MASTER OF JEWELLERY DVD:4

US$27.50 including 7-10 working days international AIRPOST delivery.

LONDON

Because of my family history people know us they, have something unqiue and special they will call us and say, hey you know I've got something special I would like you to see it. So we will go and see it or they will bring it to us. O.k. we say we have, 1, 2, 3 clients who we really think this would just knock their socks off and they would have to have it. When you are talking about very special items you don't want them put in a shop window.

I have taken three trunks full of goods to a client - you are asked to come and you go. When they see you is when they have the time. So yes you might have to wait for a week. Luckily with the advent of mobile phones you can actually wait slightly further away.

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SYDNEY

Moulin Rouge, and working with Nicole Kidman came about because of "word of mouth". Baz Luhrman and Catherine approached me and we sat together and he said to me, "I want professionals to walk into my movie and sit down and not be able to fault it. How do I do that?". I replied "The only way to do that is to make it real".

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GENEVA

What do you do if somebody comes at 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoon for example, and wants to buy an important piece and pulls out the cheque book- he wants to pay you. He might be the most famous guy on the NASDAC or the most famous crook. So you have to use a lot of judgement...

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VALENZA

It is very difficult to work in a family business, but at the same time, the force is together. We have different tastes and often quarrel, crying and shouting here in this office - but this is normal for Italians because we are passionate

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GENEVA

The first year I presented my collection in Basel, there was just two watches in my collection. In a few days, I met all the important distributors from the whole world. My head was spinning!

At 17 when I was working in my uncle’s workshop on antique watches, I was working on watches from the 16th Century, 17th, and 18th Century.All the richness of the watchmakers art of this time was extraordinary, because watchmaking was an avantgarde science and there was an array of incredibly creative people involved at the time. And I was being introduce to the biggest collectors.

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VALENZA

Ten years ago I thought I would like to design jewellery for passion. I knew the technical side of the business, the style. As a designer, it is important to use emotion. Emotion is being able to see things, to observe people, to draw the designs that are different.

When I draw jewelery designs I don't think about jewellery, I don't look at the window of a jewellery shop for inspiration. It is only to know what exists in the marketplace so that it is not possible to draw something similar.

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MADRID

It is an artistic job, artistic work that creates a piece of vanity, in a world of vanity . It is not just something to put on a mantle piece. It is something spiritual and something cultural. It is the only thing along with architecture and art that represents history. You can see the history of a nation through its jewellery.

The biggest desire that the musician Rostropovich has, is to come to Madrid and have a glass of wine and a little bit of Tapas with me in the centre of Madrid. We are the best of friends, twin souls and talk for hours even though I don't understand nor speak French and he doesn't speak Spanish.

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You know I've had Royal Highnesses in front of me or me in front of her, now I get confused if she is in front of me or I am in front of her because there is a moment you are there, you are shy, you are a bit nervous , when she looks at it and she loves it. This is the moment you feel equal to anybody in this world. It is such a gratifying feeling. You need this like you need food!

But it has one draw back. It is not a money making proposition really. A friend of mind told me "Stefan you are too much in love with this business you will never make money". But I am happy if I make enough to give life to these designs you see.

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PARIS

When we were in McKenzie, the Gucci family was run by Maurizio with his cousins. They wanted to make the transition from family to management so they came to McKenzie and they got a General manager and a team of people from McKenzie's. It failed.

Luxury goods have a spirit, have a soul. They are not just numbers, they are not just logistics they are not just mechanisms, there is something intangible that we sell to our clients that goes beyond the product. So on one side understanding the philosophy of the family which has been creating a successful story, I think it is a key ingredient to continue the successful story later on when you bring in more management, more systems, more professionalism - you should never forget that the success of that product started from a family where there was something intangible.

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NEW YORK

I like to get to the source. I mean we call ourselves Fortunoff the Source, and I would not be happy if I were not going and being able to purchase at where I knew I was getting the right price and where I could have an active negotiation.

Part of the pleasure of the jewellery business, I would say is outright negotiation and understanding the nuances of the deal There is a huge amount of merchandise and you have rejection and you are able to tailor your parcels and when you are looking at million and millions of dollars of merchandise, it takes time, but you will get what you need.

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NEW YORK

20 to 30 years ago there was a room for a lot of people to make money, the guys buying the rough from the mine, selling it in Bangkok, dealers going to Bangkok buying the stones and bringing them in and selling to the other dealers, these people selling to the manufacturer, the manufacturer selling it to the retail store.

A piece that came from the mines at $1,000.00 per carat, by the time it would reach the customer it would be $5,000.00. Now there is no middle man, he has gone. Now you are talking to manufacturers and they are buying direct from the source, trying to go to the retail stores and direct to the private customer.

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NEW YORK

A few weeks ago, I had some people in here and they said "Oh you like old cars?" and I said "Yes I have a car racing team, we travel all around the country racing cars" They said "Excuse me...Wait a minute I thought you were a jewellery designer?" And I replied "Well, yes, I do that too".

My dream when I was young, besides getting into these great museums, and making an indelable American brand, was very much to have an atelier very much like one of the Sun Kings.

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