Venerari
Who are you? Genevieve Lilley and
Kinsley Wallman
What’s your story? We own Venerari
jewellery story in The Strand
Arcade and have been up and running
for three years. I have my own
architecture firm (Genevieve) and
I design our jewellery. Kingsley was
a lawyer but is now a trained gemologist
– his family have been in the opal
business for decades – and he sources
all the stones. We’d been in London
for the past ten years and when we
got back, we realised how Sydney
had moved on – modern design was
flourishing and we knew it was something
we could have an input in.
Tell us something about your
jewellery. Basically we wanted to reinvent
the opal. It’s an amazing stone
but over the years it’s lost its allure
and ended up in cheap tourist souvenir
baskets. We use stones mined here
in Australia as well as other precious
stones such as sapphires from Queensland
and emeralds from Columbia.
Our designs are striking, colourful
and flamboyant merging stunning
natural stones with modern sets.
And your fan base? We have customers
all around the world. As well
as passing trade, our work is popular
in the UK, Tokyo and the US. Half of
the business is made to order, so we
have very loyal clients who know we
will make an individual piece to the
highest standard.
Could we afford you? We try and
cover a wide range of prices so our
materials range from silver to white
gold and stones value vary too. You
can find something exquisite for
as little as $250 while our top end
designs can reach up to $12,000.
Where can we find you? Come visit us at the Strand Arcade,
412 George Street in the city.
Venerari (02 9222 9797 www.venerari.com)