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It's now 6 months since we last emailed you to announce the launch of our website. Obviously, we've had a furiously busy Christmas and a New Year since then; but so much more has happened at venerari in this intervening period that we've been remiss in not sending a newsletter sooner. Here's a selection of what's new:
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Contact Details
Shop 13, Strand Arcade,
412 George Street, Sydney
NSW 2000 Australia
Mon / Tues / Wed / Fri
10am-5.30pm
Thur 10am-8pm
Sat 10am-4.30pm
T +61 (2) 9222 9797
F +61 (2) 9222 9707
E shop@venerari.com
www.venerari.com
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| Bespoke pieces
Increasingly you have been commissioning us to design and handcraft a unique piece of jewellery with one of our unset gemstones to your own design specification. Genevieve, and increasingly Cara, have been busy working with many of you to design something extra special - either a totally original design or something influenced by one of the designs in our store collections.
We are adding a news section to our website to display photos of some of the pieces we've recently made to customer order. This is now a huge part of our business, and an increasingly satisfying part of venerari life. It seems that as we get more daring and creative, so do you. We are also well supported by big commissions from the UK, US, Europe and Japan, meaning venerari is now being flashed in some of the (other) hot cities of the world.
Genevieve is in the Strand Arcade store on Thursday evenings and all day Saturday if you would like to meet with her to design a bespoke venerari jewel. She's also available at other times by appointment.
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| New collections
One of the cruel consequences of the increased popularity of our bespoke service has been that we have had less time to devote to developing our existing collections and designing new collections. Nevertheless, we've had a flurry of designing and many new pieces have either just arrived in stock now or are in production on the bench. On the one hand, we are working on some finer designs, on the other, some spectacular and large pieces for the show ponies amongst you. We're also working on a completely new design range for release in the middle of the year. Combining both natural coloured gemstones and opal it promises to be venerari's most stunning collection yet. Stay tuned for more details soon.
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| Opal Fever spreads
Follow magazine recently featured venerari in its article on 'Opal Fever' - describing our innovative use of modern design with Australia's national gemstone to 'reinvent the opal'. It seems that word of our passion for modern design and this unique gem has spread far enough for Follow to conclude 'dump your diamonds - it's time to reclaim our national gemstone and embrace the opal.' Diligent readers of 'The Look' in the S section of the Sydney Sun-Herald will also have noted that Fernando Frisoni thinks our big bling opal rings are a pretty hot thing as well.
http://followmagazine.com
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| Qantas Talking Business
Those of you who were listening to Qantas radio last November would have heard a familiar voice - Kingsley was interviewed in depth by Peter Switzer about the story of how he came to change career and start venerari. The feedback from this interview was tremendous. The upside of press attention is that it does make our passion for opal and coloured gems more understandable to those who are intrigued, but not yet amongst our client group. More details can be found here.
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| Classic Adelaide
Last November, Kingsley and Genevieve took a rare week out to compete in the Classic Adelaide, an international rally for historic cars -
http://www.classicadelaide.com
Kingsley's beautiful white 1967 Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, bought in the UK 10 years ago, came back to Australia in 2004 and has been nursed gently over the years into its current fine state. It was much loved by the many enthusiasts who lined the Adelaide streets and the roads in the Adelaide Hills, as were the venerari designs which adorned the car. The support team (children and ever-patient grandmother) were also decked out in venerari t-shirts and hats, meaning the whole of Adelaide was asking by the end of the week 'what is venerari?'
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| Inside Out
Kingsley and Genevieve's design style was recently featured in Inside Out magazine. The article highlighted some of their contemporary art and modern furniture collections in their Paddington, Sydney house. Much of the furniture was designed and commissioned by Genevieve when she living in London and San Francisco. As well as jewellery design, Genevieve has designed numerous fit-outs, furniture and lighting in the UK, at times collaborating with a British reclamation company to create ranges of modern pieces. The increasing support venerari now has with its wonderful staff mean that Genevieve now has more time to devote to her varied design tasks.
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| Genevieve Lilley Architects
Having reluctantly closed the doors of her London office in 2002, Genevieve has now re-opened her architectural studio in Sydney, also in the Strand Arcade. Once the practice has settled in, venerari will, in coming months, locate its jewellery workshop in the studio, enabling Genevieve to work more closely with our jewellers and further develop design collections and signature bespoke pieces. This 'cross-fertilisation' of disciplines is increasingly important to the way venerari works, and allows a more thorough exploration of different ideas. With Genevieve now working in the Strand Arcade most weekdays, she's also more readily available to meet with you to discuss bespoke design commissions.
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