Thai jeweller Sitthidej Chavanaves talks about gems, morals and family

"I grew up in the Baan Mor district of Bangkok, which is famous for being Thailand's top jewellery hub. The area is known for local designs rather than international names. It's also a place where shopkeepers and jewellers build their business on trust and long-term personal relationships. For businesses here, any new prospects come from word-of-mouth referrals.

When my grandmother founded our jewellery company, she was always very friendly to customers and placed service as the top priority. This is how she built a good network of customers. Since then, the company has survived and thrived into a fourth-generation family-owned business that spans 100 years.

I learned so much from my family about how to run the business. From my grandfather, I learned about the importance of diligence and hard work. He led by example, and these values were passed onto me and those of my generation.

Moral values are also important to our family, as our line of work requires us to build credibility and trust with customers. This is evident in our company name, Mian Teck, which is derived from the phrase in Chinese and translates roughly to "the continuation of morality".

My father also taught me how to select stones and diamonds. Over time we developed our knowledge so that now we have the specialised skill to sort good gemstones from the bad. I have a strong and intimate knowledge of jewellery and can communicate clearly with our workers spanning the entire jewellery making process.

Although we are based in Bangkok, my family migrated from China. To this day, we still have relatives who live in a city in the country's southern provinces.