So tell us the joke.

Well, I d- one of the jokes was that we sell a pair of earrings, gold, for 99p, which is the same price as a Marks & Spencer's prawn sandwich.

But the other joke, uh, that we sell a sherry decanter, which is, by the way, it's always been reported as jewelry, that I sell all my jewelry, but in fact it was just one i- I'm not trying to defend myself 35 years later, 'cause it was my own fault, but nevertheless, um, it's always been, even to this day on X, it still says I said all my jewelry's crap.

Well, it was that, just that one sherry decanter that I said, "How can we sell it for such a low price?" Because actually, it is a sherry decanter, six cut glasses, and a silver tray that we were selling for 9.95, which was an unbelievably low price, and boy, did it sell.

And this was a line that I'd acquired when I bought H. Samuel.

And one of the ways that I acquired H. Samuel was to tell the city that they're selling too many gifts, that they should be selling more jewelry.

We're taking more money per square foot in Ratners than Samuels because they're filling up the shop with g- So I was a bit anti-gifts anyway.

And what was the worst thing that happened through those dark 18 months?

But do you want to, can you just share a little bit about that, Gerald? Because I think it's important for someone else that might be feeling similar things at the moment?

Yeah and I was told that I was unemployable after I lost the job and I basically gave up.

I didn't want to play anymore and spent a lot of time watching daytime television.

Countdown was my favourite.

It's a bit like if you're in a room with a smell You're not aware of that smell unless you open a window or go out into the fresh air.

You're kidding yourself that everything's fine because you don't want to face the reality that things are terrible.

And that went on for seven years, as you said.

What does that mean to you when you think about that phrase or those three words? What springs to mind for you?