Diamond’s Rock at Ce’ The Jeweller!

When it comes to helping people celebrate life’s special occasions, Rob and Jan Drewett, owners of Ce’ The Jeweller in Bishop’s Stortford, have seen it all since they first opened their doors 10 years ago: There’s been the man that popped out for a loaf of bread one morning and returned home with a sparkling engagement ring for his partner – “he walked in to our shop with a huge grin and a loaf under his arm, and explained to us he had asked his girlfriend whether there was anything else she wanted from the shops apart from a loaf. She said ‘how about the ring you keep on promising me’’’ recalls Rob, “so that’s precisely what he got her! The ring itself was an 18ct white gold single stone diamond with baguette shoulders. I guess it was a totally different type of baguette to the one she was expecting him to come home with!”

There was also the time, amidst the massive speculation about the state of Cheryl and Ashley Cole’s marriage, that Cheryl appeared  on the X Factor and in the newspapers, wedding ring less. Well, Ce’ had it all the time in Bishop's Stortford to be refurbished! “We were sworn to secrecy and the paparazzi didn’t find out our little secret. Cheryl had first turned to Ce’ when she and her Girls Aloud band-mates wanted to buy a personal gift for their choreographer whose initial was "B". Robert hand-made a diamond encrusted initial B pendant for the girls which his son, Ed, had designed. The girls were thrilled”. 

 

Cheryl was so-impressed with his work that she entrusted Robert with her famous yellow diamond wedding ring (which was more like an engagement ring) for a clean, polish and to check the settings. At that stage, the marriage was fine.

So now it comes to celebrating their own decade of diamond dealing and jewellery retailing, the Drewetts are keen to pay back their customers for the support and entertaining memories that they have given since opening their store on the corner of North and Bridge Street in June 2001.

“That’s why we came up with the idea of ‘Diamond’s Rock’ – 2 weeks of in store special events and offers starting with champagne and cup cakes on Saturday June 4^th and climaxing with a grand draw to win a £1,000 diamond on Saturday June 18^th , Stortford Carnival Day!” enthuses Jan, “we’ll also be hosting a Juicy Couture Tea Party with some fantastic offers and prizes on the afternoon of Friday 10^th June”. 

The lucky winner of the £1,000 diamond can do whatever they want with their prize but Rob has a suggestion. ‘For a small investment I’ll turn the winner’s prize diamond into the unique piece of jewellery of their dreams,’ he says. ‘It’s what I love doing best, so I couldn’t think of a more apt way to celebrate our own personal milestone.’

On top of this, on June 4^th and 18^th, there will also be 2 live acoustic performances in the shop from Rob and Jan’s son Ed Drewett, Stortford’s own Brit nominated singer song-writing star, who will be giving away some of his favourite jewellery and composing a song for the winners of a Ce’ The Jeweller Facebook competition (facebook.com/cethejeweller). Rest assured he won’t be giving away the old, broken Casio watch that he ironically decided to wear to the Oscars Ceremony in LA though!

It will be a great warm up for Ed who will be appearing at Cazfest in Stortford on July 2nd. Recently he has been writing for The Wanted, One Direction and supporting  Professor Green and N-Dubz. In July he will be supporting Elton John on tour (himself no stranger to the love of jewellery) and James Blunt in London. There’s even a chance that Ed might be doing his own rendition of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ to toast Ce’s future success in the town!

Entry to the £1,000 Diamond’s Rock competition is by an invitation which will be handed out on the streets of Bishop’s Stortford or can be picked up in store.

When does an extravagance become a bargain?

Sounds like a riddle doesn't it? Valuation expert, Adrian Smith, has come up with a fun formula that works perfectly. Try it and see for yourself...

 

How do you value a piece of jewellery? A jewellery valuation expert like Adrian Smith will say that the real value is nothing to do with how much you paid compared to how much the piece would have cost you elsewhere.

  

The Attributes:

A purchase represents good value for money (VFM) according to the following points;

1.       AW = Amount of wear ie how much of the time do you wear the piece?

2.       EDW = Emotions during wear ie what are you feeling when you wear the item?

3.       FP = Financial pain ie did the purchaser shed a tear at point of purchase

4.       SA = Sentiment attached (do not confuse with emotions during wear)

Now, to use the formula think of a piece of jewellery and score each of the four points above in relation to the item.

Some examples;

AW

Score 1 if you never wear the item or you don’t even know where it is. Score 5 if you wear it all the time and cannot bear to be parted from it.

EDW

Score 1 if the item makes you feel down or sad and 5 if you keep looking at the item because it makes you feel so happy

FP

Score 1 if the purchase was ‘easy’ and 5 if it was difficult to part with the money

SA

Score 1 if there is no sentimental value attachment at all, if you lost it tomorrow you wouldn’t care and 5 if losing it would send you into a sobbing mess.

  

Now...The Calculation:

Don’t think difficult physics calculation, think more A + B = C easy peasy

Divide you FP score by 3 = A
Now take your FP score and subtract figure A =  B
Now simply add your scores for AW, EDW and SA and divide this total by B.

What you now have is your value for money or VFM

The Result:

0 to 1 is poor – it’s time you and your item parted company! Why not gove it to someone who would like it OR thnk about part exchanging it for something else. If the stones are significant why not have them made into another item of jewellery using our Counter Sketch design software!

1 to 2 is a fair score but hardly great!

2 to 5 is good

5 to 10 now we’re getting somewhere...

10 to 23 is absolutely fabulous darling! Yes you have made the perfect choice. Have the settings and catches professionally checked every 6 – 12 months and have your jeweller or valuer record the condition either in their own files or ask for a condition report to be supplied. Prolong the life of this piece by acting on any necessary remedial work.

Have a good, detailed valuation report and take lots of pics of it! Why? This increases the likelihood of the item being returned to you in the event of loss or theft and ensures you will receive a full and stress-free settlement. And have this valuation updated every 3 years to bring your sum-assured back in line with current market conditions. Most importantly take out an all-risks insurance policy!!

Conclusion:

Ok – this is a bit of fun but there is a serious message. No matter how low the price, it is only a bargain if you are going to get pleasure and wear from it. Conversely, and this may be hard to get your head round, if the purchase is an extravagance it becomes a bargain if you wear it constantly and makes you smile and gives you a nice warm feeling every time you look at it! The cost will soon be forgotten

Think in terms of ‘cost per wear’ and ‘smiles per hour’

When a customer opens their jewellery box and says, “You know, I just love this piece, I get such a kick out of wearing it… even after 40 years,” that is the best value for money!#

Check out more of Adrian's pearls of wisdom at http://www.adrian-smith.co.uk/blog

A Gem of a Love Story

A magical combination - romance, diamonds and 21^st century technology

What’s a lady to do when a romantic marriage proposal is accompanied by three loose diamonds steeped in family history (apart from say ‘yes’ of course!)? Ce’ The Jeweller knew exactly what to do and the result, says the lady in question, moved her to tears of joy.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCY IN THE SKY PHOTOGRAPHY

Having lost her first husband to cancer, no one was more surprised than Bishop’s Stortford lady, Judith Keogh to find love and happiness second time around – let alone a marriage proposal! But this was no ordinary proposal, as fiancé Bryan presented her with three diamonds which had been especially selected many years ago by his uncle - a diamond sorter for De Beers - for his late mother’s engagement ring.  Says Zimbabwean Bryan, ‘The diamonds have a very special meaning to me and I wanted Judith to show them off with pride. Because we have five children between us I felt it symbolic to buy two more diamonds and make it five – we could then have the most special engagement ring made.’

Judith had a very specific idea about how the stones could be shown to their utmost beauty. ‘Bryan said that I am so expressive with my hands, he wanted the diamonds to twinkle even when my palms were doing the talking – now that’s some brief to give to any jeweller,’ laughs Judith. Enter stage left Ce’ The Jeweller in Bishop’s Stortford.

For Rob Drewett, who along with his wife Jan, has owned Ce’ in the heart of Stortford for 10 years, the idea of making something completely unique is what fuels his creative juices, having first started as a diamond mounting  apprentice in Soho in 1974! ’Our first job was to source two stones to match the quality of Judith’s, then it was a case of working with her own sketches to come up with my  interpretation of her ultimate design,’ explains Rob.

Rob not only works with hand drawn sketches but now boasts a unique design system called CounterSketch. The only jeweller in a 40 mile radius to utilise this amazing software, he uses CounterSketch with his customers to render the ring of their dreams in front of their eyes – selecting the shape, thickness, choice and positioning of stones, metal colour and settings. In true Disney style, the 3D ring comes to life, appearing on screen adorning a hand that accurately replicates the customer’s own!

‘I changed my mind many, many times,’ admits Judith, ‘I had my own vision to bring to life and with so much investment at stake both myself and Bryan wanted it to be just perfect. Rob’s expertise with CounterSketch allowed me to see a lifelike version of my experiments; my stone placement and design ideas were all trialled before deciding the best move forward.’

Rob presented ‘a very nervous’ Judith with her finished ring in January 2011. ‘I needn’t have been concerned,’ says a delighted Judith. ‘When I opened the box everybody in the shop audibly gasped, the contents lived up to my vision and more. It was so, so beautiful.’

New Year, make it happy!

Well, Happy New Year to you all.......!

2011, this is now our 10th, YES TENTH year of being Ce' The Jeweller and as usual we have lots lined up to thrill you with. We have a NEW website at www.cegems.com  this is only a month or so old but you can view and buy in the comfort of your home or office. We will be adding a few new features like links to our newsletter, bloggs and FREE stuff soon. We have also invested heavily in our bespoke design service. This now boasts an innovative 3D computer design and make programme which will show you your design on the finger and a fully rendered image which looks just like the real thing.

So stay tuned, stay up to date and enjoy the rest of 2011, its going to be FUN..TENTH anniversary competitions, offers and much, much more.

All the best,

Rob Drewett
Ce' The Jeweller