Bench Jeweler Memes

Episode 43 is just Brad & Dusty this week… because apparently our schedules have decided to become our biggest haters. It’s another short episode, but we packed it with plenty of jewelry nerdiness and the usual nonsense. This week we’re talking about one of the greatest tools in every jeweler’s toolbox: the analogy . You know the ones… the comparisons we use to explain to customers why prongs...

This week, Brad and Dusty sit down with Drew Hadley for a conversation packed with jewelry industry knowledge, career advice, and a few bourbon stories along the way. Drew spent 13 years at New Approach School for Jewelers, helping train and inspire countless jewelers across the industry. But recently, he decided to take a leap of faith and start a brand-new adventure by opening his own retail jew...

Episode 41 is a short one… or as Dusty calls it, a “Brad episode.”  We were short on time, busy testing out some new technology, and somehow still managed to record enough nonsense to release an episode. This week we finally address the hottest topic in the jewelry industry: the new Stuller-branded Dum-Dums. In fact, Stuller sent Dusty a giant box of them for his birthday, which is either a though...

Brad is on vacation, which means Dusty is stuck doing all the jewelry repairs and is handling it about as well as you’d expect. In this episode, we tackle a topic that actually matters: how jewelers can level up . Whether you’re a brand-new apprentice, an experienced bench jeweler, a stone setter, CAD designer, goldsmith, or jewelry store owner, we do our best to share advice that can help you gro...

Episode 39 is officially our first-ever full-length VIDEO podcast, which means you can now watch all the awkward eye contact, random hand gestures, and questionable facial expressions that were previously hidden by audio-only technology. As usual, we start with a plan and immediately abandon it. We answer a few listener questions, share some wild stories from our days working together at the jewel...

Episode 38 is here, and somehow we survived Memorial Day weekend with all of our brain cells mostly intact. This week we’re catching up after the holiday chaos, briefly discussing how quickly we’d sell out to the highest bidder (answer: probably faster than we should), and sprinkling in a little JCK Vegas chatter because apparently that’s what responsible jewelry professionals do this time of year...

This is one of those special episodes — meaning we got together with our good friend “BJ Mandrel” and immediately stopped behaving like responsible adults. If you’re new here, "BJ" is not just a recurring character in our chaos… he’s a real human being, a longtime friend of ours, and yes — he actually worked in our jewelry store for years. He’s also genuinely a musician, which he will re...

Episode 37 is all over the place… in the best possible way. Brad & Dusty kick things off with the usual bench jeweler chaos before diving nose-first into one of the weirdest topics yet: the smells of the jewelry industry. We attempt to describe a scent that every jeweler instantly recognizes… but can never properly explain. Then things get completely out of hand when we brainstorm a new jewelr...

Episode 36 is a special one! We’re joined by longtime supporter and fellow bench jeweler, Ron — better known around here as “Step-Daddy Ron.” From supporting our nonsense since day one to officially becoming the temporary namesake of our “studio” (yes… welcome to Step-Daddy Ron Studios ), Ron was an absolute blast to hang with. We spend the episode talking shop, bench jeweler life, continuing educ...

On this episode, Brad and Dusty dive headfirst into some absolutely unhinged one-star jewelry store reviews… and yeah, it’s as wild as it sounds. We read.  We react. We laugh. But before we get there, we get rudely interrupted by a client who apparently doesn’t realize the shop is CLOSED during recording...LOL  AND — we drop a big announcement on how you can “win” some “free” exclusive merch… but...

Just one of those episodes where Brad & Dusty go completely off script...except now, we have even more time to kill. This week we bounce all over the place - Brads birthday, uniting the jeweler community, random (and questionable) client stories, and why bench jeweler physically cannot stop themselves from giving unsolicited advice. All in all, just another ADHD-style episode. Buckle Up! Follo...

We’ve got one of our most anticipated guests on the show—Chuck Koehler. Chuck is a bench jeweler and jewelry store owner with over four decades of experience in the jewelry industry, and a longtime columnist for Southern Jewelry News. He’s seen just about everything at the bench—and he’s got opinions to match. In this episode, we dive into Chuck’s journey through the trade, throw back to a referen...

We opened the floor and you delivered… so in this episode we’re diving into a full-on bench jeweler Q&A. We’re talking everything from least favorite watch brands and our favorite stones to set, to how we’re handling growth behind the scenes. We also get into the real questions—why CZs still exist in a world of lab-grown diamonds, what gold below 10k even means, and the awkward moment when cus...

We're coming down from what can only be described as our Super Bowl... April Fools Day. In this episode, we break down all the chaos-- from 'Jewelers Helping Jewelers' takeover to getting absolutely UNO-reversed by Stuller (we're still not over it). We go behind the scenes on how the ideas came together, what actually worked, what almost got us cancelled (probably), and how muc...

In this special episode, we take a step back and have an honest conversation about the future of Bench Jeweler Memes. After a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions, recent developments have led us to a point where some decisions need to be made. We’ve never been ones to sugarcoat things, and this episode is no different. We talk through what’s been happening, where things currently stand, and what...

Brad and Dusty take a hard left turn straight into dark humor territory. We explore the truly important question—what happens if one of us unexpectedly dies… and more importantly, how long before a client asks, “Okay but… when will my ring be ready for pickup?” From a jeweler’s perspective, we break down the likely timeline of sympathy vs. impatience (spoiler: it’s shorter than you think). We also...

Episode 29: Brad and Dusty spend almost the entire episode unpacking the absolutely baffling mindset clients have when it comes to the durability of fine jewelry. At some point, somewhere along the way, everyone collectively decided that gold, platinum, and tiny prongs holding expensive stones should apparently function like military-grade equipment. We get into the question no one can seem to ans...

This week we finally have a guest on the show. His name is Jake… and yes, we know another Jake… but the internet knows him as “Critter the Designer.” His social media content caught us completely off guard last year—in the best way possible. It’s hilarious, chaotic, and just the right amount of unhinged… which obviously means he fits right in with us. We talk about how Jake got his start in the je...

Stuller representatives tracked Brad and Dusty down… and somehow didn’t arrest them. Instead we had a great visit and learned just how committed Stuller is to helping jewelers succeed. We also talk about our comedy style, the meme page, and the unfortunate reality that we are both wildly immature humans who occasionally say dumb things without meaning to offend anyone. And finally… the heartbreaki...

Dusty & Brad bravely discuss the future of the podcast and reveal our bold new strategy: possibly wasting our hard-earned money to become a paid sponsor on JHJ. Because nothing says “successful media company” like questionable financial decisions. Then we dedicate the rest of the episode to what really matters—breaking down our latest prank call, where we once again contact hardworking jeweler...

Jake Fox is back for round two… and honestly, things fall apart almost immediately. We start this episode with good intentions, diving into the ethics of AI in the jewelry industry and how it’s being used to edit photos and market products. Important stuff. Serious stuff. Responsible podcast stuff. And then… the ADHD kicks in. Before you know it, we’re ranting about why iPhones take amazing photos...

Episode 24 is packed with jewelry industry news you didn't know you needed. Brad and Dusty break down diamond tariffs (because nothing says "fun" like trade policy), dig into Pandora's move away from silver (platinum-plated costume?), and try to wrap their heads around a Dave & Busters promo involving Lab-grown diamond engagement rings. Yes... that  Dave & Buster's...

In this episode, Dusty & Brad dive into the highs and lows of buying over the counter -- when it's great, when it's stressful, and when it makes you question your life choices. Along the way, we tease a possible new segment for the show... prank calling fellow jewelers while they're on the job. Should we do it? Let us know. As always, thank you for supporting the show and for &q...

Episode 22 is basically Brad & Dusty talking about "burnout" in the jewelry industry and realizing a lot of us are hanging on by a polishing wheel thread. We read comments from jewelers from all over the country/world, share our thoughts, and pretend we have solid advice. We also spend part of the episode begging listeners to "buy me a coffee" (link below) so we can keep ma...

Episode 21 gets weird—in the best way. We’re joined by our good friend Eddie, a jeweler from Arizona who we met years ago on JHJ and have been friends with ever since. Eddie was also one of the very few people around in the absolute beginning of Bench Jeweler Memes and helped us create content when the page was barely a thing. We take a quick trip back to those early, scrappy days before immediate...