Cavill & Co. show tonight

Debbie Cavill and Jess on during this hour and some of the pieces shown looked very nice, high-end - but the prices! I wonder how many of these pieces are actually sold - and kept - at these prices? Also, if the information in the 'description' section of each piece gets any smaller it will disappear completely - is it me, or has the description section become smaller and much less clear than it used to be?

One of the pieces was a ring with a large Sokoto Nigerian aquamarine set with accent diamonds in 18ct yellow gold, closing price £1,995, minimum total gem weight 5.75 cts. It looked a really pale aquamarine to me, especially for that kind of money. Not much seemed to be selling out from what I could see, but I was flicking between the jewellery auctions and Gem Collector, where they were doing loose diamonds with Jim. Again, he kept saying that if anyone wanted to see any of the pieces again, message in and he would re-show them. I certainly wondered whether they were struggling to sell. The only good news was that Jess seemed to be more restrained when co-presenting with Debbie.

Good to see the Christmas tree has made its' appearance - after all, there's only over four months to go Bah, humbug.....

She has been on for a week and I don’t doubt she sells. She sets all the pieces at the same price so she makes more money on some than others. I saw the Sokoto and it was a whopper. They do give people 30 days to get it valued so i’m sure that is what is happening with the high end items.

I think the Cavill & Co range is aimed at the same buyers as the Lorique range.

I have to be honest, I think the Cavill & Co range looks better quality than the Lorique range, and the prices are better too.

The only thing I'd say about the Cavill & Co stuff is the inconsistency is the quality of their stones. Some of their stones are STUNNING - but then others are VERY underwhelming. As historymystery says, the Aquamarine is pale, and they had a Mexican Fire Opal that was VERY cloudy.

TheManWithNoName said:

I think the Cavill & Co range is aimed at the same buyers as the Lorique range.

I have to be honest, I think the Cavill & Co range looks better quality than the Lorique range, and the prices are better too.

The only thing I'd say about the Cavill & Co stuff is the inconsistency is the quality of their stones. Some of their stones are STUNNING - but then others are VERY underwhelming. As historymystery says, the Aquamarine is pale, and they had a Mexican Fire Opal that was VERY cloudy.

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I think I know the Fire Opal you mean - it was in a ring that had just come on when I was about to switch over. I thought it looked very 'muddy'. Wasn't it Glenn Lehrer who was always going on about the quality of Fire Opals and only selecting the best for his jewellery - I seem to remember he was a great fan of the stone. I thought of him when I caught sight of that ring - wonder what he would have said about it. Considering the prices yesterday, I was surprised this one made the cut (no pun intended).

historymystery said:

I think I know the Fire Opal you mean - it was in a ring that had just come on when I was about to switch over. I thought it looked very 'muddy'. Wasn't it Glenn Lehrer who was always going on about the quality of Fire Opals and only selecting the best for his jewellery - I seem to remember he was a great fan of the stone. I thought of him when I caught sight of that ring - wonder what he would have said about it. Considering the prices yesterday, I was surprised this one made the cut (no pun intended).

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If the one you saw was one of the reddish fire opals, then yes, it was probably the same one.

Very cloudy, not very impressive and all it had going for it was a very big carat weight.

Being 'bigger then average' in size is not enough to justify it being set into high end jewellery in my opinion.

TheManWithNoName said:

Being 'bigger then average' in size is not enough to justify it being set into high end jewellery in my opinion.

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I agree. It can be quite difficult to get an iron-rich gem that has perfect clarity, tone and brightness and is truly red, as opposed to leaning towards orange, pink or brown (which is really dark orange). Quite often presenters will laud a stone as being 'red' and the stock photos will show a colour that you and I might call 'red' but, when shown in the studio or when it arrives at home, picked from a multiple quantity auction, it's not really that at all.

Years ago I bought a Lehrer Quasar cut garnet ring. It was one of the reddest that I had ever seen and appeared even and bright on screen. I reasoned that the low depth and the cut might generate a popping red colour. Nothing wrong with it but the stone didn't have the openness and vivacity that I expected. I have a Sphalerite and a Zircon that are close - and beautiful - but just miss that perfect sweet spot. Mexican fire opal, particularly the red variety, can be stunning but the stones that I have ever seen that meet all criteria for 'red' are Ethiopian and some Australian opals but, of course, not as a single colour.

For all the chatter in the Debbie & Jess instalment of the latest Cavill offering about cutting and re-cutting, I don't understand why you still get what appears to be standard cuts. There may be some finessing in the cuts they offer, like the subtle differences between a Portuguese and DeGrey & Mason's Theia or a standard round brilliant and Gemporia's so-called 'D-cut' but, as you say, not enough to make the final product stand out.

If the Cavills have access to large, gem-quality Mexican Fire Opal rough but it just misses on clarity, why not create a stunning, large 360 degree drop pendant akin to some of the Graff drop emeralds? I'm sure that Rocks & Co had some that they sold specifically as 'Queretaro' opal and TJC has 'Salamanca' opal that has better clarity. My Rahul Patel cabochon red Indian garnet ring is dark - that's what red Indian garnets tend to be - but it's a high dome cab and comes alive in direct light.

The Cavill Collection has some stunners, for sure, is well worth watching but "plonk in a basket with accent diamonds" misses the point for me. It might be all about the stone (you, historymystery & JoJo make the point about inconsistency - the aquamarines being a perfect example) but the designs, in the main, are dull.

AndyW said:

The Cavill Collection has some stunners, for sure, is well worth watching but "plonk in a basket with accent diamonds" misses the point for me. It might be all about the stone (you, historymystery & JoJo make the point about inconsistency - the aquamarines being a perfect example) but the designs, in the main, are dull.

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The Cavill & Co collection in general seems an odd one to me. Some stones, particularly their Sapphires and Rubies are genuinely a class above anything else on the channel, and I have no doubt that those have been sourced specifically by them (no surprise with Toby's genuine connections in the Sapphire industry). They are clearly high end stones worthy of being set into high-end jewellery.

But then there are the stones that, in my opinion, are from the Gemporia vault rather than the Cavill's own collection. The Cavill & Co Aquamarine is 'Santa Maria' Aquamarine and very wishy-washy - and, coincidentally, Gemporia also use 'Santa Maria' Aquamarine, which is also wishy-washy. Cavill & Co have had some very included Mandarin Garnet from Nigeria - and, coincidentally, Gemporia's Mandarin Garnet is also very included and from Nigeria.

It's like they're sourcing SOME stones specifically for the Cavill & Co range - and to 'bridge the gap', they're using some of the big 'one-off' stones from the Gemporia vault too.

The Lorique Collection was consistent in that you got big stones AND better quality stones that were either cleaner and/or more saturated in colour than their 'normal' everyday stones.

The Cavill & Co collection seems to be either really good quality, clean, saturated stones - or average quality stones of big carat weights. #

If I'm paying £2000+ for an Aquamarine, I couldn't care less about its size. I just want it to be really blue. I'd rather have a 1ct really blue Aquamarine than a 15ct almost colourless 'Aquamarine'.

TheManWithNoName said:

The Cavill & Co collection in general seems an odd one to me. Some stones, particularly their Sapphires and Rubies are genuinely a class above anything else on the channel, and I have no doubt that those have been sourced specifically by them (no surprise with Toby's genuine connections in the Sapphire industry). They are clearly high end stones worthy of being set into high-end jewellery.

But then there are the stones that, in my opinion, are from the Gemporia vault rather than the Cavill's own collection. The Cavill & Co Aquamarine is 'Santa Maria' Aquamarine and very wishy-washy - and, coincidentally, Gemporia also use 'Santa Maria' Aquamarine, which is also wishy-washy. Cavill & Co have had some very included Mandarin Garnet from Nigeria - and, coincidentally, Gemporia's Mandarin Garnet is also very included and from Nigeria.

It's like they're sourcing SOME stones specifically for the Cavill & Co range - and to 'bridge the gap', they're using some of the big 'one-off' stones from the Gemporia vault too.

The Lorique Collection was consistent in that you got big stones AND better quality stones that were either cleaner and/or more saturated in colour than their 'normal' everyday stones.

The Cavill & Co collection seems to be either really good quality, clean, saturated stones - or average quality stones of big carat weights. #

If I'm paying £2000+ for an Aquamarine, I couldn't care less about its size. I just want it to be really blue. I'd rather have a 1ct really blue Aquamarine than a 15ct almost colourless 'Aquamarine'.

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Exactly. Who's going to pay that kind of money for an average quality - even though big - gemstone that's supposed to be a piece of top of the range jewellery? If it looked cloudy on screen, then I wonder how murky it'll look like when someone gets it home. This makes me curious as to how many pieces sold from the Collection find their way back as a refund request when the buyer gets the piece home?

From what I've seen over the past year or so, Gemporia's aquamarines in particular would not tempt me to buy; most of them look a very washed-out, insipid pale blue.

historymystery said:

From what I've seen over the past year or so, Gemporia's aquamarines in particular would not tempt me to buy; most of them look a very washed-out, insipid pale blue.

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Sourcing good-quality Beryl has never been Gemporia's forte.

The majority of their Aquamarine and Morganite is almost colourless with only a very faint hint of blue or pink. Most of the Heliodor they sold/sell is irradiated, their recent batches of Goshenite is also irradiated, and their Emeralds have always been hit and miss, depending on location.

Some of the early Siberian Emeralds were really nice - a pastel green hue, fairly clean, and I believe they were natural too. Same applies to the Colombian Emeralds too. The first batch of Ethiopian Emeralds they got were GORGEOUS - and the prices were great. Second time around though, they realised the hype and hiked the prices considerably. Some of the Zambian Emeralds are quite nice too.

The Santa Terezinha Emeralds though are awful. VERY over-saturated blackish-green full of black inclusions. Awful. I didn't get the hype with the Minas Gerais Emeralds at all - very included and VERY expensive. I also don't get the hype over the Panshir Emeralds either.

The prices of Gemporia's Emeralds are all over the place too. The last batch of Colombian Emerald's they were flogging were FILLED - yet they were selling them for as much, if not more, than the natural or oiled Colombian Emeralds.

TheManWithNoName said:

I think the Cavill & Co range is aimed at the same buyers as the Lorique range.

I have to be honest, I think the Cavill & Co range looks better quality than the Lorique range, and the prices are better too.

The only thing I'd say about the Cavill & Co stuff is the inconsistency is the quality of their stones. Some of their stones are STUNNING - but then others are VERY underwhelming. As historymystery says, the Aquamarine is pale, and they had a Mexican Fire Opal that was VERY cloudy.

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I've noticed that with their Paraiba pieces. The grade is Heavily Included yet selling for thousands. You can get better grades cheaper. Plus, maybe I'll offend some buyers, but the Cavil pieces are huge and gross.