Words: Tina Edward Gunawardhana
Siblings Thiyasha and Ayesh De Fonseska are leading the next generation of jewellery entrepreneurs who are fully immersed in the business established by their parents many decades ago. For the brother and sister duo who are now seen as the faces of Tiesh Jewellers their biggest mentor has been their father. According to Ayesh, their dad Lasantha De Fonseka is a self made businessman and entrepreneur whose work ethic has inspired him in numerous ways. For Thiyasha apart from her dad, her grand aunt Barbara Edirisnghe who was the first female gemmologist in Sri Lanka is also a great inspiration.
Speaking about the new collection they are about to launch, the siblings say “This collection contains a wide array of some of our classic Tiesh designs as well as our new ORO collection launching in October. The collection comprises Diamonds, Blue Sapphires, Pink Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies”. The stones are mounted on three different metals which are yellow gold, white gold and rose gold which enables their clients to have a variety to select from.
Describing the collection further, Ayesh says “We have used a lot of classic design elements in these collections, a lot of inspiration has been drawn from the heavy gem stone studded collections from brands such as Bvlgari, Tiffany, etc”
Commenting on the jewellery trends that Tiesh has witnessed over the years, Thiyasha opines that their clients in the main opt for dainty pieces of jewellery as their work has a certain finesse to it. “It’s very rare that we have clients who would want something bigger. However, once in a while we do get our foreign clients who like a bold statement piece which we are able to provide”. She also states that more Sri Lankans are showing a preference for coloured stones. “That is a good thing, as in Sri Lanka we have some of the most beautiful coloured gem stones which are just fabulous” she adds.
