Multi-ethnic and multi-coloured? ?Presents is a real mixture,? explains the shop?s owner, Véronique de Guardia. In fact, the lady is much more than the shop?s owner. She is the creative spirit behind Presents. The shop exudes a special touch and her artistic feeling can be felt in all the accessories she has designed in her little workshop in Pointe-aux-Cannoniers.

The collection includes different items ? jewelry, bags, stoles, wedding accessories ? and can adapt to every purse. In fact, anyone can go to Presents and order what he/she wants specifying the budget available. The shop will then do everything possible to comply with the request at the appropriate price.

Véronique has been travelling since she was two years old. Although she was born in Mauritius, she has been living all over the world for the greater part of her life. This is probably what helped her become such an open-minded woman who can really appreciate the beautiful things humankind is able to create.

She is now settled in Mauritius with her husband and children but continues to move around, sometimes for holidays but most of the time in search of raw materials for her designs. This is how she travels to China, India, Europe? and her favourite place? Africa.

Special feeling for African countries

Each place has something special to offer for Véronique but the country which really ?gets her in the guts?, as she says, is Africa. ?Africa has this little something which people can never get tired of? It is immense, still very wild? and dangerous! I mean, there is this unknown quantity in Africa which makes it frightening and exciting at the same time.? The fact that she spent a large part of her childhood in African countries must also play an important role in this love for the continent.

But what she seems to enjoy above all is the different tribes which exist in Africa and the type of art each of them has to offer. They are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for her when she designs her jewelry and other accessories.

However, she also goes to other parts of the world to find the raw materials she needs for work. In India, there are centres entirely dedicated to stone cutting. ?I can find any stone you can think of in India?? Fine stones like turquoise can be found in Afghanistan. For the famous ?eye of the tiger, I go to South Africa,? she explains. And she works with several other stones such as pink quartz or topaz that she finds in different parts of the world.

?But I do not travel only for stones and basic raw materials? Sometimes I go abroad in search of historical pieces that could have their place in a museum,? she says proudly. This is how she brought back from China a belt buckle dating back to the sixteenth century quite recently. She matches such objects with beads and stones to transform them into trendy jewelry that can be worn in everyday life.

And here we see the very essence of her work? ?The historical aspect of the job inspires me to dream? It?s a bit like a fairy tale? I like doing such jewelry because my imagination carries me off to China in the sixteenth century and I imagine who could have worn this buckle or any other old button at that time!?

Véronique has not opened her shop with only business in mind? She is really involved in her creations? But she wants them to be wearable. Hence, her jewelry and accessories are all very close to fashion. They are unique but not shocking so people do not hesitate to buy them.

At one time she started to place some of her products in Paris and St Tropez but stopped almost immediately. ?It demanded too much paperwork? I am not ready to dedicate all my time to administrative work. I want to create!? So she is very happy with her shop in Super U in Grand-Bay, her two kiosks in Caudan Waterfront and at the ice rink in Curepipe. Most of the higher-priced products are however reserved for tourists and are placed in some specific hotels.

Promoting quality handicraft

The only thing she regrets is that quality handicraft work is not really promoted in Mauritius. ?If the government really wants to attract high-class tourists, Mauritius must be able to offer them products of the same standing. We are here to convey a Mauritian state of mind, savoir-faire and imagination? The government should give us the means to do so by providing us with free copyrights for instance. A special place in the Islander magazine sponsored by the government could also help us to make names for ourselves and attract new people here!?

Véronique, whose shop opened ten years ago, started her business ?by chance? at home some fifteen years ago after her eldest daughter was born. She started making African-style handicraft with local materials such as coconut, raffia and so on? and sold it to her friends. With the money this activity helped her to save she bought her shop!

Véronique is thus very proud of being a 100% self-taught person? This may explain her simplicity? ?We are still having fun designing the products. What is very important is to always be open to changes and improvements? So as to make sure our customers never get tired of Presents!?