Tucked away off Claymore Drive in the back Orchard Tower on the ground floor, Sandra Chia runs Acacia Tree which has been her business for over twenty years. Her primary outlet is in Singapore and her supporting outlet in KL Malaysia.

Sandra turned her passion into her business and with her two sons visits exotic location extensively in Asia and the Middle East to uncover new lapidary suppliers for materials and learn more about the people, their cultures and the role Jewelry plays in their lives.

Initially focusing on South East Asian ornaments and textiles Sandra soon started to follow her interest in antique ethnic jewellery and ethnic accessories. This now has expanded to cover range comprehensive of antique ethnic jewellery with components gathered from as far away Morocco, Uzbekistan, Tibetan, China, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Lebanon, India, Nepal, Thailand, Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Indonesia.

Sandra is always on the look out for rare items especially in old gold, silver, agate, lapis lazuli, amber, ancient glass, turquoise, and Basra pearls.

Sandra has started this web site to stay in contact with her customers around the world and respond to their requests to provide more access to her unique range of antique ethnic jewellery.

Please feel free to contact Sandra at sandrachia99@gmail.com

Sandra through her interest in antique ethnic jewellery has met many interesting collectors some who have become good friends. Michael Backman who has been a british correspondant has for many years stopped by Acacia-Tree in Kuala Lumpur and regularly purchased items. Recently Michael opened his own gallery in London and Sandra recommends his site to those people who have a deep interest in artifacts and crafts from asia and the middle east http://www.michaelbackmanltd.com

Also Sandra refers to one other site in Asia as a good reference site, Orientations magazine for those who are interested in different business around the world based on Asia arts and crafts. It list a vast range of contacts for the enthusiast and professional alike, http://www.orientations.com.hk/link.htm

Why Acacia Tree?

My interest in the arts was initiated while I was residing in Hong Kong in 1984 with my former husband who grew up surrounded by Oriental and European antiques that were passed down from 2 generations of American and French descendants. We lived in the mid-levels just 10 minutes above Hollywood Road where most antiques could be found in abundance due to the regular supply of mythical antiques salvaged from tombs in mainland China .It was the era of Orientalism and chinoiserie.

The popular arts and crafts emporium, a Chinese run company had beautiful embroidered household linens, ornaments of carved jades, ivory, woodwork and an extensive variety of exotic dried preserved goods. They were highly affordable.

Our regular weekends were spent scouting for unique antiques around Hollywood Road. I was initially into Chinese arts and crafts and with more experience gained I got into more serious objects that come with a story. Art magazines like Orientations and The arts of Asia was an eye opener with good insight into the artistic world. They featured many exhibitions, art galleries and museums around the globe as well as many private collections.

Museums have always been my priority visit during my travels. I learned so much from the work of arts by scrutinizing every object slowly, keeping in memory their forms, colours, textures and the techniques employed. It could be either a chiselled or repousse' work on silver, carved stones or wooden statues. Lost wax process bronze vessels, painted ceramics, hand woven textiles and not missing out precious heirloom indigenous jewellery comprised of glass, stones ,silver and gold components.

I planned my initial business trip hopping around islands from The Moluccas sea to Bali, Sumba, Flores and West Timor. It was in Dili, Timor that begat "Acacia Tree' , a native tree of neighboring Australia with over 700 species. It held a lot of interest for me, so I figured, its a nice tree, useful, charming with character, why not?

I learned my trade as I went along by travelling a lot and also having a good sense and courage to sniff out good sources. Over the years I have bought, sold and rejected so many pieces. Sad to say that these days, similar pieces of lower quality which cost more are circulating in the market. Good ones are kept by collectors who would only part with them for a handsome profit. Today I am blessed with more than 1500 pieces in my collection, collected over 28 years.  Note**These shops are no longer in operation since 2011**