Finding your jewellery story is one of the most beautiful parts of my job. 

If a photo tells a thousand words, then surely your jewellery is like a novel filled with a lifetime of stories and memories.

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When it comes to jewellery, I have a photographic memory. Everytime I see a piece of jewellery, I can remember everything about it, how I designed it, where I sourced the stones from, how the master jeweller made it, and the look on the clients face when they saw it for the first time.

We all have our different motivations in our life, things that inspire us and things that light us up. For some it might be a handbags or shoes.  Regardless of what it is, we all have our vise’s. What I wanted to do today is share with you my thoughts on what my vice – jewellery, means to me, and the jewelley story I see every day. 

My Wife’s Jewellery Story

My wife and I have triplet 8 year olds (one boy and two girls) and a 10 year old. Thats four children under two, for those of you who are doing the math. To celebrate the birth of our 3 beautiful children, I wanted to do something special for my wife. So I designed a special maternity ring for her to create a jewellery story for her. My Wife's Jewellery Story

 

It had a white diamond in the centre and two pink diamonds on each side. White for the boy and two pinks for the two girls. Every time I look at her maternity ring, I can remember not only how I designed the ring, but where I sourced the diamonds from, how I helped the master jeweller to make it, and most importantly – the look on her face when she saw it for the first time.

But looking at my wife’s maternity ring reminds me of so much more than the physical creation of her ring. It reminds me of the journey leading up to that point. I remember going into the obstetricans room at our 8 week scan and being told that we were expecting twins. Being a male and a serious planner, I was a little taken back, to be honest. This wasn’t how I thought things were going to happen. In my mind, we were going to have one child, then two years later another, then after a few more years another. I found out later, that babies don’t follow the timelines that we adults plan out in our minds. I can distinctly recall our 12 week scan at the obstetrician, where pausing for a moment he uttered those words i will never forget “wait a moment, there is another one” . By that time I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound. My wifes maternity ring story doesn’t just end there. I remember lots of little stories along the way leading up to her final days, where she spent the last few weeks in hospital  before the triplets were born. Seeing my wife’s maternity ring I can remember our little triplets in hospital as they came into the world.

Your Jewellery Story

When you look down at your hand, what do you see? Is it a piece of yellow metal or is it yellow gold or platinum? Is it a piece of carbon, or a diamond? Do you see your jewellery story when you look at your engagement ring? Can you remember the first time you met your partner. Where you went on your first date and how he proposed? Did he get down on one knee? and did you cry ? Can you remember what he said? Interestingly 60% of brides can remember what their partner said during the proposal.  

When you look at your wedding ring, can you remember wedding day jewellery story? Getting into your wedding dress on the day of your wedding, walking down the isle, and then looking at your partner as you said your vows and said “I DO”

Do you have a piece of jewellery that you bought for yourself? Was it to mark a special occasion? or a goal that you achieved? was it to celebrate a promotion at work? More and more women today are choosing to celebrate their own special life achievements with a piece of jewellery and create their own jewellery story.  Every day when they look in the mirror, they see their jewellery, they see all the hard work they put in, the sacrifices that they made, the long hours they put in and importantly the final result that they achieved. Seeing this jewellery story every day, gives them an immense sense of achievement and desire to achieve new heights.   

Share your Jewellery Story

What i would love for all of you, is to have your own story wrapped in jewellery. Something that symbolises a special moment in your life. It doesn’t matter what the item is, it just needs to be something special that has meaning and a story for you. Would love to hear of your jewellery story, please post below as I read all the comments.  

 Here is the audio from the day, if you would like to listen to my story.

 

100% Australian owned Jewellers

As a family owned Jewellery business, i am proud to say that we are 100% Australian owned. Jewellery has always been in our family and was a big part of my up bringing. Being a second generation business, it gives me a lot of joy, to carry on the Xennox name, and uphold all the values that have been established over the last 37 years. My main drive and passion is to make Xennox diamonds, a name that is synonymous with high quality diamonds, jewellers who specialse in hand made manufacturing and unparalleled service.

Service

My belief is that the answer to any client’s question is “YES”. There is nothing that our jewellers can’t do, or won’t do for our clients. There is always a way to achieve the desired outcome, its just a matter of finding a way. My job as the designer is to find the way. We always strive to do anything we can to help our clients, whether its giving advice, or helping a client restore a piece, their happiness is always paramount.

Quality

I never compromise on quality. I would always rather our jewellers scrap a piece and start again, then give something to a client that i am not 100% happy with. One of the great things about being extremely fussy, is that the finished product will always achieve a higher result. The benefit of upholding yourself to the highest standards, is that you get to work with really nice stones.

Xennox Jewellers Standard

diamond colour

Our minimum diamond quality that we try and aim for is an F colour. This forms part of the white diamond range. While some jewellers will tell you that a G colour stone sits in the “near colourless” range. For me a G colour diamond pulls too much yellow. I find that most clients, can tell the difference between an F and a G colour, when placed side by side. The colour difference of an E colour is even more noticeable. I like to personally inspect every main diamond that we sell to ensure that our diamonds are “eye clean”. Where ever possible i try and find diamonds that have girdle inclusions. If a diamond must have an inclusion i always try and aim for a white inclusions, instead of a black carbon mark.

Dealing direct with the diamond cutters overseas, i have learnt a lot about how to get the best performance out of a stone. A diamond’s cut standard is something i am really passionate about. It is the only thing man has control over, and is the only reason a diamond sparkles. If you want the brightest cut diamond on the market, we recommend a Passion8 “Hearts and Arrows” diamond. Like a mechanic who listens to an engine to see what is right or wrong with an engine, i love looking into a diamond to see what the cutter has done right or could have done better at.

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An excellent cut grade from the GIA, only tells you that a diamond falls within certain parameters. Approximately the top 30% of stones that go to the GIA, will get an excellent cut grade. According to the GIA, a diamond with a table facet percentage of  61% will still be eligible to receive an excellent cut grade. However i would never buy a stone with a percentage over 58%. This is why it is so crucial to have a diamond cut expert to look at your diamond.

At Xennox Diamonds, we are passionate about you and the jewellery we make for you. Whether you have just started your journey or you know exactly what you want, we are always happy to spend the time and sit down with you. Our reward is seeing our clients blown away, and it is what I and my jewellers always strive for.

Karl

VINNIES CEO SLEEPOUT - AUSTRALIAN CHARITIES - CHARITY ORGANISATIONS DONATE - DONATIONS2013 Vinnies CEO Sleepout Thursday 20 June

The aim of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout is not only to raise funds, but raise awareness of and for our countries homelessness.  The slogan for this year is to #halvehomelessness.

Vinnies Evening Event

Vinnies CEO Sleepout

I thought i would give you an insight to what occurs on the night. The event usually starts of with a Merlot coffees van and a soup from the amazing crew from Rosies . Throughout the evening there are video diary rooms for CEO’s to record how the experience has affected them. Here is mine. Following this, there are usually some amazing speeches from people who have been directly affected by poverty, and have seen first hand the great work Vinnies do. 

It might be staggering for you to learn that there are more than 100,000 Australians who find themselves homeless each night of the year. Just under half of these are women; a quarter are under the age of 18.

Some more Stats that i found appalling.

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• 58% of homeless people are under 35 years of age
• 44% are women and;
• 12% are under 12 years of age

Having been involved since 2011, i have helped raise more than $15 000 for Vinnies. This is a cause that i do feel very passionately about. What i learnt from the previous years events, was that some of the people on the street are there through no fault of their own, just as a result of circumstance or bad luck. The people who live on the street are no different from you or I, they have families and people who care about them. Some people may see them as lazy or unwilling, however when you get to know some of them, you find out that the problems can run much deeper. Some of them are suffering from sever depression, or other mental illnesses that prevent them from   climbing out of the hole they find themselves in. Attending these events has really taught me to have a great deal of compassion for our countries homeless. I urge anyone that can help in anyway to make a donation to Vinnies, whether it $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, so they can continue doing their great work. 

 

 

The Past

As a young child, I remember going into my father’s jewellery business, sitting at his bench, picking up his files and playing with his magnifying glass. I still remember how big everything seemed, and the rustic smell is still one that I think of fondly. As I grew older, I would often help out in the jewellery business on weekends, as most children who belong to family businesses do. It initially started with sweeping the floors and making coffees for everyone. Occasionally I would also sit at the workbench and make a ring or two out of silver. My father would show me the techniques he learnt while doing his apprenticeship in Germany, and I remember doing a number of apprentice exercises, which would form the basis of the skills I use today. From there I progressed to helping out in the front of the shop. My mother would always tell me to listen to the conversations of the sales ladies and the customers, so that I could learn the most natural way of trying to help our clients find the perfect pieces they were searching for.

 

The Present

I have now been in the jewellery business for 18 years, although it has really been all of my life. I honestly feel blessed to be doing something that I truly love. My drive for perfection and the desire to create timeless pieces that will be loved for a lifetime are undoubtedly things that I learnt from my parents. Such is my love for the trade, that I really couldn’t image doing anything else. However, it is a very different world today to that of years past. The pace of life has greatly increased, and keeping up with all the latest advancements in social media and manufacturing technology requires constant vigilance within the jewellery business. The challenge today is to blend the old world with the new. Our new website is the start of some amazing things to come, incorporating all the latest technology combined with our unique designs and traditional manufacturing. Clients now have the ability to look at their ring from a 360 degree view, so they can be completely comfortable with every aspect of the ring in the comfort of their own home before purchasing it. I am sure that this will not be the last of the innovations to come.

The Future

With four children of my own, (an 8 year old and triplet 6 year olds), there is a good chance that one of them will look to continue the family jewellery business for a third generation. I am sure that the future for them will be just as exciting as it has been for me.

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