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David has two silver jewellery shops;one near the bottom of Main Street called Garbo Jewellery and the other,Beau Jangles,at 123 Main Street. He explained that Garbo is aimed more at visitors whilst Beau Jangles has become a sparkling grotto whose clientele are almost all local people.

But all the items on display have one thing in common: every piece has been designed and hand-made in Israel by specialist artisans. Some of it, the silver filigree work, is incredibly intricate and is made by Ben-Zion David, an 8th generation silversmith from the Yemen.

David Bentata is well-known in Gibraltar, and has been in retailing locally for 45 years, 44 of them in the rag trade. He retired in October 2004, but found his life of leisure to be Incredibly boring after an active business career.So when he saw the opportunity to open the two specialist jewellery shops in Main Street he jumped at it.

'It was a brilliant idea,' he said 'importing hand-made silver items from Israel-based designers.People go to live in Israel from all over the world, so you do get the best selection there.'

He explained that all the hand made jewellery is limited edition, and he usually limits this even further by just bringing one piece of each design to Gibraltar. So whatever you buy from either of the shops, you can be confident that you won't see anyone else wearing the same item. This applies to almost all of the jewellery sold.

What abut the Roman glass? It is set in silver but in several coloursblue, green cream, white — so did the Romans use coloured glass?

David explained; 'The Romans were in that part of the world for around 300 years, and got through a lot of glass.There is a good supply from the many archaeological digs that go on there,and our designers collect the off-cuts that aren't wanted for museums.The different colours,' he clarified, 'are simply caused by such factors as the age, the depth at which they are buried, and the temperatures they went

David and Lourdes ofBeau Jangles through depending on altitude as well as levels of moisture in the soil. But they all started off transparent.'

So, there is somewhere in Gibraltar where you can buy jewellery that dates back around 2,000 years.

Amazingly, David's two shops don't even go back 2,000 days.Beau Jangles only opened last June, and Garbo in November; so it is an achievement to have already reached the stage where both shops are thriving — Beau Jangles mainly by word of mouth amongst Gibraltarians.'1 am really grateful for the local reaction,' he said.'They truly have appreciated the beauty of the pieces. Local people are the backbone of the business.' He also told me that many tourists have said that it is the most original jewellery on the Rock.

David (who started designing jewellery himself as a hobby in 1975)visits Israel four times a year to see his designers and buy their latest works of art;in the meantime the business is in the safe hands of his son, Asher,(David's right hand man), and the two sales ladies: Lourdes, very experienced and mature, at Garbo; and Nieves, younger and very enthusiastic, at Beau Jangles.

Whilst talking of his helpers, David stressed that he was also exceptionally grateful for the assistance, advice and support given to him at the beginning by Suresh Mahtani, who owns such shops as Antonio and Prestige.

Both of David's jewellery shops will arrange special commissions, at no extra charge and based on existing designs, where the customers state their individual preferences and their measurements are taken. Usually this is for wedding rings, and you should allow six weeks for the item to be made and delivered to Gibraltar.

Everything sold is in practice guaranteed for life as all repairs are free — as are alterations.

Customers are all ladies(except when they send their men folk in to buy them a specific present),and range in age from schoolgirls to 85 year-olds. And, beautiful as every piece in the vast range is,the prices are surprising: from £6, for a pair of earrings, up to £300.

Everything is sterling silver 925 — the highest possible jewellery grade—and as such does not cause the allergic reactions that are sometimes associated with the more usual nickel alloy silver.

And there is a worthwhile Valentine's offer all this month — a free pair of silver earrings worth £21 with every silver watch costing from £80.

Garbo Jewellery at 17 Main Street,and Beau Jangles at 123 Main Street, are both open from 10 to 7, straight through, Mondays to Fridays, and the telephone numbers are; Garbo, 41441; Beau Jangles 41522.