Melissa Beetge, the maker of Classique Jewellery, grew up in the North Shore, Auckland, working for six years before attending Massey University, where she gained her degree in Accounting.
Following her studies, Beetge worked for a handful of engineering companies doing bookkeeping before moving to Sydney in 2017, where she met her partner.
"We moved back to New Zealand in late 2020 when I was six months pregnant," shared Beetge.
Beetge's love of jewellery spans back into her childhood, as she reminisced that her mother hosted jewellery parties where companies would come to their home, allowing her and her friends to purview their products and have the chance to purchase.
She further described that whenever she and her mother passed a jewellery shop whilst out, they would stop to look inside the window displays.
Beetge created an Etsy jewellery shop in 2018 while living in Sydney. However, she didn't have the time to cultivate the shop truly. Therefore it fizzled out.
However, Classique Jewellery started in April 2022, when her son turned one.
"I'm a stay-at-home mum, and once my son was a little older, I could focus more on my jewellery. I liked the idea of jewellery having a purpose. I'm quite a sentimental person, so I wanted my jewellery to be able to reflect that."
Beetge shared that in 2016 her cat passed away, and she scoured the internet looking for a necklace she could wear as a memory.
Eventually, Beetge found something from overseas. Her search solidified the knowledge that she wasn't the only one who shared this sentimentality, leading her to create jewellery that would be able to save moments in time and memories for those who wanted jewellery like her.
Currently, Beetge does everything for her business, including marketing, branding, and selling, crafting all the jewellery ordered and packaging it to ensure everything sent out is quality assured.
When describing her range, Beetge shared that Classique Jewellery is focused on handcrafting personalised, dainty, and minimal jewellery that can be worn daily. While Beetge has begun making jewellery for women, she has expanded into creating men's and children's jewellery.
"Our most popular pieces are the hand-stamped disc necklaces, particularly the Midi and Small Disc necklace."
Beetge stated that what was loved in her range was its unique feature of allowing customers to add as many flat discs to their necklaces as they like, each of which can be personalised with stamps or font however the customer likes.
Each of Beetge's products is created with either sterling silver with the option of 14k gold filled, which she described as when a thin layer of gold is pressure bonded onto a base metal.
In comparison to gold-plated, gold-filled jewellery has 100 times more go. This is because of its thicker layer of gold, which stops the skin from being exposed to the base layer of metal the gold is bonded to.
"This is great for those with sensitive skin, and you don't have to worry about your skin turning green."
Furthermore, Beetge shared that she tries to be as environmentally friendly as possible, with the brand's packaging being either recyclable or compostable.
For Beetge, customer satisfaction was paramount, as she stated that each piece of jewellery she crafts is reviewed by her before its sent.
"If I'm unhappy, I will remake or restamp it. I'm also open to creating new pieces to fit the customer's requirements. For example, a customer liked the opal threads but asked if I could make it as a hook earring instead. I was more than happy to do this for her."
To keep up with trends and customer demands, Beetge monitors the market, observing what is happening around her and incorporating customer ideas of what they'd like to see, inspiring her to create customer-specific pieces.
When describing what she valued in her practice, she emphasised that each item she made, particularly her hand-stamped pieces, was meaningful and sentimental whilst simultaneously being one-of-a-kind.
"Each hand-stamped piece is unique, so there will be no two identical products."
Secondly, she was proud of the quality of her products, stating that it was important to her that the jewellery she created would last for years to come. As a small business, Beetge shared that she was involved with every order from start to finish, reiterating that she creates products for customers that she is happy with.
Beetge stated her son was her greatest achievement. However, when discussing Classique Jewellery, she shared that her most significant achievement was making her hobby of creating jewellery into a working business.
For the future, Beetge wants to expand her jewellery lines, including increasing her men's and children's range. Secondly, she would like to add more to her women's range with beaded items and hoops.
Finally, Beetge would like to reach a point of expansion with the brand, where she can hire one or two people.
Classique Jewellery can be found online and on Instagram.
