OTHER PEOPLE’S LOVE STORIES F
or Vikki George, the dream of returning family jewellery business Roccabella to Cashel Street never died. She spent the intervening years honing her design skills, and this year the dream came true. The unassuming storefront gives way to an expansive interior where privacy screens protect the intimate undertaking of jewellery design from the suits-andshoppers foot traffic outside. An angled window reaches into the sky, dropping sunlight onto the wooden table in the middle of Roccabella’s front room – a space that would look completely at home in Milan. The table is a key visual and philosophical part of the design. Diamond rings, earrings and necklaces sparkle on shelves, but there is no cabinet to lean over and stare down into. The experience is conversational; people sit down face-to-face and talk with Vikki. She’s in love with the building, and knew it was Roccabella’s destination the first time she saw it. “The architects didn’t know, but they were building this for us,” she says. “Finally it feels like we’re back home.” From 1999 until 2011, Vikki’s mum Margaret George ran the original Roccabella store, which earned a reputation as a Christchurch jewellery destination. As a recently-retired linen retailer with a boredom problem, Margaret took over the store and set about learning the art of sourcing quality items. She went on buying missions to Europe and picked
82
‘IT’S ABOUT THE CUSTOMER, AND THE JEWELLERY THAT WILL BE A TANGIBLE MEMORY OF A BIG EVENT IN THEIR LIFE.’
up quality items from a jewellery fair in Sydney. Unconstrained by the traditions of New Zealand jewellery, Margaret offered Christchurchians the new, the colourful and the interesting. And it was a huge success. Her golden rule was quality and longevity – if a piece wasn’t good enough to give to a family member, it wasn’t good enough to sell. One of the store’s most popular features was its range of Hearts On Fire jewels, a selection of the world’s most perfectly-cut diamonds. Hearts On Fire is an exclusive brand that only works with trusted jewellers. Vikki was her mother’s first Roccabella employee, coming home from Australia to be there for opening day. And now she’s at the helm, designing bespoke jewellery and sourcing collections with Roccabella’s signature style. The business was devastated by the Canterbury earthquakes, and neither woman
CITYSCAPE.CO.NZ Spring 20
