BC Business
Owner
AGE: 26
COMPANY: Cavalier Jewellers Ltd.
“Cavalier specializes in custom engagement rings and will launch a watch collection this year: a classic Town line named after iconic Vancouver buildings and a sporty Trail line named after B.C. explorers”
The Story: When Dane Stevens graduated from Delta Secondary in 2006, he wasn’t sure he wanted to follow his maternal uncle and grandfather into the gemstone importing business. Then his uncle was diagnosed with ALS, so Stevens started learning from him how to import gems and sell them to jewellers across Canada. When in 2007 his uncle became too ill to travel, Stevens bought his inventory with $100,000 borrowed from his parents and opened his own company, Adams (his uncle’s surname) & Stevens Importers. By 2013, his client list was dropping as jewellers started to retire and close their stores, so he started a new company, Cavalier, that included a retail store in Gastown plus importing and wholesaling. Cavalier specializes in custom engagement rings and will launch a watch collection this year: a classic Town line named after iconic Vancouver buildings and a sporty Trail line named after B.C. explorers. With business booming, Stevens managed to repay his parents’ loan within two years.
Markers of Success: Cavalier has grown from a one-man wholesaler with $300,000 of gross sales (in its best year) to a wholesale-and-retail business with almost $1.8 million in gross sales in its first 18 months. Cavalier has five full-time staff, two goldsmiths on a contract basis, a publicist and additional manufacturers who help build engagement rings when things are extra busy. —Felicity Stone
Meet Dane Stevens and the rest of the 2015 30 Under 30 winners at this year’s celebration event!