300 diamond rings a year: Caldwells jewellers
WHEN Geoff Caldwell left Newcastle Boys High School in the 1930s, he told his father he wanted to be an engineer. His father laughed at the idea. "Dad told me I should just join the family business and help him run the jewellery store," Geoff laughed. He took his father's advice. The fledgling Caldwells jewellery business was launched at the end of the Great Depression years, survived World War II and went on to enjoy an extraordinary period of prosperity during the era when a prime location on thriving Hunter Street, Newcastle, was money in the bank. "We used to sell 300 diamond rings a year," Geoff…