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by Wiki Wickramarathna

On the invitation of Nafal Ansary, Chairman of NIFALS (Pvt) Ltd. Mr. Ibaraki, an experienced instructor in hi-tech jewellery manufacture and Mr. Fujiwara' a gentleman experienced in hi-tech jewellery tools, from Osaka, Japan, are in Sri Lanka to study the feasibility of setting up a training centre for local jewellery craftsmen.

Mr. Ibaraki, who has retired from work in Japan loves Sri Lanka. He wishes to teach local craftsmen in modern hi-tech methods of making exclusive jewellery, which could be readily sold in the lucrative markets of Japan and elsewhere. According to Mr. Ibaraki, "The Sri Lankan jewellery trade is missing its share of the Japanese market, due to poor quality. As an example he added, that the heating of the metal to weld a claw to the base, is done by mouth blowing: By doing this the craftsman has to turn his head, causing his eye-line to be out of focus with the piece he is working on, therefore the claws tend to get welded out of shape. He emphasised that this could be avoided by using an electric blower.

After visiting many jewellery workshops in Galle, he opines that our craftsmen are talented and skilled, but due to the lack of high quality equipment, proper training & supervision, they are unable to manufacture jewellery according to their true potential. Further many working hours are lost by using out-dated and inefficient equipment. Mr. Ibaraki, very knowledgeable about jewellery from design through manufacture, upto the final polishing of the finished product, sincerely wishes to help local craftsmen on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Ibaraki, would return to Sri Lanka, in March, this year. He would bring with him professional jewellery samples and tools, hoping to commence his training programme immediately with about 5 trainees. The necessary infrastructure for the training program would be provided in Galle by Mr. Ansary. When the trainees prove that they are capable of manufacturing very high quality jewellery, Mr. Ibaraki states that they could be sent to Japan for further advanced training or employment.

Mr. Fujiwara wishes to explore the possibility of setting up a modern jewellery tools manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka. He also would like to instruct existing manufacturers of jewellery tools. Hi-quality jewellery tools properly made in Sri Lanka, could be sold locally and even exported to Japan and other countries. Mr. Fujiwara is of the opinion that Sri Lanka is about 20 years behind Japan, in the manufacture of jewellery tools, this he says is the main reason for being unable to produce good quality jewellery.

Mr. Fujiwara, Mr. Ibaraki and Mr. Ansary, hope that the Sri Lankan government would extend its full support to this training programme. Sri Lanka should be grateful that these two Japanese gentlemen, have volunteered to train our youth, by sharing their vast knowledge, in this exclusive trade.

Mr. Nifal Ansary, gem merchant, jeweller & antique dealer has his main office at the Galadari Hotel and in Osaka, Japan. The co-ordinator is Mr. Nizam Bushurdeen, who hails from a prominent jewellery manufacturing family, in Matara. All these gentlemen are hopeful that the government would place this programme with the proposed 100 days accelerated development programme. 

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