The COUTURE Podcast

At the 2026 COUTURE show, we were delighted to host the Honorable Bogolo Joy Kenewendo, the Minister of Minerals & Energy for Botswana, who sat down for a fascinating conversation with long time COUTURE designer, Jade Trau. The two bonded over being "diamond babies," they discussed the impact the mines are having on the people and environment in Botswana, and they agreed on the impor...

For this year’s COUTURE Takes Tucson podcast, I pulled aside a record number of designers and brand directors to see if I could get them to encapsulate the beauty of the Tucson Gem shows. From a first time attendee to designers who have attended for close to 50 years and everything in between, they shared their impressions and allowed us to get a glimpse into the week through their eyes. 

ZAHN-Z designer, Hiba Husayni, made her debut in COUTURE’s 2025 Design Atelier, where she took home Best in Debuting at the COUTURE Design Awards. Her Zaha and Sadaf collections are now core to her distinct, aesthetic DNA, and her pieces are becoming increasingly well known throughout the industry and beyond. It was an absolute joy to sit down with Hiba to talk about her journey to jewelry design,...

De Beers recently launched their first “beacon” campaign in over a decade, “Desert Diamonds.” The campaign is all about the diamond itself, and focuses on a palette of colors, from soft white to deep brown and all of the shades in between. On the heels of their star and talent-studded launch event in New York City, we spoke with Sally Morrison, Market Lead, Natural Diamonds, for De Beers Group who...

Tracr is the world’s leading digital platform for tracing natural diamonds at scale. With a complex suite of cutting edge technologies, it provides consumers with the ability to explore the unique provenance and journey of their diamonds. In this fascinating conversation with Tracr’s CEO, Wes Tucker, he shares details about how the platform works, the collaborative approach they take to the busine...

In his new role as COUTURE’s Brand Director, Eric Ford is poised to leverage his accumulated knowledge, wisdom and expertise to help COUTURE realize its full potential. Knowing, from personal experience, how lucrative it can be for a store to focus on growing its designer fine jewelry offerings, he has also seen first-hand how effectively conveying an artist’s story can turn a casual consumer into...

The Tucson Gem Shows in February each year are a destination for designers and retailers who want to hunt for particular stones, discover new deposits, foster and nurture relationships with miners and dealers from across the globe, and get an accurate assessment of the current state of the market. It is also a source of inspiration and chance encounters under the sun, and in our latest episode of...

Over the past three decades, Laura Bicego of NANIS has solidified her reputation as a pioneer in fine jewelry design. Her pieces cater to the nuances of contemporary, stylish women, with transitional pieces that can be worn in multiple ways a core element of her collections from the very beginning. In our latest COUTURE podcast, Laura shares how growing up in the industry has affected her approach...

Since it was founded in 1999, Jewelers For Children has donated over sixty four million dollars to nonprofits serving kids that are facing impossible circumstances. We had the opportunity to sit down with the organization’s Director, Sara Murphy, to learn more about the impact all of our efforts have had on the lives of kids in need, to discover the ways in which anyone can get involved, and to le...

Heather Moore, the artist behind Heather B. Moore jewelry, creates bespoke pieces for her clients by stamping meaningful words or phrases into gold or silver, literally altering the molecules of the metal. Beyond the function of this process, her approach is a reflection of her belief that all of one’s lived experiences—the good, the bad and everything in between—are a part of our individuality. T...

Within the hallowed halls of their Naples and Palm Beach, Florida locations, Marissa Collections has built a veritable jewelry empire. Offering the work of 100’s of jewelry designers and brands complements their selection of high end clothing and accessories, allowing their loyal clientele to rely upon the store to outfit them from head to toe. CEO and Owner of Marissa Collections, Jay Hartington,...

From a childhood rooted in creativity as an extracurricular pursuit to studying political science at Berkley to a successful, decade long career in the movie business, designer Suzy Landa’s path to jewelry design was anything but straightforward. In this episode of The COUTURE Podcast, Suzy shares the unabridged version of her journey, including some great anecdotes about her time working in Story...

Founder and creative director of Cadar, Michal Kadar, says that every piece she creates begins with a story. Yet when we sat down to record the COUTURE Podcast, I realized that “story” seemed almost too small of a word to convey the universe she is building through her designs. From understanding the essence of oneself, to the skin that serves as a vessel for one’s humanity to the lives and experi...

Have you ever wondered why the jewelry industry flocks to Tucson, Arizona each February? Are you curious about how designers shop for gemstones? What about the gemstones that those "in the know" consider the most underrated or overrated? For this Special Edition Podcast, we stopped a handful of designers and industry tastemakers in the aisles of "the tents," in the back lot of...

Have you ever wondered how Tahitian pearls get their unique color? Or why South Sea pearls are so valuable? Or how those who cultivate pearls work towards maintaining the eco-chain of oysters’ natural habitat? In our most recent episode of the COUTURE Podcast, Senior Vice President of Assael, Peggy Grosz, answers these questions and more, while also sharing the vital role she plays in maintaining...

Syna means together, and the concept of togetherness and collaboration is a core tenet of the Syna brand of jewelry. Started by husband and wife team, DK and Namrata Kothari, 20 years ago, the collection has evolved throughout the decades while maintaining its core “effortless sophistication” aesthetic. Tune into our latest podcast with DK and Namrata to learn more about their unique journey, thei...

A quest for joy is at the heart of everything Corina Limon Madilian does. Along with her husband, Ari, Corina owns and operates the brand Single Stone, a multi-brand jewelry store of the same name, as well as a lifestyle boutique. In our conversation for the COUTURE podcast, Corina shares more about her background, the creative process she and Ari apply to jewelry design, and some very useful tips...

It was fascinating to sit down with NOMIS designer, Alyona Kiperman, to learn how her unique worldview impacts her creativity. A native of Ukraine, Alyona opened her eponymous boutique in Kiev in February of 2022, and her lived experiences have added to the bold defiance that has long been associated with her brand’s distinctive aesthetic. 

For artist Stephen Wilson of Stephen Wilson Studio, the medium is the message. After getting his start in New York City's garment district, hustling gigs making concert t-shirts and offering his embroidery services, Stephen eventually added interior design projects to his repertoire of fashion experience. The mixed medium art that is now his signature came out of a desire to fill his own home...

When Mollie Good and Stephani Abramow launched their collection, Walters Faith, they knew they wanted to create jewelry with a distinct aesthetic. Long-time admirers of jewelry, they saw a need in the market for the type of “effortless luxury” they wanted to create and, a decade later, their collection continues to evolve while staying true to their core DNA. In our most recent COUTURE podcast, th...

Designer Adel Chefridi recalls with wonder how a magician visiting his little town in Tunisia when he was a child sparked his first sense of having purpose. Watching the magic tricks, he suddenly realized that everything wasn’t always as it seemed, and as an artist, he transposes a similar sense of awe and wonder onto the gemstones with which he works. In our COUTURE podcast, Adel shares how the m...

Studio Renn was founded by husband and wife team Rahul and Roshni Jhaveri in 2018. While they define the approach to the materials with which they work as "agnostic," the use of  concrete, as an example, in their fine jewelry collection, isn't the only thing that sets Studio Renn apart. It was thrilling to sit down with Rahul to learn about this couple's unique approach to the...

After emigrating to the United States from Argentina, designer Jorge Adeler, his wife, and their two daughters, Wendy and Valentina, became an insular unit. Tune in to our latest COUTURE Podcast to discover how this family-run business has evolved over the years and how passion and love of family continue to be the driving force behind Jorge’s creative expression. 

The designer behind Azlee, Baylee Ann Zwart, first discovered her inherent love of fine jewelry while working abroad in Guatemala. In this episode of the COUTURE podcast, Baylee shares her love of the intimacy in the creative process, her reverence for the relationships that are involved in bringing her creative vision to life, and her commitment to embodying ethical and environmental standards in...

Founder of Moksh, Milan Chokshi, takes a holistic approach to running his business. He named the company Moksh because it refers to liberation; he wanted to break free from the traditional view of jewelry held in his native India and establish a brand that revered the art, craft, engineering and precious materials inherent in creating pieces that have global appeal. We were thrilled to sit down wi...