New Warrnambool jewellery store to add some sparkle to Liebig Street

Macchia Jewellers will open its doors next week after the latest COVID-19 lockdown delayed plans to open the doors this week.

But it is not the first store Dino Macchia has opened since the pandemic began.

In October he opened a store in Hamilton which was also hit by lockdowns which delayed the opening there by two months.

Mr Macchia said it had turned out be a good decision to open in Hamilton, and he was hoping to repeat that success in Warrnambool.

After opening his first store in Horsham in 2004, he expanded to Naracoorte two-and-a-half years ago and during the pandemic was able to move into a bigger store in the town's main street.

While he is also considering opening other stores in Mount Gambier and possibly Ballarat, Mr Macchia and his wife are planning to make Warrnambool their new home.

Mr Macchia said his business would be more than just retail store, specialising in restoring and remodelling jewellery as well as custom jewellery made from scratch.

The doors will finally open on the new Warrnambool store next Monday but they will celebrate with a grand opening next month - if COVID allows.

Mr Macchia said he would also be hosting pink diamond nights focusing on the now closed Australian Argyle diamond mine.

He said pink diamonds had outperformed real estate, rare art and rare cars in recent years with one that was once worth $8000 now worth $38,000.

"Over 20 years it has outperformed everything," he said.

"In 2019, these were about 10 times the price of a white diamond."

Mr Macchia said that fewer people were choosing to be jewellers as a career.

He said when he first started in trade school about 30 years ago there were three classes of 30, now there was only one class of about 15 every second year.

CORONAVIRUS STORIES:

We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we aim to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.