Tag Archive for 'Dr Marc Dussault'

The Royal Wedding Jewellery

A special thanks to Dr. Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs for providing us with this great find on Happily Ever Richer! With the royal wedding still abuzz around the globe, it was only a matter of time before the jewels became a highlight for us to talk about!

Click to enlarge

There probably isn’t much of Prince William’s and his new bride, Kate Middleton’s wedding left that hasn’t been viewed or talked about all over the world. This ‘It’ event of the year (or century) has people are talking about a Cinderella-ish wedding that girl’s only ever get to dream of!

While people are still buzzing about the wedding dresses (yes, that’s plural!) Kate wore during her big day, let’s talk about the royal wedding rings that are just as lavish and worth much, much more.

Engagement and Wedding Ring

In an era where coloured gemstones and diamonds are the new white diamond, the engagement ring that Prince William proposed to Kate with extravagantly fits right into that category. Previously, Princess Diana’s own engagement ring, this 18 carat oval blue sapphire surrounded by 14 small diamonds originally cost $45,000 USD.

The sapphire, alone, is now valued $300,000 USD. With the total price of the ring equalling a little over half a million USD, what many people may not know is that Princess Di’s sapphire engagement ring was originally given to Prince Harry while Prince William received her Cartier watch. When the older Prince became engaged, Prince Harry gave the ring to him for Kate Middleton. How’s that for brotherly love?

As for the wedding ring itself, the Prince has chosen not to wear a wedding ring but that doesn’t mean he skimped out on Kate’s ring! Going to their family jeweller at Wartski, a jewellery company founded in Bangor, the ring was made from a single, large nugget of Clogau gold only found in Wales.

What makes this gold even more valuable is the fact that this type of gold is extremely rare making this wedding ring, very possibly, the last piece of jewellery to ever be crafted from this particular type of Welsh gold.

Earrings

Princess Diana’s engagement ring wasn’t the only family heirloom passed on down to Kate. During their honeymoon, Prince William also gifted his mother’s diamond and sapphire earrings to his new bride.

Using the great advantage of custom jewellery, Kate took Princess Diana’s favourite earrings and had them the remodelled to include a more modern look that suited her own personality. These exquisite earrings were originally designed as large, jewelled studs but are now a gorgeous pair of single tear drop earrings.

On her wedding day, Kate was given a pair of new diamond encrusted drop earrings designed by Robinson Pelham as a wedding gift from her parents. While these earrings were certainly jaw dropping in price, the simple yet elegant style suited Middleton perfectly

Tiara

Now, not many girls get the option to choose which historical, jewelled filled tiaras they’ll be wearing, Kate Middleton certainly did – and choose she did!

The talk was that Middleton would perhaps wear the famous tiara that Queen Elizabeth wore on her wedding day but instead, she chose the 1936 diamond Cartier tiara that was originally purchased by the Duke of York who later became known as King George VI.

Set in platinum, the tiara is made from old, baguette-cut diamond with the upper part forming a range of lotus flowers and the lower ‘zig-zag’ part forming a removable piece that can be used as a bandeau. This royal tiara was given to Queen Elizabeth when she was still just a princess and has now been passed on to Kate Middleton.

A statement hasn’t been released yet as to whether or not Kate will keep this tiara as her own but for now, all clothing and jewellery is up on display at Buckingham palace.

So there you have it! Something old, something new, something borrowed and a lot of things blue!

While the total value of all these jewels can only be found in a royal bank account, the style and sentiment behind them are entirely priceless!

*If you’re having a hard time viewing the picture, click it to zoom in closer.

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Eskae Private Jeweller – Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year

Eskae Private Jeweller – Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year

Some of you will remember that a few weeks ago I was presented with the inaugural Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Start Up Category by Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs.

Since that time Marc has been busy creating a specific page about all of his Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 Award Winners

I have been lucky enough to be featured on the page as the second person down – you can go there now to have a look at the page by clicking on the link above.

I’ve had an amazing past 12 months getting everything together the way I dreamed starting my own business would be. I am more confident than ever about having made the right decision to go on my own and launch – Eskae Private Jeweller.

The reason I won the 2010 Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the New South Wales Service Industry Category is in recognition of my incredible start as an entrepreneur and business owner.

When I first met by Dr Marc Dussault and inquired about his Business Mastery Platinum Program I was working as an employed bench jeweller and absolutely knew beyond any doubt, I wanted to be running my own business – I even had the name picked out and registered – Eskae Private Jeweller.

Even before I was in a position to open the doors to my new Sydney jewelry studio, I was crystal clear on what my business would look like, how it would run and who my prospects and clients would be.  Not only did I have this information on hand, I had a complete Business Building Blueprint™ filled in before I even had a physical location selected. In other words, I had a complete strategic plan established with a step-by-step process to implement my business vision of designing and creating beautiful, unique custom design jewellery for you – all thanks to Marc

I was lucky enough to realise the benefit of prior planning and was able to invest 18 months prior to opening Eskae Private Jeweller – making sure everything was in place for the launch of my new start-up venture. I come from a family of business owners, both my parents own their own businesses and now my sister and I have ventured out on our own with separate businesses. Since my immediate family circle also own and run several of their own businesses, you can image what the talk is all about at family gatherings!

I can tell you from being around business owners my whole life that far too many small business owners are impulsive and short-sighted when it comes to getting started in business they unfortunately lack the discipline to plan properly before they make their move.

Some of my proudest achievements since opening Eskae Private Jeweller in January 2010, include:

  • Designing from scratch – the ideal Private Jewelery Studio where I can not only meet with you privately, but also have a fully functional, multi-bench production jewelry studio to create all of the unique hand crafted jewellery that you can dream of. Not only will I be ensuring quality as well as control of the design process for you, but you also have the opportunity to view the jewelry at each step of its creation..
  • I achieved operational profitability within 3 months. This may sound a little self-serving, but its important for you to know that I’m running a solid business and that it’s not a flash in the pan operation – here today gone tomorrow. I invested 18 months prior to opening so that I would hit the ground running, delivering on my promises to you from day one.
  • Because I invested time in my entrepreneurial education, I was able to learn Exponential Marketing Strategies that involve Boundless Opportunity Thinking™, I started taking orders BEFORE I was even able to produce the final jewellery pieces. Because of this I was able to hire a studio manager from day one, ensuring that I could grow my business faster and with a lot less stress by keeping my focus solely on you. While my manager is taking charge of the production side of things, I am free to make sure all of your needs are being met. Through our daily production meetings, I know exactly what stage each and every single order is ensuring that any communication I have with you is current and up-to-date.
  • I created, developed and launched a new website that includes a jewelry photo gallery along with specialized pages specific to engagement rings, bridal jewellery, designer jewellery and Art Deco jewellery. I wanted to make sure you have access to the best available source of information possible, and I believe these special photo-filled gallery pages achieve that for you.
  • My website and blog traffic has catapulted from 220 visits in the first month to over 1050 in 6 months by leveraging Exponential Internet Marketing Strategies that ensure the highest quality people like you find me EASILY when searching on Google and other search engines by using the most effective and efficient SEO strategies available to me. Again this is all about making things as easy as possible for you.
  • My jewelry blog has already published more than 100 posts in the first 6 months – while I was busy launching my new business. Most Australian businesses don’t have a blog let alone one that lets you go through this amount of information for free. I am continuously creating and writing posts to give you the opportunity to inform and educate yourself on topics as varied as Pink Diamonds, Art Deco Jewelry, and designing your own custom engagement ring.
  • As a result of being able to implement various Exponential Marketing campaigns and multiple Pathways To Profits™ – being established, with solid Management By Metrics™ to back them up – so that you know Eskae Private Jeweller can be relied upon to be here when you need me. A 1st year apprentice jeweller has been hired within 6 months of the jewelry studio’s opening. Holly’s first day is on the 30th August 2010 and I am proud to say that I will be helping not only Holly achieve her dream of becoming a qualified jeweller who is capable of making hand-crafted jewellery, but also helping to re-skill the jewellery industry in Australia, especially when you consider there has been a worrying shift of large retailers stocking mass produced jewelry made overseas.
  • I consider myself to have a generous and philanthropic perspective in life; Eskae donated $1,435 to The Smith Family through their child sponsorship program in my first year of operations. I believe that I have been lucky enough to be in a position to help. If I take no action on helping others in my lifetime then I believe myself to have abused that position.
  • Sales have steadily increased each month since the initial launch. Just another way of saying that Eskae Private Jeweller is here for the long haul. I am so happy to have been able to build the relationships I have with all of you and I am looking forward to building more as the years pass.
  • Eskae introduced environmentally friendly cleaning solutions that required additional research and effort to implement within the production cycle of creating precious one-of-a-kind jewelery. This is vitally important to the environmentally sustainable footprint that I want to establish for my operations. Eskae is all about having a holistic and socially conscious approach to jewelry making. It is not good enough just to be able to make beautiful custom jewelry, it needs to be done in an environmentally responsible manner.
  • I have been fortunate to be interviewed for a new business book. I want you to feel confident and reassured of my commitment to you as a client.

I would like to thank Marc for his continued belief in me as well as his consistent raising of the bar!

To the other winners -

Bree Robbins – Paddington Pups Category: Queensland Service Industry

Gavin Buckett – The Gourmet Guardian Category: Victoria Service Industry

Ray Keefe – Successful Endeavours Category: Engineering Consultant

David Conroy – The Lone Drainer And Pronto! Category: New South Wales Service Industry

Congratulations! I am so proud to be considered amongst a group of people that I both look up to and admire for all of the things I have seen you all achieve and what else is to come, I can’t wait to see!

Over time, the other winners will be posting their own summaries on the Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 Award Winners page so if you are someone who enjoys seeing people achieve, keep going back to the page and checking out their improvements and additions.

I know for a fact that because of the 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine that Marc and all of the winners of this years award are so passionate about – the page will get numerous improvements over the course of time, so for some of you just seeing Dr Marc Dussault practice what he preaches will be worth the time it takes to re-visit this page every now and then!

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Squash Lessons for Diamond Security

The pictures in today’s post come courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault, The Exponential Growth Strategist. At his recent Exponential Business Building Bootcamp, he demonstrated how a squash racquet gets broken from repeated use…

Broken Squash Racquet

You will see that on the “corners” of the racquet where it has broken, the break has been caused from repetitive damage to the same spot. In squash, as Marc explained, racquets are often broken where the same part of the racquet scrapes against the wall of the court from a well placed shot by your competitor, which forces you to retrieve the ball right up against the wall.

You are probably sitting there asking yourself what on earth does this have to do with jewellery and diamonds?

To make the connection for you – if your diamond setting is consistently damaged in the same place with repeated wear and tear, over time you run the risk of the setting becoming loose and the diamond falling out and being lost for ever…

Broken Racquet, Broken Setting = NIGHTMARE!

With a squash racquet there is no maintenance possible. When it breaks, you have to replace it.

The good news is that with your diamond jewellery it can and should be maintained regularly. At Eskae Private Jeweller, we have a service called the Refreshing Ring Rejuvenation to make sure your setting never gets loose so you never lose a diamond, pearl or precious gemstone.

Click on the hyperlink to go to our Refreshing Ring Rejuvenation page to find out everything you need to know.

We will make sure that -

  • The beadwork on your ring is correct and full – which means that the diamonds or gemstones are securely held in place
  • The bezel edge is safe and secure with enough metal over the diamond/gemstone.
  • The setting edge is secur enough of the diamond/gemstone.
  • There are NO chips, scratches, breaks or cleaves in the diamonds/gemstones.
  • The claws or setting edges are all in place and are not bent out of shape.
  • There is not too much wear on any of the exposed metal holding the diamond/gemstone in place.
  • Your jewellery is checked for damaged or loose diamonds or gemstones.
  • Your jewellery is professionally cleaned and polished so it looks like NEW again.
  • ALL scratches and marks on your jewellery are removed.
  • The white gold sections are re-rhodium plated to give your white gold a more brilliant lustre and hue.

The broken racquet – or your broken diamond setting – can be avoided.

At Eskae Private Jeweller we provide this service for our clients every 6 months, which is the recommended maintenance schedule for high-value jewelery. It gives us the opportunity to prevent any damage or loss to YOUR jewellery BEFORE any expensive restoration work is required.

It really is simple and easy to do – just give me a phone call or send me an email to book in your Refreshing Ring Rejuvenation so your rings are sparkling and clean just like when they were brand new!

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Private Jeweller

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Eskae Jeweller WINS Entrepreneur of the Year Award!

WOW!

What a fantastic past 12 months I have had…

Having a beautiful baby daughter (Seanna), launching my new premises in the city, taking on my first employee, developing new relationships within my business and outside of my business, getting this new phase of Eskae Jeweller off to a cracking start and then having ALL of this rewarded with winning the inaugural Exponential Programs Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

I was in a pool of 40 contenders from all of Australia, and I won the Start Up Category. Presenting the awards was Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs.

The day was incredible, being there in a room full of achievers who are focused on getting their businesses out-producing their competition so that they can achieve their own goals in both life and business… Even that experience alone is worth the effort of developing stronger business systems.

I am going to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who is involved with me and Eskae Jeweller, without you guys to create the jewellery for, without the support of my family and friends, and the leadership of Marc Dussault, I would not be writing this post.

I would also like to congratulate David Conroy fro The Lone Drainer and Pronto, who also won an award in the service category. Watching the way you have embraced the internet and technology to progress your business in leaps and bounds has definitely been one of the most rewarding and inspiring parts of working with you in the Business Mastery Platinum Program.

Dr Marc Dussault presenting Sam Kritsotakis with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Dr Marc Dussault presenting David Conroy with his Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller – Your Private Jeweller

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Eskae Jeweller – WINS – Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Award!

I got the news via email just the other day…

I had WON!

Such a great feeling to get recognised as an Exponential Entrepreneur of the Year, especially amongst a group of individuals who are over achievers.

I have had such a good time learning about the exponential mindset, and how to leverage these strategies that involve not only myself and the way I think, but the way that other people can help me to grow my business, in a win/win/win scenario. The possibilities are seemingly endless, it is very exciting!

Marc Dussault is an unbelievable leader in the Exponential Program, his advice and guidance have helped me go from having a dream of owning my own business, to being able to make this a firm and living reality for myself, in a strategic manner that will help me maintain my business going forward, so that this is not just a flash in the pan.

It is all about taking consistent steps in the right direction, based on strategy, rather than just throwing stuff on the wall to see what and who sticks… its what is called the 1% improvement doctrine, the basis of the exponential mindset.

As Marc says, “… live a life by design, rather than have an existence by default…” I have paraphrased Marc there but the message is still the same.

I have linked the blog announcement of the Exponential Entrepreneur Winners, so you can check out the announcement for yourself!

I would also like to take this opportunity to THANK those of you who have helped me make this transition from someone who used to do private work at home into someone who is now a fully fledged business owner, living his dream…

Without your support non of this would have been possible.

Thank you.

Sam Kritsotakis – Your Private Jeweller

Eskae Jewellery

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Natural Wonders courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault 7/7

Today’s post is courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs. You will find some of the most amazing pictures of natural wonders, that have to be seen to be believed!

I have kept this short so you can enjoy the wonder of our world!

Antimimeticisomorphism 7/7

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller

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Natural Wonders courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault 6/7

Today’s post is courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs. You will find some of the most amazing pictures of natural wonders, that have to be seen to be believed!

I have kept this short so you can enjoy the wonder of our world!

Antimimeticisomorphism 6/7

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller

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Natural Wonders courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault 5/7

Today’s post is courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs. You will find some of the most amazing pictures of natural wonders, that have to be seen to be believed!

I have kept this short so you can enjoy the wonder of our world!

Antimimeticisomorphism 5/7

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller

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Natural Wonders courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault 4/7

Today’s post is courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs. You will find some of the most amazing pictures of natural wonders, that have to be seen to be believed!

I have kept this short so you can enjoy the wonder of our world!

antimimeticisomorphism 4/7

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller

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Natural Wonders courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault 3/7

Today’s post is courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault of Exponential Programs. You will find some of the most amazing pictures of natural wonders, that have to be seen to be believed!

I have kept this short so you can enjoy the wonders of our world!

antimimeticisomorphism 3/7

Sam Kritsotakis

Eskae Jeweller

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