Ruffa Gutierrez shares her family’s jewelry traditions

The first jewelry investment of actress-beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez was a platinum Rolex when she was only 17.

“My mom and dad would always say to put my money in the bank, invest in property or jewelry,” said Ruffa, who’s the eldest and only girl in a brood of seven children of Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama.

“The father of my daughters (Yilmaz Bektas) gave me an engagement ring, but I left it in Istanbul when we returned to Manila. It was a 13-carat diamond.”

When Ruffa gave birth to Lorin, Yilmaz gave her a black eel leather choker with a unique stone like ruby and made in Turkey. “That’s in the safe of my mom,” Ruffa said. “I can give it to one of my daughters.”

She also gave her dad a Bulgari watch, which her dad returned to her two years ago. “I haven’t found the moment yet to wear that watch,” Ruffa said.

Her mom also gave her a Bulgari serpenti watch for her birthday.

When she was 10 and went with her dad and mom to Hawaii, Ruffa remembered her mom asked her to watch over a jewelry pouch.

“When we landed at Honolulu airport, my mom put the pouch in a baggage cart while they were claiming their bags and asked me to look over it,” Ruffa shared. “On our way to the hotel, I forgot the pouch in the cart and my mom was so mad at me.”

“It really hurts when you lose jewelry, so just accessorize if the event is not too important so you will not misplace the jewelry.”

Ruffa was recently introduced as brand ambassador of Magical Gems. “They have beautiful jewelry and more colored gems,” said Ruffa. “I’m so excited with this collaboration.”

Ruffa uses the jewelry of Magical Gems in her soon-to-premiere series on GMA Network, “Beauty Empire,” a revenge drama series presented by GMA Network, CreaZion Studios and Viu Philippines.

In 2023, she did “Can’t Buy Me Love” on the Kapamilya Channel.

In “Beauty Empire,” Ruffa plays Velma Imperial, a fierce female character who’s the CEO (chief executive officer) of her company. She and the rest of the cast are presently taping for the series and it will be aired on her birth month in June.

“The series talks about beauty, aging. It doesn’t matter how old you are, but being beautiful is important inside out.”

“I no longer want to use the jewelry of my mom,” added Ruffa, who deserves her latest endorsement. “Every time I borrow her jewelry, she sends four security (people). Then she reminds me non-stop to take care of it.

“I get stressed. I cannot concentrate and memorize my lines. Now that I use the jewelry of Magical Gems, the son of the owner is there guarding the jewelry. We use that especially for the big scenes, the jewelry really makes a difference.”

Harry Lopez Chua, the owner and CEO of Magical Gems, acknowledged that Ruffa is such a blessing to his company. “Ruffa is a gift from heaven to us,” said Harry. “I never expected this to happen. We are a home-grown Davao company. We’re just small, modesty aside.”

“This is our first outing. This is my first time to experience introducing my brand to a national company. Everything fell into place. It’s such a wonderful and humbling experience to make this possible.”

Isabel and Alexandria are the daughters of Harry whose names are attached to Magical Gems. “They are my inspiration that’s why I put up Magical Gems,” said Harry.

Magical Gems will open on June 3 at Abreeza Mall in Davao City.

“I super love Davao,” said Ruffa. “I remember I used to go there pre-pandemic and we taped for our reality show ‘It Takes Gutz To Be a Gutierrez.’ Last year, I was also in Davao for the opening of Landers.

“I saw how clean and orderly Davao is, aside from the traffic. Davaoeños love me. Every time they see me, they are all very happy. I talk to them in slight Bisaya.”

Ruffa’s mom, who is also Bisaya being from Cebu, apparently taught her to appreciate jewelry even at such a young age. The former always chastised her for not taking care of her jewelry.

“Whenever I return the jewelry to her, it’s dirty, full of make-up and I didn’t bother to clean them,” said Ruffa. “She was always mad at me. She always said, when you have jewelry, you need to take care of them.

“You need to wear the jewelry after putting on your makeup not during, not to wear perfume and take care of them.”

Being an only girl in the brood, Ruffa was used to getting jewelry from her mom. “That has been part of my life growing up,” she said. “I don’t feel comfortable without wearing earrings. I feel like a guy.”

“I love jewelry and my mom always tells me to treat jewelry as an investment that you can use till the end of time. You can also pass them on to your children.”

Ruffa is proud of her two daughters — Lorin and Venice — who are arriving this week from the US, where they are both studying.

They are very excited with completing their studies,” said Ruffa. “I assured them I will support them as long as they finish college.”

Lorin is a senior and graduating next year from Pepperdine University, while Venice is a freshman and more private when it comes to her studies.

“To them, education is really important,” said Ruffa.

Although Ruffa remains the provider for Lorin and Venice, the dad, Yilmaz Bektas, also gives financial help now to his daughters.

Thankfully, resorting to selling her jewelry has never happened to Ruffa. “I’ve been blessed that there are a lot still getting me for shows, endorsements,” she said. “I have investments where the money is earning.

“There are times when my mom or Chard (brother Richard Gutierrez) help give allowance to Lorin and Venice.

“Knock on wood, if ever when the time comes that I need to sell some of my jewelry, at least there’s something that I can sell. Thank God that I was able to save. Of course, we go through ups and downs.

“Not all times, we are very successful. There are months when work is very slow. There are months where when it rains, it pours. That’s how it is in showbiz. But through the years, I was able to survive everything with the help of my family.”