Rare, Precious, Locally-made and the Promise of a Lifetime: This is the story of Raadhafathi Jewelers

Emerald hues, ruby reds and high clarity diamonds are forever enshrouded in the strength of beautiful metallic settings. What you see is what you get- for a lifetime. Earrings and necklaces that adorn your pulse points beam with twinkle and the promise of a lifetime spent wearing the pieces. Thanks to their artesanal attention to detail, that is the promise placed in every piece that goes out of Raadhafathi. We at Kaleo sat down with the owner of this beautiful business, Ahmed Shafgath Ali as well as their ingenious Marketing Manager, Shahudhan to dive into how the wheels spin in the inner workings of such an establishment.

It was back in 2001, when Shafgath and a partner from Sri Lanka wanted to do something in the Maldives. Having spent his childhood in Sri lanka, he likes to think he has a knack for knowing locals from our neighboring country. Currently Shafgath’s brother-in-law, his partner in the business came from a family over there that had a large business in jewelry-making. “In 2014, we hit 30 and maybe it’s a mid-life crisis thing like, “Alright, we cannot do this forever, so let us follow what we really wanted to do”, but we quit our jobs and began something of our own”, recalled the business’s founder. Thus started a journey that began from seeking gems from Sri lanka, Africa and South America, only to arrive at where Raadhafathi opened its doors in November 2016. “We had established a wholesale network so we have access to such a massive array of gemstones from places where jewelers were not initially interested in supplying to Maldives. That’s why, if you were looking for rare gemstones and walked into Raadhafathi, it is very likely that you will find it there”, Shafgath explained.

“We didn’t have a workshop in Male’ at the beginning, we just had two staff and then there was myself. Later on, the number grew and today we have two goldsmiths working with us. All our jewelry is handmade in Maldives so we are happy to say that as people became more aware of our brand, we have been approached by several islands and businesses to cater to different parts of the country”
~ Shafgath ~ Raadhafathi Founder

Shafgath hopes to take this brand and its precious gems outside of Maldives, “I would like to see a day where the industry grows in this country and even out of this country. There is a great opportunity for Maldivians here, in the field of jewelry and jewelry making”. Highlighting that while this business is still uncharted territory, he noted that the high-end market of Maldives is still mostly catered to by foreigners or by sending jewelry to be made abroad. Shafgath believes that it is high time that Maldivians picked up the mantle.

When asked about the scrumptiously Maldivian name, Raadhafathi, he recalled how the name was chosen from a Maldivian queen that was renowned through the pages of history for her jewelry collection. “Like every business, we were brainstorming names, and one thing we were looking for is that we wanted to have a name from Maldivian royalty”.

It’s all way more than what is in a name, ever the intellectual and avid businessman, Shafgath noted that looking from a business perspective, what sets apart Raadhafathi is the high customizability.

“You might see something nice on Pinterest or our showroom or on tv… anywhere. We create your design, within your own budget and include a natural gemstones that are handmade with gold, silver, platinum or white gold”

 ~ Shafgath ~ Raadhafathi Founder

Only utilizing lab-grown stones as decorative side pieces rather than the main attraction, Shafgath takes pride in their natural gemstones that have been acutely and precisely sourced with great care. “We have the largest variety of natural gemstones in the country, brought from all over the world. We are in touch with markets in a lot of mining nations like Tanzania, Mozambique, India and Sri lanka”.

How long does it usually take to make such a masterpiece? While the typical customer experience means that a Raadhafathi piece takes 5 to 7 days, the business always accommodates a tight deadline if the design is not too complicated. “Not that we want to encourage this, but we have done some orders where it was given while the wedding was tomorrow and we pulled it off”.

“We spend so much on our weddings, what do we take after the wedding has ended. Do we wear our wedding dresses when we go out? We don’t have our wedding backdrops on our walls at home. But we wear our wedding rings throughout the marriage”.

 ~ Shafgath ~ Raadhafathi Founder