CJS goes wild with ‘Unforgettable’
View(s):Colombo Jewellery Stores (CJS) took a walk on the wild side last Tuesday when they launched ‘Unforgettable’, the store’s newest line based on Sri
Jacquie displaying the new CJS line and left, Ravi Corea. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Lanka’s majestic elephants and wildlife heritage. CJS Chairman Akram Cassim, Brand Ambassador Jacqueline Fernandez and President of the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation
CJS Chairman Akram Cassim and Jacquie at the launch
Society (SLWCS) Ravi Corea took centre stage at the launch, speaking about their ambition to contribute to protecting wild elephants and the inspiration behind the line.
The brand’s longstanding celebrity ambassador Jacqueline Fernandez wore a long gown in deep green-“for the wild,” she quipped-and jewellery from the new collection. In this newest venture CJS collaborates with the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society to highlight the human-elephant conflict and its impact on the drastically declining numbers of the elephant population. Jacquie and Akram together with Ravi visited the Pussellayaya and Weheragalagama villages in Wasgamuwa, home to around 350 elephants and discovered for themselves the intensity of this conflict.
SLWCS Founder and President Ravi Corea pointed out that elephants were a potent symbol of the country’s tourism industry but if the conflict continued this would change in the near future. Measures such as awareness among the villagers and studies conducted on materials that repel elephants such as citrus fruits, which the villagers now cultivate in their fields, can help resolve the widening gap between man and the elephant of the wild, he said.