For three years and through more than 80 episodes, JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates have mulled over industry issues and interviewed some of the jewelry world’s sharpest minds on the biweekly podcast The Jewelry District
This year’s discussion topics included Generation Z, sustainability, lab-grown diamonds, selling online, secondhand watches, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We also learned how some big industry names got their start.
If you haven’t started listening yet, or are still catching up, here’s your chance to hear 10 of the year’s most popular episodes.
10. Episode 68: Guest Ziad Ahmed
We start with perhaps the podcast’s liveliest episode, which features a surprisingly impassioned argument over the merits of New Jersey. Ziad Ahmed, CEO of JUV Consulting, a firm that advises companies on how to market to Generation Z, discusses how the up-and-coming generation views jewelry, luxury, and marketing.
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9. Episode 70: Guest Sarin Bachmann On JCK Las Vegas
Sarin Bachmann, group vice president of RX Jewelry Group, talks about the 2022 edition of JCK Las Vegas, and shares her Vegas tips and secrets—including her favorite lunch spots and how she keeps her energy up.
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8. Episode 72: JCK Show Takeaways And Interviews
This live–from–Las Vegas episode features on-site interviews with Mark Smelzer, Matt Stuller, Craig Underwood, Feriel Zerouki, Steve Coe, Yuliya Kusher, Manos Phoundoulakis, and Jeff Corey.
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7. Episode 63: Tucson Gem Shows, Kering, and Small Diamonds
Topics include Victoria’s visit to the Tucson gem shows, Kering’s sale of two watch brands, small diamonds, and Rob’s second book.
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6. Episode 60: Guest Alexis Padis
In another lively episode, Alexis Padis, president of San Francisco’s Padis Jewelry and self-described “open book,” dishes on the pros and cons of working in a family business and what it’s like running America’s only Forevermark store.
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5. Episode 61: Holiday Sales, Ben Bridge, Pandora, Robbins Brothers, and Tucson
The cohosts consider Ben Bridge’s sale of 30 Pandora stores, the management-led takeover of Robbins Brothers, the Tucson gem shows, and offer their predictions for 2022.
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4. Episode 66: Guest Beth Gerstein
Nine months after Brilliant Earth’s IPO, CEO Beth Gerstein shares her thoughts on the e-tail landscape, lab-grown diamonds, and how her life has changed since the company went public.
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3. Episode 67: Origin Stories
Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik, Blue Nile CEO Sean Kell, Padis Jewelry president Alexis Padis, Signet CEO Gina Drosos, and educator and craftsman Alan Revere discuss their backgrounds and how they got into the industry.
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2. Episode 74: Mithun Sacheti
Many of JCK’s U.S. readers may not have heard of Mithun Sacheti or CaratLane, the prominent Indian e-tailer he heads. But that doesn’t make his insights any less compelling or noteworthy.
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1. Episode 65: Diamonds and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Recorded two weeks after the Russian invasion, the most popular podcast of the year is still sadly relevant, as Victoria and Rob mused about the Ukraine war’s potential to upend the jewelry business.
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