Lacking that special touch: Philips showing the difference between a handcrafted jewellery (green) and the one made by 3D metal printers and AI. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: As it is “impossible” to hire young Malaysian gold craftsmen, a luxury jeweller has dozens of 3D metal printing machines powered by artificial intelligence.
But it is not good enough – the machines just cannot replicate some handmade works of art.
“There is something about human mastery that machines just cannot follow,” said Amee Philips, who owns a chain of luxury jewellery stores in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore which she founded in 2002.
“Intelligent machines can make detailed, accurate cuts, but there are designs our masters can craft that the machines cannot replicate.”
This is a big problem for jewellery business owners like her. Philips has a team of Malaysian goldsmiths who have been with her for decades, but nearly all of them are well past retirement age, and there is no new blood.
“I would use the word ‘impossible’ when it comes to looking for young Malaysian goldsmiths and this is a problem we are seriously looking into,” she said.
Malaysia exports close to RM8bil in gold jewellery a year, she said, but “today’s generations lack the patience it takes to master goldsmithing”.
She said it took years of passionate dedication to become a master goldsmith, and although the rewards were good, she had not encountered any young Malaysian willing to stick to it.
Young master goldsmiths can be found in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, and “... though I haven’t tried, I am told it is difficult bring them into Malaysia as skilled foreign labour because, instead of formal training, these masters spent years as apprentices without certification”.
The industry, she said, had thus embraced 3D metal printing and the use of artificial intelligence, which can shape precious metals into intricate art pieces.
“I do feel that such pieces are almost as good, but there is a certain special touch to handmade pieces.
“Those who love jewellery can recognise and will marvel at handmade pieces because they are really works of art,” Philips said.
Penang Goldsmiths Association adviser Dr Joeson Khor said this dearth of Malaysian goldsmiths was a 20-year-old problem.
“At that time, few young people were willing to go into this industry because manual production was slow and the wages were not high.
“Jewellery factories adopted mechanisation on a large scale, reducing the need for human mastery.
“What’s more, mechanical technology can make gold jewellery very light to reduce costs, which is something that manual labour cannot do,” he said.
Khor said the jewellery business in Malaysia had not been as good as expected and even though official reports show that exports had increased, it was largely because the price of gold had doubled in the past five years, which has led to a sharp increase in revenue.
