Nebu Gold

Nebu Gold

Helen Viljoen

Nebu is an innovative gold and platinum bullion jewelry brand that aims to restore the ancient link between jewelry and investment. Helen Viljoen, founder & CEO of Nebu, pioneered wearable bullion jewelry. Helen drives the US based expansion plans. In a hands-on approach, Helen worked with the fabricator’s executive team to pioneer the unique style of craftsmanship and manufacturing mechanisms required to produce 24 karat gold and platinum jewelry.

Helen graduated from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 2015 and started her legal career in professional indemnity litigation at an established law firm, MacRobert Attorneys. In 2018, Helen was headhunted to head the legal department of a leading South African SMB lending company. While in this full-time position, Helen founded Nebu after-hours in November 2019. Nebu debuted its African focused gold jewelry products in luxury lodges throughout South Africa in January 2020. However, global lockdowns with its negative impact on the African tourism market required Helen to pivot the company’s safari lodge distribution model to a wholesale bullion dealer model in early 2021. The aim was to offer bullion dealers a wearable bullion investment alternative.

Nebu has taken the Eastern concept of high-purity, low-margin jewelry to the West in the form of investment-grade, high-karat gold and platinum jewelry that is sold based on the weight of the intrinsic gold or platinum content.  Nebu uses Singapore and South Africa as manufacturing and operational bases, producing 22-karat gold jewelry in the region of Southeast Asia and 24-karat gold and platinum jewelry in South Africa.

Nebu is currently the largest jewelry client, through a strategic partnership,  with Metal Concentrators (Metcon),  Africa’s second largest refiner. Nebu guarantees gold purity of four-nines (or 99.99%), derived solely from responsibly sourced, recycled gold, only possible by Helen developing a strong working relationship with Metcon executive team. All metals are mined with the supply chain verified for responsible practices in accordance with the Responsible Jewellery Council (“RJC”) Code of Practice and Chain of Custody requirements.

Nebu’s modern, Western market appropriate jewelry designs and revival of the link between savings and jewelry has resulted in Nebu gaining significant traction in the US retail market. Nebu’s distribution partnerships with major US bullion dealers, coupled with its direct-to-consumer marketing strategy, has driven robust revenue growth. Nebu now aims to become the first jewelry brand in the world that is not only innovative in the inherent value of jewelry but also in the technological and financial capability thereof. Nebu aims to pioneer the incorporation of a digital monetisation layer to its investment jewelry. The Nebu mobile app will allow users to pledge their Nebu jewelry assets as security for a USD credit line linked to their jewelry assets. This digital monetisation innovation will transform Nebu jewelry pieces to compete with the gold investment industry. A wearable investment with instant digital monetization capabilities.