y want objects that feel personal and that carry story and meaning. Singapore’s Risis, a jewellery house long known for preserving real orchids in gold, is building its future around that shift. Its bet is the imperfect orchid. Risis’s story begins in 1976, when the company made its name by preserving real orchids in gold, turning Singapore’s national flower into keepsakes, gifts and souvenirs for visitors. For decades, that association was an advantage. The orchid was instantly recognisable, and Risis’s pieces became part of the country’s cultural fabric. Now, as tastes change, the brand faces a familiar challenge for heritage names: How to keep the thread of history alive without letting it become a constraint. “We have evolved far beyond being seen solely as a heritage orchid brand,” Verene Ng, CEO of Risis, told Inside Retail. “We’re reintroducing the orchid to a new generation as a contemporary expression of accessible luxury, rooted in craftsmanship and authenticity but speaking to global, modern tastes.” Modernising the icon Rather than abandon the orchid, Risis has chosen to reinterpret it. The flower remains central, but its expression is broader. Orchids now appear in elevated collections featuring diamonds, sapphires and fine jewellery techniques; the designs are sleeker, less souvenir-like and meant to sit comfortably alongside contemporary pieces. The company is deliberately repositioning itself from a local keepsake maker to a jewellery house with international relevance. That repositioning requires more than new stones and cleaner lines. Risis must persuade younger buyers, many of whom have no personal connection to the orchid’s role as a national symbol, that these pieces are worth owning. The answer, it turns out, was waiting in the workshop: the imperfect bloom. Finding value in flaws Under the old process, only orchids that met strict aesthetic standards were preserved. Blossoms with unusual bends, odd petal counts or asymmetry were discarded. Now, drawing on the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in impermanence and imperfection, Risis intentionally selects irregular flowers and makes them the centrepiece. Those once-rejected blooms become asymmetrical earrings, pendants and bold statement pieces. Imperfections, an off-kilter petal, an uneven outline, are no longer problems to hide but features to celebrate. “A pivotal shift has been our embrace of sustainable design through a wabi-sabi design philosophy,” Ng explained. “By working with imperfect blooms, we transform what would traditionally be discarded into striking pieces, ensuring no bloom goes to waste while elevating the aesthetic into something deeply modern and intentional.” Using imperfect flowers also strengthens Risis’s sustainability story: fewer resources wasted, and a more circular creative process. But it is also a commercial advantage. Because no two orchids grow the same way, each preserved bloom is unique. “Young consumers want pieces that feel personal and meaningful,” Ng said. “These imperfect orchids give us a way to offer that: stylish jewellery that also carries a sense of origin and emotional connection.” Rewriting the heritage playbook Risis’s strategy reflects the careful balancing act many heritage businesses face. Lean too hard on nostalgia, and you risk becoming irrelevant. Chase novelty, and you can dilute what made you distinct. Risis is trying to do neither. It is keeping the heritage content, but changing the grammar. That means translating a deeply Singaporean story into one with broader appeal. “International partners are crucial,” Ng said. “They must protect our story, quality and customer experience while helping Risis reach new audiences without diluting our heritage identity.” The company has identified Australia, the UK, the US and other Asian markets as growth targets, places where shoppers are increasingly open to brands with a distinct point of view. For overseas customers, the orchid’s cultural meaning can be translated into broader ideas: individuality, craftsmanship and sustainability. Marketing that highlights the human story behind each preserved bloom, how it was chosen, why its shape matters, and the hands that preserved it, helps consumers connect without needing to know the orchid’s place in Singaporean history. Where to from here? Risis’s next chapter will test whether the strategy can scale without losing intimacy. Can a business rooted in singular blooms grow into international markets where customers value narrative but expect consistent service and quality? The answer will depend on execution, including product curation, partner selection and how well the brand translates a local story into emotions that travel. Many heritage brands stumble either by becoming museum pieces or by erasing their identity while chasing trends. Risis’s gamble is to do neither. By reimagining the orchid as a symbol of individuality rather than just nationhood, the company hopes to align its craft with contemporary desires, where authenticity, story and the impossibility of replication are the new markers of luxury. In the end, the most valuable orchid for Risis may not be the textbook-perfect bloom of the past, but the one that bears a shape no machine could recreate. In an age where so much can be made perfect, what we crave most may simply be what cannot be reproduced. Further reading: Why Singapore’s mid-market retailers are running out of room