We were thrilled to see the Pipa necklace (one of Caradiaz's best sellers) on tv last February. Actress Sharon Small (Mistresses, Inspector Linley, etc.) was a guest in The Saturday Kitchen show on 16th Feb 2008 and, much to our delight, she choose to wear a Pipa necklace to accessorise her outfit.

Thank you, Sharon!

Amongst the trends set by fashion designers for this season, our favourite at Caradiaz is the 'safari look': earthy tones, ethnic prints, large bags and of course big, exotic jewellery (just what we like!), all of it inspired in adventurous journeys to the heart Africa, intrepid explorers and indigenous tribes - think 'King Solomon's Mines' and 'Mogambo'.

Mind you, safari and ethnic/tribal looks seem to make a come back every summer, so why not try and 'salvage' some stuff from previous years before going on a shopping spree?

The Spring/Summer'08 fashion shows were full of oversize jewellery. Names like Yves Saint Laurent, Giambattista Valli, Roberto Cavalli or Marni, to name a few, had their models parading up and down the catwalks loaded with over the top, statement necklaces and chunky cuffs and bracelets - just the kind of stuff we absolutely LOVE at Caradiaz!

One of the key trends for this season seems to be juicy, acid colours in solid blocks - effectively a blank canvas to add the busiest, chunkiest necklaces you can find to personalise any tops or dresses. So don't be afraid to accessorise, there is no danger of overdoing it!

One of the London papers this morning featured an article on the use of skinny models in fashion and how the French have just passed new legislation to try and tackle the issue, which I think it's great. There is a big difference between naturally petite girls whose weight is perfectly healthy for their size and body built, like Kate Moss, and those who starve themselves to death to work in fashion, be socially accepted, or simply to emulate some celebrity without considering whether their bodies will be able to cope. It's just crazy!

That's why, although at Caradiaz we look at the fashion industry for reference, we don't actually follow all the trends and wouldn't have an under-age, under-weight model working for us. Our model, Marian Masiá, is an attractive, perfectly healthy, 26 year-old Spanish Law Graduate who has a full time job but loves fashion and she does some modelling on the side when she can.

I myself discovered my love for fashion in my late teens and was lucky enough to do some modelling in the late 80s. I particularly loved doing the fashion shows. For me, it was all about the clothes, rather than how you looked, and my weight was never an issue. But times were different then and so were beauty canons. Models like Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz or Cindy Crawford, to name a few, looked like real women, whereas today's so-called 'models' are just skinny children in make-up and fancy clothes.

Hello again,

Although our main business is jewellery, I have a weakness for handbags - apparently a very common thing amongst us, ladies...

You might have noticed that at we have introduced a few summery-looking bags on the Caradiaz website but it will be a while before we go into it more seriously, so to all bag lovers out there, please bear with us.

Anecdotally, I was on a train to London this morning heading to a meeting with a potential new French jewellery designer when I spotted the most beautiful Moroccan leather tote carried by a petite Asian girl. The bag was simply to die for but it was far too big for the girl and, unless she carried it over her shoulder, she dragged it on the floor rather badly - something she appeared to have done quite often, judging from the heavy scratching on the bottom of the bag.

I thought it was a real shame. The bag didn't look cheap and to have such a lovely piece of craftsmanship treated so carelessly was hard to watch...