Even his close friends have a hard time believing that Charles de Viel Castel is now a famous “jewelry designer to the stars”. This former, very successful managing partner at Stelac, a prestigious Wall Street financial firm, is the genius behind the new and trendy CVC Stones.
Here’s the background: Charlie de Viel Castel’s grandmother left him a raw diamond after she passed away. Perhaps, she correlated that to her grandson’s hobby of collecting stones as a child, always in search of the perfect beach pebble. Putting these two memories together… the raw diamond and organic stones… was the idea behind starting CVC Stones. It took an entire year for the whole collection to be completed. With no artistic experience, de Viel Castel had to find the right craftsmen to help him “learn the ropes”. Luckily, he was a quick learner!
Sourcing the gold chains from Germany and the diamonds from a dealer friend in Belgium was easy; the difficult part was finding the right stones as each is handpicked. The stone has to be “just right” with the perfect amount of veining, color and texture to compliment the diamond that’s set within it. Care must be taken because of the intense physical process that goes behind drilling into the delicate stones. Patience is the key to creating these one-of-a-kind necklaces. If you’re lucky enough to get one, wear it with pride and remember all that went into making this unique piece!
The new zodiac pendants are the latest in CVC Stone’s impressive collection!
Image courtesy of: CVC Stones
Initially placing the “burden” of finding the right stones on himself, de Viel Castel now receives multiple packages a week with stones from friends and strangers who eagerly comb the world’s beaches. We bet he can’t wait to open those boxes and discover the treasures within!
Image courtesy of: W Magazine
Without intending to, CVC Stones‘ trademark pieces are part of the collection of black stones, due to their versatility. They can be worn casually with a plain white t-shirt and formally with a black-tie gown. de Viel Castel though, personally prefers the unusually colored stone necklaces because of they have more “character”.
Image courtesy of: The Window- Barney’s
You can see the intricacies that go into putting these small diamond pieces into the delicate beach pebbles. There was a process that had to be learned prior to perfection. Drilling has to be conducted at just the right spots in order to avoid cracking the stones. By the end product, it looks as though the process was completely mastered!
Image courtesy of: The Stone Set