The most common picture of a woman making jewellery in South Africa will include beads and twine, but not if it has Noxolo Mseleku in it. The Ilovu-born KwaZulu-Natal lass ventured into the shiniest of forever metal industries – diamonds and gold.
Mseleku didn’t let the disappointment of not making it into the architecture programme at the University of Johannesburg break her. She took an uncharted route via the scenic plains of Tuscany, the home of architecture in Italy, where she spent two years between 2015 and 2017 on a jewellery scholarship, and later in Antwerp in Belgium.
“I am definitely a sucker for romance and beautiful things, but what inspires me most are gemstones,” she said.
With the lemons of rejection, Mseleku made lemonade.
“Jewellery chose me; I didn’t choose it,” she said, adding that it was a shift that made sense. “It was still about designing, drawing, creativity, so it was a similar journey to architecture.”
Mseleku’s artistic flair was evident even as a child when she would make her own clothes, so moving to jewellery was only about a change of materials from textiles to precious metals.
Returning to South Africa, Mseleku briefly worked for Browns, but soon discovered that opportunities for qualified jewellery designers were scarce. So again, instead of feeling sorry for herself, she launched her own company, Elegânté, which means “elegance” in Italian.
“I decided to be the change I want to see,” she said.
So, she set off again to develop new knowledge and fresh expertise as a business owner.
“I’m a creative at heart,” she said. “But because I have a brand now, I have to bring in some business elements.”
Today, Elegânté is an employer of three design and manufacturing professionals. “They do the design and manufacture, and I do everything else – the sales and marketing.”
Of course, Mseleku had a helping hand along the way, joining the De Beers Enterprise Programme, where she received support to develop her business. “The programme provides a range of support services, including mentorship, training and access to resources, to help businesses scale sustainably and contribute to the local and global diamond economies,” she said.
Mseleku has featured in various international exhibitions and plans to plant her first international retail outlet in Singapore. Her track record indicates this is possible. One doesn’t make the top 10 in the PlatAfrica, win the Rand Refinery Enterprise Development competition in 2021, and receive an award from the Department of Minerals and Resources and Energy for upcoming entrepreneurs in the industry without the talent, skills and drive.
According to the National Mapping Study of the Creative and Cultural Industries, women owners are far better represented in some of the Unesco cultural domains: visual arts and crafts, photography and culture.
So, looking ahead, Mseleku plans to return to retail within the next five to 10 years. She had to close her first shop during the Covid-19 shutdown. Her vision includes multiple branches, a larger workshop and more employment opportunities for fellow creatives.
