Tea & Gemstones

What’s cool? What’s  classic? I want to take a look at one specific iconic brand and how they have recently fallen into a quagmire of their own desperate making, a totally messy tangle of this concept of cool versus classic: Tiffany & Co.  Is Trying Too Hard. Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes & merchandise: https://www.patreon.com/teaandgemstonespodcast Narration - Jennifer Sieverling ...

Today is February 15th, the anniversary of the world's biggest diamond heist... the robbery of the Antwerp World Diamond Center. A crew of crooks we know only by their aliases, the Monster, the Genius, Speedy and the King of Keys, defeated a security system thought to be impregnable. But what mistake got them found out... and led to their leader, Leonardo, spilling the beans? Let's discu...

Jewelry lovers unite! Once a year, hobbyists, artists, designers, buyers, vendors, collectors and enthusiasts all gather for a weekend in the Arizona desert: the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. It's the largest, oldest, most prestigious gem & mineral show in the world. But how did this jewelry, gemstone, crystal, mineral, fossil extravagance begin? When did the Smithsonian get involved? Wh...

What gemstone combines the deepest richest blue hue with silver, gold and white, all in one luscious stone? It’s one of my personal favorite gemstones with a name that is just such fun to say… lapis lazuli. Lapis was once valued equivalently with gold and prized for its contribution to Renaissance master's paintings... so why does this beautiful blue stone have such low modern day name recogn...

We are following a golden thread through history. This shiny metal has motivated wars, justified conquests, spurred exploration, inspired artistic masterpieces, invoked religious reverence and yielded scientific discoveries. And um... most of all gold gives us the most enduring, iconic forms of jewelry of all time.  For this fourth and final episode in the Casual History of Gold series, I wanted t...

We are following a golden thread through history. This shiny metal has motivated wars, justified conquests, spurred exploration, inspired artistic masterpieces, invoked religious reverence and yielded scientific discoveries. And um... most of all gold gives us the most enduring, iconic forms of jewelry of all time.  In Part three of our series "A Casual History of Gold" we're talkin...

We are following a golden thread through history. This shiny metal has motivated wars, justified conquests, spurred exploration, inspired artistic masterpieces, invoked religious reverence and yielded scientific discoveries. And um... most of all gold gives us the most enduring, iconic forms of jewelry of all time.  In Part Two of our series, "A Casual History of Gold" we look at the con...

We are following a golden thread through history. This shiny metal has motivated wars, justified conquests, spurred exploration, inspired artistic masterpieces, invoked religious reverence and yielded scientific discoveries. And um... most of all gold gives us the most enduring, iconic forms of jewelry of all time.  In part one of our first ever series, "A Casual History of Gold" we disc...

Today’s episode is a collision of the psychology of shapes mixed with the history of gemstone design. Have you ever thought about the quiet strength of a square or the friendly completeness of an oval? What about the boldness of sharp points compared to the romanticism of hand-cut curves? What does it mean for our most personal jewelry when we select a glittering shape. Let's explore the form...

Sometimes when we see a piece of jewelry in a movie, it is love at first sparkly sight. The jewelry we see in a film inspires us and sometimes find it's way into our own collections. What iconic movie bling helps shape the characters on our screen and why? Let's discuss "Bling of the Silver Screen" Narration - Jen Sieverling Research & Writing - Jen Sieverling Music - Josep...

Let's enter the realm of real-life fairy tales, princes and princesses, king and queens falling in love and the glittering tokens of promise and affection they exchange… we’re talking about Royal Engagement Rings!!  Royal couples are in a unique position with their engagement ring. They seek to represent themselves, their personal style, while also embracing their figurehead status. Royal cou...

One of the great apexes of modern-day jewelry displays would have to be the Hollywood red carpet. These past few weeks we have witnessed two red-carpets with very different vibes: the Met Gala and the Emmys. Let's dive into what we loved and what we.... didn't love.  Narration - Jen Sieverling Research & Writing - Jen Sieverling Music - Joseph McDade For all credits and sources pleas...

Today I’m going to tell you the tale of how a diamond necklace helped contribute to the queen of France having her head cut off at the guillotine and an entire country changing its form of government.  Sound too crazy to be true?  Well, never underestimate the power of a piece of jewelry. --- Narration - Jen Sieverling Research & Writing - Jen Sieverling Music - Joseph McDade For all credits a...

There are so many amazing and unique jewelry designers and shops! Don't you want to know about them all?  JUSKA (Jewelry U Should Know About) are mini bite-sized episodes introducing a fun slice of the world of jewelry in 10 minutes or less.  Today's JUSKA is The Golden Bear of Vail, Colorado, USA, and their iconic bear symbol.  --- Narration - Jen Sieverling Research & Writing - Jen...

Let's go on a ROY G BIV journey to meet six famous diamonds so fabulous they have their own pronouns. We explore their histories ($35 million at auction! Attempted theft! ....sent through the mail??), dip our toes into the science of WHY diamonds can be all the colors of the rainbow, and talk about how fancy colored diamonds have become a part of pop culture. --- Narration - Jen Sieverling Re...