Malaysia's Luxury Jewellery Industry Faces Talent Shortage, Embraces AI and 3D Printing

Lacking that special touch: Philips showing the difference between a handcrafted jewellery (green) and the one made by 3D metal printers and AI. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star GEORGE TOWN: As it is “impossible” to hire young Malaysian gold craftsmen, a luxury jeweller has dozens of 3D metal printing machines powered by artificial intelligence.

“There is something about human mastery that machines just cannot follow,” said Amee Philips, who owns a chain of luxury jewellery stores in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore which she founded in 2002. “Intelligent machines can make detailed, accurate cuts, but there are designs our masters can craft that the machines cannot replicate.” This is a big problem for jewellery business owners like her. Philips has a team of Malaysian goldsmiths who have been with her for decades, but nearly all of them are well past retirement age, and there is no new blood. “I would use the word ‘impossible’ when it comes to looking for young Malaysian goldsmiths and this is a problem we are seriously looking into,” she said. Malaysia exports close to RM8bil in gold jewellery a year, she said, but “today’s generations lack the patience it takes to master goldsmithing”. She said it took years of passionate dedication to become a master goldsmith, and although the rewards were good, she had not encountered any young Malaysian willing to stick to it. Young master goldsmiths can be found in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, and “... though I haven’t tried, I am told it is difficult bring them into Malaysia as skilled foreign labour because, instead of formal training, these masters spent years as apprentices without certification”. The industry, she said, had thus embraced 3D metal printing and the use of artificial intelligence, which can shape precious metals into intricate art pieces. “I do feel that such pieces are almost as good, but there is a certain special touch to handmade piece

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