Juwelier Bonaldi, jewellery

Do you like what you see?

Upload own pictures

As a jeweller, Rosella Bonaldi has quite the keen eye. So she must

have seen something nobody else did when, over 60 years ago, she

opened her store among a row of modern apartments behind which

only green fields grew. However, since then, Bolzano has spread to

the south and new blocks of flats have sprung up like wild mushrooms.

More apartments mean more people, and more residents

mean potential customers. Bonaldi had moved from Bergamo to

try her luck by opening her own business. Fortune must favour

the bold, for it is still alive and kicking - thriving, actually - now

managed by her daughters when she stepped down in 1996. Right

place, right time, even when the gold and precious jewels business

snowballed, she was helped by three sisters in the shop. So while

the shop is still run by women as in the past, it has unfortunately

suffered a change of fortunes, reminiscent of those old Hollywood

movies, due to the dramatic change in how people shop. Bolzano's

first shopping centre opened ten years ago to much fanfare, which

translated to a 30% drop in business for smaller stores. A trend

compounded by the rise of digitalisation and the resulting change in

how people now favour online shopping compared to visiting brick

and mortar establishments.

The shop's regular clientele spans three generations - but sisters

Elena and Silvia wanted to reach out to a new target market, especially

online consumers. Since then, they've made targeted investments

in their social media presence: their Youtube videos regale

people with details, facts, and trivia about diamonds, what is meant

by "pure gold", and how to tell the difference between 24 karat

and 14 karat gold, or how to spot fake pearls from a mile away. And

believe it or not, you can also find them on TikTok and Instagram

showcasing their products, while Facebook is reserved for presenting

new products. Different media but all united by the family's

knowledge and expertise.