A coffee with Naveya and Sloane

We met at Imperial Lane, because that's where Naveya & Sloane's ridiculously cool office is located. It's on the top floor of the Imperial complex in a vast and empty room; they have floral couches and an old jewellery display case next to their desks, which are littered with apple products.

They ordered flat whites, I had a hot chocolate (must restrict myself to two coffees a day max, else I lose the plot altogether).

We talked about what they do, which is design jewellery. This is interesting considering Rachel actually studied fashion at university (she used our designer, Allan, as a model once - we use him for the same purposes). Naveya and Sloane have a classic collection, but their passion really lies in creating custom jewellery - listening to what their clients want and turning those thoughts into real and beautiful objects.

We talked about Naveya and Sloane as a personality, because it's a little bit different from your usual jewellery brand. It's boutique and exclusive, yet also quite approachable. They design for intelligent, entertaining and light-hearted people, and their jewellery reflects those traits.

That led to a discussion about the jewellery industry in general; how it's steeped in tradition, so the very idea of "custom-made jewellery" can be intimidating for most. Rachel and Alex have created custom pieces for people for as little as $500. It's not all about platinum and diamonds, they told me, there is colossal range of metals and both precious and semi-precious stones, which means prices vary hugely.

What's Rachel's favourite semi-precious stone? Alexandrite. And her favourite precious one? She loves coloured diamonds; champagne and yellow, they are particularly sparkly.

We also talked about how jewellery is an industry built on trust. I likened it to how I feel when I take my car in for a service, if a man calls me to say the Mazda needs two new tyres filled with nitrogen and a wheel alignment, and that it's going to cost me $900, I really can't argue with him because I have no idea what I'm arguing about. That's a frightening prospect.

The same goes for jewellery. If you're getting a custom piece of jewellery made, you need to know that your jewellers are going to create what you want and to your budget. Rachel and Alex laughed at my mechanic analogy, and told me that their primary goal is to do a good job. They also said they've learned that making jewellery is not about Naveya and Sloane at all, it's about the people who will wear and keep and treasure that piece of jewellery for their entire lives. I liked that simplicity.

I also liked how nice Rachel and Alex are. When I first met them I was quite intimidated by their general aura of amazingness, so it was nice to discover that they're actually super down-to-earth and unpretentious. Plus they shared the surprise block of chocolate that arrived with their latest diamond delivery (fast track to my heart).

Thanks for the coffee, chocolate and chat Naveya and Sloane. The minute someone proposes to me I'll be banging on your door...