exclusive. I have a good collection of gem stones," he claims. Quite impressive to hear that a Sri Lankan has come up in international business to a such a higher point. What does this little man say about his family? "Well I got married 1991.

She is Himali. A businessman has two worlds; business and family. Both has to be balanced if to rise up successfully. She is the soul of my family, looking after my five children and home front. It is great, as it gives me more time and peace of mind to engage in my bushiness.

If not for her support I wouldn't have come up this far," he smiles. "I have two sons and three daughters. My eldest is 14 years and the youngest celebrated her first birthday on March 28, the day 'Christina' was opened," he smiles again.

Wijaya's story reminds me the recent Hindi film shown at the Savoy cinema, 'Guru'. He seems another 'Guru Bahai' who faced all the challenges and came up in life. Today Wijaya owns a sales branch in Bangkok and Wijaya Holiday Resort, Kiriella, Ratnapura.

He earned money to buy gems by teaching at his brother's tutory. The little businessman who has not forgotten the past, runs an educational academy too Sipna Educational Institute in Colombo.

"My business is aimed for five generations. I'm very happy about my success. I have a good team of workers, and we treat the customer as a king. We maintain quality, we value that more than the profit we gain," he concluded.