Veteran brothers are developing a jewelry repair business. What are the peculiarities of this niche

Alim Nasirov, co-owner of a jewelry repair chain, came up with the idea for his business while working as a security guard and manager in a jewelry store.

"You might sell one item a month, but people get their jewelry repaired every day," the entrepreneur explains.

In 2019, he and his brother Murad founded the Arhat Premium Jewelry chain of jewelry repair workshops. They opened the first two locations in Kyiv's River Mall and Art Mall shopping centers, investing $10,000. They planned to scale the business, but in 2022 they went to war.

Correspondent LIGA.net I spoke with Alim Nasirov about how the business is surviving the full-scale invasion, how they managed to scale up quickly, and what the specifics of this niche are.

The war disrupted the plans for scaling up

In 2025, the Arhat Premium Jewelry chain will have ten locations.

The brothers were only able to start scaling their business after returning from the front. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, both joined the 23rd Separate Special Purpose Battalion of the Presidential Brigade named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky. They served as mortar operators and participated in the battles for Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

At the end of 2023, both brothers were demobilized due to injuries.

They didn't start rebuilding the business from scratch. Back in 2021, they purchased new equipment to expand their network of workshops. But then they couldn't open quickly due to a lack of available premises in good locations.

In addition, we purchased more equipment and opened eight new locations in shopping centers in the capital during 2024-2025.

The total investment in the business amounted to $100,000 of their own funds, says Alim Nasirov. In addition, the brothers received 1.5 million hryvnias from the Ukrainian Veteran Fund, winning the "Worth Starting Your Own Business" grant program. (Under this program, the fund provides financial support to veterans and their family members to develop their own businesses.)

Part of the grant – 700,000 UAH – went to the purchase of a laser machine for the operation of the tenth workshop in the Gulliver shopping center. The brothers only open workshops in shopping and business centers.

The remaining grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Fund was used to purchase display cases and additional equipment for other workshops.

Business profitability and competitive advantages

The entrepreneur says that $20,000 is needed to open the workshop in 2025. While they and their brother bought used equipment at the start of their business, now they only buy new American equipment.

Thanks to this, Arhat undertakes the repair of branded jewelry – Cartier, Tiffany, Damiani. This attracts clients with more expensive orders.

"Such brands make many parts on high-precision equipment. But not every company on the market can afford to buy it," says Alim Nasirov.

The average net profit from one workshop is $2500 per month. More or less – it depends on the location.

"In a residential area, the minimum payback period is one year," explains the entrepreneur. "If the shopping center is within a ten-kilometer radius of the city center, then it's from six months."

The Arhat workshop repairs all types of jewelry. It is also an official service center for the Pandora network. In addition, they cooperate with companies...ZARINA, "Golden Age", Kyiv Jewelry Factory.

According to the entrepreneur, Arhat Premium Jewelry's annual turnover for 2024 was $100,000.

The challenges of the war period

Currently, the jewelry repair business faces two main risks: a decline in solvent demand and a shortage of qualified personnel.

Clients are leaving the country due to the war, and it's difficult to attract new ones because people don't have time for jewelry during wartime.

As for the staff, jewelry workshops are mostly staffed by men. They are subject to mobilization. And attracting new employees is a difficult task: specific skills are required. Expensive jewelry is brought in for repair, and if the worker is not qualified, he can damage or destroy them, then the cost will have to be compensated, says Alim Nasirov.

They want to help veterans

The fact that the business is run by veterans helps in the work, says Alim Nasirov. For example, shopping malls give preference to the veteran network when renting retail space. The thing is, Arhat Premium Jewelry claims spaces of four to five square meters in high-traffic areas in shopping centers: these are the most sought-after in shopping malls.

Arhat Premium Jewerl, in turn, repairs jewelry for the military free of charge. In addition, they produce medals, badges, and bracelets from spent shell casings. Specifically, the company has patented three bracelets made from this material – "Bakhmut," "Azovstal," and "Kherson."

"We are giving them to our guys, especially those who served in these places," says the entrepreneur.

By the end of the year, the veteran entrepreneurs plan to open two more jewelry repair shops in Kyiv. In 2026, they plan to expand to other regions. Lviv, Odesa, and Vinnytsia or Cherkasy are among the first cities on their list.

The material was created by LIGA.net with the support of the Askold and Dir Foundation, which is administered by ISAR Unity within the framework of the project "Strong Civil Society of Ukraine – a Driver of Reforms and Democracy" funded by Norway and Sweden. The content of the publication is the responsibility of LIGA.net and does not reflect the views of the governments of Norway, Sweden or ISAR Unity.