- Muriuki says commodities made from Queen Elizabeth coins or Indian coins are expensive as the materials are hard to get.
Popularly known as Mabling, Meru town-based jeweler James Muriuki sells jewelry and his products include bracelets, earrings, bangles, and rings. He gets his raw materials locally after assembling old and damaged padlocks and coins.
Do you have old Queen Elizabeth coins and you are about to throw them away because they look worthless? If yes, then you may need to think twice.
Those coins could make a wedding ring for someone else, according to jeweller James Muriuki.
Popularly known as Mabling, the Meru town-based jeweller says he's minting money from a business not many people are familiar with.
The man from Karingene village in Ntima East ward of North Imenti constituency sells jewellery in Meru town. His products include bracelets, earrings, bangles, rings and others made mostly from bronze.
Most of his jewels are affordable and the prices range from between Sh100 and Sh4,000 depending on the commodity and the design. He sells rings for between Sh200 and Sh1,000.
Few customers know Mabling makes most of the jewels he sells to them.
He gets his raw materials locally after assembling old and damaged padlocks and coins. Mabling says commodities made from Queen Elizabeth coins or Indian coins are expensive because the materials are hard to get.
He says he dropped out of school when he was in Standard 5 at Muringa wa Mbugi primary due to lack of fees. He later learned about sculpture in Rongai.
“I sell my rings for wholesale to customers in Marsabit, Mombasa and other major towns. In Meru, I sell them in retail because I am yet to get a wholesale buyer,"Mabling says.
He started off as a scrap metal dealer where would buy old and waste metals. He later changed his trade.
“The money I had earned in the scrap metal business helped me to start my business. I was able to buy my first machine at Sh20,000 from that first business.”
At his home in Karingene village, Mabling has just completed building a three bedroom mansion. After a cup of tea, he took this writer to a structure made of iron sheets when the real work is done.
The first step is to smelt the metal in a clay pot using a kerosene burner that uses pressure from a cylinder to create a huge flame. Here, coins or any other metals are melted to liquid which is put in round-shaped clay mouldings with different shapes.
“It’s a risky business because I do not have any safety equipment. There was a time a small explosion occurred. Luckily, nobody was injured,” he said.
After getting the shape from the round clay mouldings, the unwanted parts are cut out and the ornament shaped to the desired shape using electric mortars.
It may seem appear easy but Mabling says he can spend hours making just one ornament depending on its design.
He sources his cooling clay from Sagana in Kirinyaga county. Mabling says he has acquired four machines which enable him to do his work faster.
“My major problem now is marketing," he says.
On a bad day, Mabling can make Sh500 which he says is a loss because of the investment put in the business.
His wife helps him to sell some of the jewellery.
He decried the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which he says has disrupted business.
"I use to get many customers and would even receive orders for wedding rings from many churches before Covid-19 struck," he says.
His hope is to build an an expansive jewellery empire which conduct international exhibitions. And he is willing to teach young people who want to venture into the business.
“I get young men who want to venture into the trade I even encourage them by teaching them and even giving tips but they do not persevere and opt out after a short while saying it’s a hard job,” he said.
Mabling appealed to the government to support the Jua Cali sector, saying it has many innovations that can create employment.