The Caradiaz new Autumn/Winter collection has arrived and we are totally IN LOVE with it!!!!!

With a new and highly talented creative team and production fully established in Spain, our stunning new collection sees the light this week amidst encouraging comments, not only from clients but also from the fashion media (as reported by our Press Office) – so exciting!

Designed for style-focussed women who want ‘something a little different’ and always in keeping with our philosophy ‘unusual, stylish and affordable’, our new A/W 2010 collection showcases statement pieces and unique designs to complement the seasonal catwalk trends, whilst keeping prices in check despite offering the sort of exclusivity that would warrant a designer price tag.

All pieces are beautifully handcrafted to the highest quality, by Spanish artisans, with astonishing attention to detail and using a variety of materials, which include leather, waxed cotton, suedette, glass and resins, as well as precious metal platings, such as rhodium, gold and silver.

Oh, and the original face of Caradiaz , Marian Masiá, came out of ‘retirement’ to shoot our new catalogue, looking just gorgeous as always!

We hope you like the Caradiaz new Autumn/Winter collection as much as we do.

The Caradiaz Team

Our stunning Issa necklace was picked by Grazia's savvy fashion team during a media meeting earlier this year for the magazine's Fashion Charts section.

After months of waiting and hoping that they hadn't changed their mind about our piece - magazines can sometimes change their plans at the last minute and not feature pieces they originally planned to - our Press Office received confirmation of the publication date a couple of weeks ago and... the day finally arrived.

Today's post was delivered (earlier than usual, much to our surprise!) and with it came this week's issue of Grazia, showing our Issa necklace in The fashion Charts as planned (page 10) and describing Caradiaz as a '...treasure trove of unusual pieces guaranteed to make you stand out of the crowd...'

It is the best compliment we could receive from such an influential fashion magazine, so we really couldn't be happier with the piece.

A big thank you to Claire in our Press Office for an amazing job.

Images & quote above courtesy of Bauer Consumer Media Limited

I have been meaning to write a blog entry about the latest series of ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ since it started several weeks ago. But I never managed to do so and tonight, with the last episode in the series just finished, I thought I’d get on with it before it’s totally irrelevant!

It still amazes me how people continue to be afraid of good, old Ms. Portas - or is it Mrs. Portas now that she’s married? Hang on, how does the name change work in same sex marriages? Going off on a tangent… ignore me.

I thought people applied to Mary’s show for help with their businesses but some of the applicants actually have other agendas… Remember Angela, the baker from Raynes Park? It turned out that all she wanted out of the whole experience was a free makeover – forget about Mary’s invaluable advice, Angela had been in the bakery business for 36 years so she knew better.

In fact, everybody seems to think they know better than Mary, so bother calling her in? Seriously, I think that, with the exception of perhaps the couple that run the village shop in Dorset, all the other retailers argued that Mary’s ideas might work in fashion but their businesses were different. Why can’t people see that Mary’s expertise in fashion retail can actually be applied to other types of retail? Are they blind or simply acting in self-defence to avoid the embarrassment of coming across as a bit 'inept' for the job? Probably the latter, I would have thought.

But Mary is no quitter and no matter how much of a challenge a business (and its boss) can be, she will always try her very best to turn any business around, if she is allowed to get on with it, of course – you can’t help someone that actually doesn’t want your help…

I wonder what type of businesses Mary will be dealing with in the next series but I’m pretty sure it’ll be just as interesting and I’ll definitely be watching it - and keeping a close eye on the stunning statement jewellery Mary wears. Hopefully one day, she will choose a chunky necklace from Caradiaz!

Mary Portas flanked by the owners of '3 Sisters' greengrocers in Merseyside
Picture courtesy of the BBC Press Office

I have been wanting to write about the very sticky topic of ‘refunds’ for a while and today personal experience gave me the right ammunition to tackle the subject.

No, it’s nothing to do with Caradiaz, in case you are wondering. I was actually looking to buy some underwear online earlier from a well-known shop but, as I checked the company’s Returns and Refunds policies, I was shocked to see that they don’t refund the shipping charges.

After the recent and much publicised case of Next getting caught not complying with Distance Selling Regulations (DSR), how can some companies think that they can get away with not refunding customers for shipping charges?

I decided to called the company’s Customer Services number to double-check and when I asked the Sales Rep, he said ‘That is correct, we don’t refund shipping charges.’ to what I replied ‘And don’t you know that is actually illegal?’

The Sales Rep changed his tune completely and said that I could get the shipping charges refunded if I adhered to the DSR – funny the company expects me to do it when they don’t actually do it themselves, how ridiculous is that!!! – at which point he offered to email me a link to such DRS to check the criteria to get shipping charges back.

Since I declined the offer, the Sales Rep went on to explain that, basically what the DSR say is that customers must let the company know, in writing and within seven working days of delivery, whether the customer was intending to keep the goods or not. Well, why isn’t that information written on the company’s website, under the Returns, Refunds and Cancellation headings?

I really can't believe that, despite the Next story, some companies are still relying on the knowledge - or rather lack of it! - of statutory rights by customers and therefore trying to get away with such an illicit way of pocketing money – how shameful is that?

Needless to say I left the website without placing any orders...

Excerpt from the UK Distance Selling Regulations
Courtesy of the Office of Fair Trading

We knew buying a house in Spain was going to be a great idea, since it meant having our own place to stay when taking a little break to see family and friends. But with the Caradiaz design and production teams based in Spain too, the decision really has paid off, as I can easily be combine business with pleasure.

So today, leaving daddy in charge of the little one for the day, I caught a fast train to Barcelona to meet up with the team to view and approve the samples for our Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, the first one bearing our own name.

The pieces are absolutely AMAZING! I would definitely wear each and every single necklace, bracelet and pair of earrings – this is actually my modus operandi when it comes to choosing the jewellery: if it’s something I wouldn’t wear, it won’t make the collection.

So after a couple of hours of viewing and trying on the jewellery samples (whilst eating a few yummy chocolates…), the collection was finally ready and the meeting ended with not one but two Juvé y Camps cava toasts: the first one to a fantastic team and their hard work, and the second one to the success of the collection.

My day in Barcelona ended with a bit of shopping in the über-stylish Diagonal - Passeig de Gràcia area and a quick drink at the stunning Hotel Arts to catch up with my very dear friend C, before heading back to Sants Station to catch my return train.

The train left on time and it wasn’t very busy, so I had a table all to myself and I’ve been able to read, tweet, and do some work rather comfortably. Oh, but the PA system is announcing we’re about to arrive our final destination, so I’d better pack up and get ready to go!

Until next time,