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- [00:01]
A
Imagine what's possible when learning doesn't get in the way of life. At Capella University, our game changing Flexpath learning format lets you set your own deadline so you can learn at a time and pace that works for you. It's an education you can tailor to your schedule. That means you don't have to put your life on hold to pursue your professional goals. Instead, enjoy learning your way and earn your degree without missing a beat. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella.
- [00:29]
B
Edu this episode is brought to you by Fooley Gemstones. Hello, I'm Carol Wolfram, the voice of jewellery. Welcome to if Jules Could Talk. And I'm delighted that we're here in New York and we're right in the jewellery district with Marla Aaron in her amazing showroom, which of course we are going to show you on our YouTube channel and Instagram. So we are going to have a lovely conversation, but you can also look at everything while we're talking. Thank you for hosting us, Carol.
- [01:08]
C
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.
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B
Well, you're having me.
- [01:10]
C
Oh, yes. Well, I'm in your podcast, so I guess I'm. You're having me too.
- [01:15]
B
I know that's a mutual collaboration, but thank you so much. And, and I wanted to talk not just about your jewellery, but about your career and how you do this, because, I mean, from the first time that we met in London, I thought you had a very different take on how you were approaching selling jewellery. So you basically had this high powered career in advertising and it was in 2012 that you decided to kind of jump ship and pursue your passion of jewellery design.
- [01:47]
C
Yes.
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B
And very quickly you have got celebrity actresses, Julianne Moore, Blake Lively, amongst other celebrity clientele. And it seemed like the trajectory went super easy, super quick, super upwards. And I just wanted to hear your take on that.
- [02:06]
C
So thank you. I would say my take on that was I started making the locks themselves, the carabiner, the very first shape that.
- [02:16]
B
You'Ve seen, which you were obsessed by hardware.
- [02:19]
C
I was obsessed by hardware and I started making that in around 2003. I would come to 47th street and I would knock on doors with my little things from hardware stores and when I would ask for them to be cast for me.
- [02:34]
B
And why were you obsessed by hardware?
- [02:35]
C
I can't explain it to you. I don't know why. I still love it. I love the. There's. There's something very beautiful about utility and I think I. Some of the best hardware Is actually British, by the way. And so I. I'm obsessed with hardware stores wherever I go. And it really. At a certain point, I realized that it connected to jewelry, that you could make something really special using a foundation of these very functional objects. And at the same time, in a parallel path, I realized that jewelry needed to work harder, and you could. I wanted to make jewelry that you could use with your other jewelry. And I realized that if I wanted this, other people wanted it. So I wanted to not just wear my pearls one way. I wanted to connect my pearls to other things. I wanted a bracelet that could also be a necklace. I wanted a ring that could open and also be a lock. So if I. It's always very personal. I realize if I wanted these things, other people would want them. And, you know.
- [03:42]
B
So 2003, you were doing that?
- [03:46]
C
I was doing it. I was doing it on my own, still working, giving them away. I did not have the courage to start my business. I was a single mother in 2003, and I had a job, and there was no way that I could just hop up and leave and, you know, start a jewelry business. I mean, I wasn't a fool, and I wasn't a spring chicken, so. So I realized that both of those things would be nuts. So the time went by, but my obsession, only it gathered steam. It was like a snowball. I literally spent all my lunch hours on 47th Street. And then one day, I just, you know.
- [04:25]
B
So you got it perfected by somebody. You got them to make it. To set it with stones.
- [04:31]
C
At that point, I was still just making them, and I hadn't really set them with stones. I was making them in gold. I was making them in silver and brass. I was making them in every material. And then I started making different shapes. And then after I really. It was all I talked about. In the meantime, I had gotten married. My. I had now had two children. And, you know, my husband thought people thought I was crazy. I would talk about starting a jewelry company, and people thought. Even though I was making the jewelry, people thought I was crazy. And why.
- [05:03]
B
Why did they think you were crazy?
- [05:05]
C
Because, you know, so.
- [05:07]
B
Because you were giving up such a good job.
- [05:08]
C
Well, maybe, yeah. And also, you know, a lot of people want to start a jewelry company, and I think the images, you know, that I'm sitting in my kitchen beading, you know, you know, these beaded neck or whatever it is. But a lot of people think about doing things like that. Starting a jewelry company, starting a fashion company, doing a variety of things. Right It's a dream and not many people but it. I would say one of my great strengths is I am pretty relentless. So I think fast forward. I got very sick. I was on a business trip in Cannes, France, which sounds very glamorous. I was still giving jewelry away to anyone who would take it. And I was, I wish I knew.
- [05:56]
B
You in this space.
- [05:58]
C
And I. And I went on this business trip to Cannes and I got a very serious burger and on my arm. And I had to keep working, right? And on this. And my children were going off to camp and I was missing them leaving for camp. Camp is an American thing where kids go away and some kids go away in the summer. And I was really feeling that rage that I think many women, working women feel like. I was like, I'm not getting to see my kids go off to camp. I'm so upset. And it was. And I have this burn. And I turned to my colleagues in France and I said, going home. I'm just going home. That's it. I'm going to see the kids off to camp. I am going to resign and I'm going to start the jewelry company. And she became a very. One of my colleagues who's still a dear friend to this day. She's like, okay. And I went home. And on the plane ride home, I made a PowerPoint presentation for my husband, which he still has, which was all the reasons why I should quit my job and start a jewelry company.
- [06:59]
B
And I think pros and cons. No, just pros.
- [07:03]
C
Just, of course pros. Just pros. This is marketing. And, you know, I think, I think it was a combination of things. I think he sat there and he listened. I think I had this huge bandage on my arm. I think he saw the desperation and he's like, okay, you can do it, but you, you can't spend, you know, you can't invest any money in this. This is a folly. Like I said, okay. He said, do it. And I was like, how do I do this without investing any money in it? This is crazy. But where there's a will, there's a way. So it was. I started in 2012. I started the company and I'm not going to say it was like an upward trajectory. It certainly was not. The first year was, was, was. I was nervous, so I took consulting jobs. So I was kind of half. Half assed, excuse my French, doing the jewelry and my children, you know, I was at home with the children and, you know, so it wasn't like I fully was doing it. And then I realized I had to fully just do it. I had to be all in, all in, all in. And simultaneously my children were, you know, I was fighting with my children about Instagram and social media. I had created this elaborate rule system for them that they couldn't use. They, they had to. If I was going to, they were going to be on Instagram, I had to be on Instagram. They had to check their phones at the door, at a table. So we were having this social media thing going on in our home and something clicked with me and I realized they needed to teach me how to use Instagram because I didn't. To your point, earlier, before we started filming, I didn't know about trade shows. I didn't know about couture.
- [08:45]
B
I thought, had you gone into any jewelry company?
- [08:48]
C
Oh, wait a minute, there's something on the wall over there that I'll show you. I thought, oh, the jewelry is industrial. I'm going to make this industrial presentation and I'm going to walk into jewelry stores and I'm going to show my jewelry. I literally thought I was going to go door to door and I don't know what I was thinking. And they were going to welcome me in and say, of course we'd love to buy your jewelry. Well, of course that didn't happen, happen. Everything is coded. And the world of design is a very particular place. The people who are making those decisions, they have to come to them on, on their own. They're not going to be sold. They have to discover it. So me walking into the jewelry store and selling it is almost anathema to the whole process of how it gets known. So I, so I knew I was kind of walking up. How do you, you know, I was, I wasn't doing it, it wasn't happening. So I couldn't get it into stores. So I couldn't figure out. I have, I still saved all the letters I got. Sometimes people would write back and they would write things like, this isn't jewelry. These are keychains. Or perhaps you'd like to do a men's line. This looks very masculine to me. Did you look? My favorite is a one line email said, have you even looked at our, at our store, the kind of jewelry we sell, we would never. There they are a retailer. But I won't remind them that. But it was, it was very hard. It was very discouraging. But at the same time, I'm waging this war against social media with my children, you know, and I don't know what clicked. And one Night at dinner, I said, boys, I want you to show me how to use the Instagram. I called it the Instagram. And they raised their eyebrows. They couldn't believe it because I'd been saying, no Instagram, no this, no that. And they showed me how. And if you go way back in our feed, you'll find that the very first post on our Instagram feed is an upside down picture of one of my sons. And he refused to show me how to make it right side up, as I had posted my first photo. And he's. And he wouldn't show me how to make it right side up. And it's of him. So there you go. Almost immediately after that, there was interest and there was interest from as far away as Australia, you know, Australia.
- [11:01]
B
So what? Hitting Instagram turned the corner.
- [11:03]
C
I think it turned the corner. People saw. I got jewelry into the hands of people. And the other thing about our jewelry is it's really solid. You'll feel it afterwards if you haven't yet. So I haven't cut any corners. And the workshops we work with don't cut any corners.
- [11:20]
B
But now you got into retail stores. What made that change?
- [11:24]
C
Well, first I was in the hands of actual customers. They were buying it on Instagram and I built my own, the first website. So they were buying the jewelry off Instagram. And then stores started coming and they would come to my house and they would buy the jewelry, you know, and that, you know, the stores became a part of our business. But we were always, we were direct first, which was interesting.
- [11:50]
B
That's interesting.
- [11:51]
C
Yes.
- [11:52]
B
But scroll back. So what jewelry before you started in 2003, making your own pieces, what jewelry did you wear then? What, where did the obsession come from?
- [12:04]
C
So, Carol, I love jewelry and I love jewelry from all periods. And I am a jewelry, you know, I love Cartier, I love, you know, I love Victorian jewelry, I love Georgian jewelry, I love machine age jewelry from France. I, you know, Suzanne Belperon is my favorite. There's no kind of jewelry that I'm not interested in, but I wouldn't. But there are ideas that inform our jewelry versus. I don't want to make reproduction Victorian jewelry. But.
- [12:37]
B
But where did the interest originally come from? Was it something you had?
- [12:40]
C
Victorian jewelry?
- [12:41]
B
Yes.
- [12:42]
C
I love the utility of Victorian pieces, particularly English pieces. So the playing with the different carats of gold for function, the sovereigns, the. All the functioning jewelry of the Victorian era, I'm fascinated with. And any era where there's high functioning jewelry, like the purses that expand and I Won't call them their right names, but some of our pieces individually, I mean, right here, you know, I know a lot of dealers on Portobello Road, and sometimes they just WhatsApp me pictures of things because they know I'll be interested. So this was something that someone sent to me in 2000, in 2021, just an example. And I was. He sent. He sent me a picture and he said, I think this is right up your alley. And I said. And he sent me a video of how this moved. And I was like, oh, my goodness, I love it. Please send them to me. So they're old chatelaines and they're in their.
- [13:42]
B
To hang pieces off.
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C
No, they're chatelaines for their keys. It's a keychain, and they are engraved Jay Musgrave and A Musgrave. And you can say they're.
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B
They're very crude because usually chateaunes, they would hang keys. Yes, exactly.
- [13:59]
C
So this is the thing. So it's very crude. It was made entirely by hand. But the mechanism is super ingenious. Right. Like this turns.
- [14:09]
B
Right.
- [14:09]
C
And then it pops out.
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B
Literally does.
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C
Yeah.
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B
And then it locks it in.
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C
And it locks it in. And I was, I. I loved it. I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but. But I, you know, set it aside. I have a whole cabinet full of things like this in my office.
- [14:22]
B
So it's the sort of mechanism.
- [14:23]
C
It's the mechanism. So. And then we took it. I'll just show you. And we turned it into the Musgrave, which is a lock. Now, it doesn't look anything like it. We've added a spring, we've added stones, we've made it much heavier. It's. But it's called the Musgrave, in honor of whoever the Musgraves were. And you're going to see that it's not just one thing that we've done with this mechanism. We've done several things with this mechanism. But this was the first. Yeah, so we start out like that.
- [14:56]
B
So really your interest came in that, in the mechanism. But what. What did you own before you began to do jewelry? What did you wear then?
- [15:06]
C
I wore everything. I love antique book chains. I love, you know, lockets. I love Cartier. I mean, I don't have a lot of Cartier, but I love anything that has function, is weighty, has a bit of history. I mean, I love everything. It's really hard for me to narrow it down. I mean, if you go into my jewelry boxes at home, you'll find Jewelry I bought in Africa when I was 20 years old. And it's sitting alongside, you know, some incredible Native American pieces that I have and jewelry from my childhood and fish hook jewelry that I made literally every. A strand of Pearls. My grandmother's 1970s jewelry. One of my most precious pieces is an Astrid Fogg piece from George Jensen that belonged to my grandmother. And I guess it's one of the big hearts. You know, she did the big egg and the big heart. So it is the big heart, the silver one that was my grandmother's.
- [16:05]
B
If you can. If you can hear the traffic outside. We're on 47th Street. You can hear the traffic.
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C
We're in New York anyways.
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B
And they're all getting cross on the street.
- [16:17]
C
So my grandmother. So there was a bite mark in it. That was my bite mark. And when my son was born, she gave that piece to me. And so it's one of my. So it ranges.
- [16:27]
B
It ranges, yeah. But then you open.
- [16:29]
C
Let's go to my house. Let's go look at my jewelry box.
- [16:32]
B
I spend the day going through the jewelry box, but. So the locks into two and bridges. What were bridges about? Why?
- [16:39]
C
I just love. I love industrial landscapes, I love bridges. I love construction sites. I love all of these mechanical elements. And I guess I see them as they. I guess they stay with me. And then I apply it to jewelry because all of these mechanisms can work in jewelry from. You know, this is our Tronderlock ring. And it opens.
- [17:01]
B
So do you think you should have been an architect in another life?
- [17:05]
C
No, I think I should be doing exactly what I'm doing.
- [17:09]
B
Like, maybe it sounds like constructing, sort of almost like engineering.
- [17:13]
C
Yeah, like engineering. People ask that, but I don't know why I make these connections with jewelry and why it works. But it. It does work and people are interested in it. And I think your jewelry should work harder. I think it should be very durable.
- [17:29]
B
Well, I think what I find unusual about it is most people. Most designers want to sell you some jewelry and then they want to sell you some more jewelry. And you're selling a piece and say, use your own pieces. You can add to this. You can buy other people's jewellery and add to my jewelry. And I think there's this very sort of inclusive attitude.
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C
Yes.
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B
About it. That you can mix in everything.
- [17:51]
C
Well, nobody has one thing. I mean, nobody has one thing in their jewelry box. Right. I mean, you have jewelry from a lot of different designers and places in your life. And I want our jewelry to be with all of it. I Want it to coexist with all of it. I want it to help you transform the other jewelry that you already have. Like, I think that's where the magic happens. Right.
- [18:14]
B
And makes it personal.
- [18:15]
C
When it makes it very personal, it's not. I wouldn't want to see someone dressed all just wearing our jewelry. I love to see what they've done with their personal pieces. And when I go to events where I meet our customers, it's amazing. That's what gives it life, you know?
- [18:31]
B
And you've just come back from Alabama where you did one of these. You just told me.
- [18:34]
C
Yes.
- [18:35]
B
So do you find people add different things in different parts of the country necessarily or not?
- [18:41]
C
Sometimes, but it's really always. There's the same fundamental thing, whether you have a. A minuscule budget or you're buying really expensive versions of our pieces. It's the same emotion of trying to make something personal, and it taps into some element of creativity that everybody feels. Right. Creativity isn't the domain of some people. It's for everybody. And I just think of these as tools that are helpful, you know, and.
- [19:12]
B
You give styling lessons to these people of how to put it together.
- [19:17]
C
We should. We call them unmaster classes because it felt too ridiculous to call them anything else. And you can see a bunch of them on YouTube. But it's about, you know, and I say this on our videos, that looping it in the back, I don't know if we invented it, taking two chains and looping them in the back. And you don't have to do it with our chains. You could do it with your own chains. And seeing people's eyes light up when they realize, oh, I can take two chains, loop them in the back, and I create, like, this entirely different look.
- [19:45]
B
So when you go to Charleston next and you're working particularly with antique jewelry, so how does that work with your collection as well? Do you have any tips of how to add antique pieces to yours?
- [19:58]
C
Yes, I think you should. Not just. I think that the trick is. The tip, I would say, is don't just think of a bracelet as a bracelet. Don't just think of a necklace as a necklace. A necklace can be a bracelet, a bracelet can be a necklace, and rings can be. You can. You can take all of these things and do a lot of different things with them.
- [20:18]
B
What's the most you could do with one chain and one lock? The most you could do sort of like four or five different looks?
- [20:27]
C
Yes, I could do four different looks with one chain and one lock.
- [20:30]
B
Okay, we're going to test that.
- [20:31]
C
Let's test it. Let's test it.
- [20:34]
B
But also the other thing that's impressive is how you work charitable initiatives around your jewelry. And you. You did a really, really charming one. Was it for Valentine's Day for single mu.
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C
We do. It's the lock your mom project. We do. I'm so glad you brought it up. So we do it every year. This year will be, well, 2025 will be our 10th year of lock your mom. It started with this idea that I was a single mom. And I remember we do it on Mother's Day. And I remember how sort of lonely that feeling was being a mother to a small child on Mother's Day. I mean, it's great, but he doesn't know about Mother's Day. Right.
- [21:14]
B
So you're slightly neglected mother on Mother's Day.
- [21:17]
C
Yeah, I wanted to do something. So that first year I said, let's make 50 sterling silver locks. They're a sterling silver heart lock with an exclamation point for the of motherhood. And we said we'd give out 50 and see what happened. And if you know, lover are a single mom. Thank you.
- [21:35]
B
How do you pick the single moms? Oh, it says somebody knows you. Somebody loves you. Somebody told us.
- [21:41]
C
And then you open it up.
- [21:42]
B
Sweet. You open it up and what's inside.
- [21:46]
C
And you'll see, you can open it up and it says, I'll read it out loud. If you are receiving this lock, then you are some kind of wonderful. You are also a single mom and may have been nominated by someone who cares about you. We just want to say thank you for all that you do warmest. All of us at Marla Aaron. And you basically just write in lock your mom at Marla Erin, you nominate someone. You can nominate yourself. You can nominate. And there's the.
- [22:11]
B
There's a lock on the heart that you can twist.
- [22:14]
C
Yeah, there's an exclamation point for the of motherhood. And we started giving out 50. And then at a certain point, I was doubling every year, and we got to 1500. And so I would say about five years ago, we got to 1500. So we give out 1500 in the US every year. Sterling silver heart locks. They're made. Yes. This is a real endeavor and. And people really look forward to it.
- [22:39]
B
And you have to make sure it's not the same mother each year.
- [22:42]
C
Well, you know, there are dupes and there are. They're always going to be bad actors, but I've decided that's never a Reason not to do something. So we do give these away. And we also. In addition, in New York, we also host like a day for unhoused single moms and grandmas and their children at the Henry Street Settlement, which is a social network down like a social. Just the social service, large social service initiative downtown in New York. And we give them all these locks and they have lunch and we have games and an event for their children. And anyway, that's also part of it.
- [23:26]
B
Very special. So you must have some amazing messages for people when they receive them.
- [23:31]
C
They're so wonderful. So people nominate. Sometimes people. The nominations are amazing. So a man, I'll give you an example. A man said, I work. I work in a real estate office. And every day the woman who works across the hall from me leaves running out the door at 4:45. I know she has three children at home. I know she's rushing and she feels guilty. I would like her to have this lock, you know, anonymously, because I think she is just always running and never takes care of herself. A neighbor sees another mother rushing her children around and says, I'm nominating my neighbor because I know she never thinks of herself. A single mom's son, who's 15 years old nominated his mother and then wrote us a letter after he nominated the mother and said, ha, ha, ha. She thought it was from a boyfriend. I thought that was so funny. It was just very, very teenage boy, right? You know, but so many stories. One year, I was really touched. A woman who runs a halfway house for women who have been physically abused reached out and said, there are a couple of women I'd like to nominate. And we said, tell us all the women we'll get. Everybody in the house will get one this year. And like, we give until they get and till they're gone. And, you know, I don't think this changes their lives in any way. But you. I can show you some crazy messages we get on Instagram. If you look at the lock, your mom hashtag, when women receive it, they're just kind of blown away because when you're in that mode and you are a single parent and you're working and you just. You don't have time to even think. So when someone thinks of you in this way, it's special. And I'm happy to report we're going to be doing it in London this year. I'm really excited to do it so.
- [25:26]
B
People in London can get onto the website and nominate.
- [25:30]
C
Well, we're going to do. I mean, I think we're going to do it with an event and I'm excited about that. But this year, I mean, in New York, we did it. Kate Spade gave handbags, Bobby Brown gave makeup at the event that we did. So it was really, it's really become something special. I will tell you one more thing. The head of the social services place, when I had approached him about doing an in person event for single moms, he had never, he said, we have never thought he's been doing it for 30 years. Said, We've never thought of doing this, something like this because it's no strings attached. It's just come and have lunch and nothing. And he said that he wanted to repeat it every year because the women who would come, they're much more open to receiving the services that his organization offers having after having this special day. So there's some really lovely unintended consequences of the Block youk Mom project.
- [26:21]
B
So nice. Did somebody do something for you when you were a single mother that made you think of it?
- [26:27]
C
I don't think so. I don't remember. But I think I thought about it at that time. Like, I think there were moments I have to say that being a single mother, and I say this all the time out of desperation comes incredible ingenuity. And I say that this business was built during. The idea for this business was built during this most difficult time in my personal life. Someone approached me in Alabama this weekend, the last. This weekend, last week and said, you know, I. You. You sent a single mom lock to a very close friend of mine anonymously. And it's so funny, she still doesn't know. It's been several years. She always says she wears it all the time. She said. And she always says, you know, I still wonder who gave this to me. And it's like this funny little secret between them. So.
- [27:19]
B
So it is sort of half mother, say half valentine, half something. Love.
- [27:24]
C
It's love. And it's funny. Of course there are bad actors and I have seen the occasional one on the Real Real. And I thought the real real is that, you know, secondary.
- [27:35]
B
Oh, second clothing. Right?
- [27:39]
C
Yeah. And I think to myself, well, they needed to sell it.
- [27:42]
B
They might have had a reason.
- [27:44]
C
They had a reason. Selling jewelry. There's no shame in selling jewelry when you need the money.
- [27:48]
B
I think, well, that's what it's always been, a bit of portable wealth.
- [27:52]
C
That's right, exactly.
- [27:53]
B
But I want to go back to what you said about Instagram, because you have what, over a hundred thousand followers.
- [27:59]
C
Or I think we're about to hit. I don't want to say it. 200,000.
- [28:04]
B
Oh my God.
- [28:05]
C
I know, it's crazy.
- [28:06]
B
So now how important has it been for the business to have that Instagram following?
- [28:12]
C
So I view the Instagram as a way. And Madeline is learning this. It's because she's been here three weeks. Like we have. We're having it. We're having a never ending conversation with our customers through Instagram. And now tick tock. It's not like we're like, oh, how many. I don't think about it. Like, oh, how many of these are we going to sell if I post it on Instagram? I don't think about it that way at all. I think about it like we are having a conversation. What do they want to hear about today? What can we show them today? Or discuss what can we discuss today? What's funny today?
- [28:47]
B
But it translates into sales. Direct sales.
- [28:50]
C
Yeah, absolutely.
- [28:51]
B
So you're talking about Madeleine, who started three weeks ago. So it's super important to have a social media manager.
- [28:57]
C
I would say. Well, I don't know if you know this, but I don't know if they've changed the website yet. But until recent, we've had social media managers. We had one before me, but then we've had, we wait. We have to have the right person. So when, when we don't have one, you're talking to the social media manager and I.
- [29:15]
B
You're quite active, aren't you?
- [29:17]
C
Yes, I do it.
- [29:18]
B
You're very active.
- [29:18]
C
I realize the importance of it. And people know I'm trying to be, you know, true to who we are as a company. So when Madeline posts, you know, she's posting. When I'm posting, I'm posting. You're not pulling the wool over. It's not a pretend Marla post or.
- [29:39]
B
You know, but anyone young, starting now.
- [29:43]
C
In jewelry design, you would say they.
- [29:46]
B
Would have to have this strong social media presence.
- [29:49]
C
I. Yes, but I would say, I think when you say that it might be scary to people and certainly to some artists, I think what you want to say is you want to talk to your customers and this is just another way you're talking to your customers. And tick tock, which seemed very scary to me, is now I'm. It's still scary. I'm not gonna lie. It's scary.
- [30:09]
B
But why is it scary?
- [30:11]
C
Because it's even raw. More raw than Instagram. And they like to see the rawness. And you know, they, and, and they're the comment, they're the comments aren't necessarily nice. They want to get in a dialogue. They want some controversy. That is what the audience lives for. So you just kind of have to find your way through that to get to the storytelling and make it real, I would say. But you should think about it as having a conversation versus you must have a social. If you say something to someone like, we must have a social media presence and we must have social media strategy. To me personally, that sounds very scary. What is a strategy? What is, you know, presence? But if I say I just want to talk today about the tandem pulley and all the ways we can use it that I relate to, and I feel like that's what people relate to.
- [31:08]
B
And you do your sort of. What's the jewelry problem? Solve the jewelry problem. That's quite fun, isn't it?
- [31:15]
C
I love that we have to bring back jewelry problems because they're not really.
- [31:20]
B
Problems and they're sort of problems you make up.
- [31:22]
C
They're made up problems. But anything related to jewelry is a made up problem.
- [31:27]
B
I mean, so is that. That's like mixing metals. Is that a problem? Mixing metals, that sort of thing?
- [31:31]
C
Yes. You know what I need? Madeline, could you grab me one of the napkins, which we don't have. So everyone who gets a drink but you, you didn't get a drink yet, so you haven't seen it. Our napkids say jewelry's only job is to bring joy to people. So thank you. So you'll see.
- [31:52]
B
There's a napkin.
- [31:53]
C
Thank you.
- [31:54]
B
Jewelries has one job.
- [31:56]
C
Jewelry has one job, and that's to.
- [31:58]
B
Bring joy to people. Yeah. And it has a few jobs, right? Yeah. I mean, joy. But it also talks about you.
- [32:08]
C
Yes, it talks about you, but that brings you joy.
- [32:10]
B
And then it connects you. Yours physically connects you.
- [32:14]
C
Yes, but it. Yeah, but I think we. I never want. I wanted to paint a sign. A painter wall coming in. It's just jewelry, but because it's also just jewelry. It's all those things.
- [32:28]
B
I know, but I spend my whole career trying to say it's not just jewelry.
- [32:31]
C
Right, right.
- [32:32]
B
It actually has a more important role in your life than you think.
- [32:35]
C
It really does.
- [32:36]
B
Not just elitist and glittery and frivolous. Of course, I'm always trying to underpin.
- [32:41]
C
Yes.
- [32:42]
B
Make my subjects more important.
- [32:43]
C
Yes, it's true. I agree with you. And it's also supposed to bring joy. And I guess the other thing I wanted to address and talk about is we make things and we fight really hard. One of the hardest things we do is make the jewelry in silver. So making things at a variety of price points because, as you know, making mechanically based jewelry, it's very hard to work in silver because it's so soft. So when we are able to bring our mechanism based jewelry into silver, it's very exciting because we have customers that always want to be buying our pieces and they can't afford it. And especially we hear that on Tik Tok. Oh, really? Oh, yes.
- [33:24]
B
So you react to what you hear?
- [33:26]
C
Well, no. I mean, we're always trying. I mean, I, you know, I wanted to. I'm trying to. I don't see one here. I guess we sold them all.
- [33:33]
B
Oh, gosh.
- [33:34]
C
The. A silver trundle lock ring. That's something that. Oh, there's one. We can't keep it in stock because we had the gold trundle lock ring and we make it so many ways. This one's golden ruby. It's a ring that's also a lock. People wanted it in silver and we released it in silver earlier this year. And people were just absolutely ecstatic because you can't, you know, the lowest price point before was $2,500, and now the lowest price point on it is someone can buy it for $550. Not the same piece, but the same mechanism.
- [34:08]
B
And so because you're essentially working around this lot, do you go seasonally? Is there like, oh, this season we're all about pink gold or we're all about pink sapphires?
- [34:21]
C
No, we work in the most, I think, unique way. We are constantly in product development. You met Anthony. But we have product development meetings every week. They are very loud. They're at that table and the ping pong table. At the ping pong table. And there's a lot of people in the room. There's an engineer in the room to your point. Because to make them work is. Is very hard. And so he's the reality check. So there's an engineer in the room, There's a jeweler in the room. There's a CAD designer, the room, the head of production and the product development. And we're, we're always bringing things forward. So we, when I tell you we try and release something every month, we're releasing things almost every month. Then there are periods where we don't. But we're releasing. If we're releasing a big thing, we might go for a couple of months without releasing something. But, you know, and then we release silly things. We released thingies which I don't know where my. Oh, here's my thingy.
- [35:25]
B
What are Thingies.
- [35:26]
C
Thingies are. Madeline, can you grab the thingies that are over there? Thingies are meant to turn your locks into hair bands so you can wear your locs in your hair. And we launched these last week.
- [35:38]
B
Oh, in all different colors.
- [35:39]
C
Yes. And so they're thingies and you can take one and you can attach. I'm going to give you a set of thingies to take home to play with your locks because you can also wear them on your wrist and.
- [35:54]
B
They'Re good for young ones as well. Teenagers.
- [35:57]
C
And these launched last week and people were absolutely very, very, very, very excited about these. So I know this plays with the idea of what fine jewelry is and what it's meant to be because this is obviously not fine jewelry. But this can be worn with a diamond lock and can transform. You can wear them on your wrist. And if you look at anyone's wrist, really, it's not that even the person that's buying some of the most expensive jewelry, I'm talking a queen, perhaps they're not just wearing.
- [36:31]
B
It's a new way to get diamonds in your hair.
- [36:33]
C
Yes.
- [36:34]
B
Without a tiara or.
- [36:35]
C
Yes. Or, or your wrist.
- [36:38]
B
But how are they wearing jewelry right now, do you think? The Tick Tock generation, what are they looking for? Charms.
- [36:45]
C
They love charms and they love this idea of connectivity to their emotions. So they're looking for charms. They love our, they love the convertibility of our locks. You know, Gen Z is not frivolous, really. They're not like Gen X, Gen Y. There's no level of frivolity with them. In many respects. They, they appreciate the functionality of our jewelry. They, they love things like thingies that allow them to do more than one thing with their jewelry. That our earrings are convertible, that everything converts. It appeals to their sense of, I'm going to say they're, they're pragmatic. They're, they're, you know, they want things that'll last, that will last.
- [37:31]
B
And then you do private commission. So that's. The sky's the limit.
- [37:34]
C
Yes, we do, we do a lot of custom work, but we also do custom work for ourselves. I mean, I have a couple of pieces here to show, including our rolling spears bracelet that I think you've seen before, which is diamonds that are cut and they roll in a bracelet. We do a lot of hand engraved commissions and we do our dime siempre rings that are, if someone buys them, of course, commissioned especially for them.
- [38:00]
B
And is there something that you try and look every day that the look that you want or do you change it. Do you have favorites or do you think that's too much? I'll take that one off for myself personally. As you leave the house, what would you want to appear like or take off before you go or make sure you have with you?
- [38:22]
C
Well, I'll always have my wedding ring with me. Okay. So that I always have with me. I always have this little stack of bracelets. Like I always have a stack of bracelets on this hand. Nothing on this hand. This I just put on while we were sitting here. So this is our trundle lock bracelet. This is a bracelet that I'm particularly proud of. Again, this point of bringing functionality to more people. This is our hinged cufflink and it's sterling silver brass, but the mechanism in the center is 10 karat white gold. So you get that hardness that allows the jewelry to really work. And we also make this bracelet in solid gold, of course, and we make it in inlay, but we make it like this. And I've seen women shove it right into a stack of love bracelets or a stack of, you know, they just, they love the look of it. It's sort of the highest expression of mixed metal, you know.
- [39:21]
B
So you definitely just. Your bracelets are a must have.
- [39:25]
C
My bracelets are a must have. My necklaces are an ever. I'm in a platinum moment. So I've been wearing a lot of platinum and diamonds. So I'm wearing platinum and diamonds. And this is my talking chain that says it is what it is. And usually I wear it with a different. Yeah, this is something we started making last year, which is. I want. It's not, it's not an ID necklace. It's not a name plate necklace. It's where the chain and the, the letters are incorporated together that the letters actually become the chain. And we're very proud of this. We do this in gold and silver.
- [40:01]
B
And what different sayings.
- [40:02]
C
You, you can say whatever you want.
- [40:04]
B
Whatever you want.
- [40:05]
C
Whatever you want. You order. There's a, there's a configurator on our website. You can add stones, you can add a heart, you can add exclamation points, numbers. You can do whatever you want. And people seem to really like them.
- [40:18]
B
And so saying that some people have rude messages on TikTok to TikTokers. Ever ask something rude on the necklace?
- [40:26]
C
Well, we've had the, you know, the, the, we've had the bad words and I, I always hate when people do that in gold. I don't know why, but that's just.
- [40:34]
B
My so do you do the bad words?
- [40:36]
C
I do. We do it for people and we send it to them. But you won't ever find that posted really on our social media because it's such a shame to do that on goal, don't you think?
- [40:47]
B
I suppose they want to sort of. You talk about dumbing down jewelry. I mean, dumbing down diamonds. You don't want it to look too. Too posh. So maybe that's how they do it. They dumb it down with the. Maybe with the word.
- [41:00]
C
Yeah. And maybe. I guess the other thing for me is like I love to swear, but I don't. It's so. I view writing swears so different than saying them. I can't explain it. When you write it down and then to write it in gold, I just. Or silver even. I don't know.
- [41:16]
B
But actually the way you have it here, it's almost like somebody wouldn't even notice. It's very subtle.
- [41:21]
C
Yeah. And it says it is what it is. Which is something my father always says to me. It is what it is. So.
- [41:28]
B
So now people listen to the podcast in so many different countries, which is fantastic. But you've told me just now that actually it's quite exciting. You're going to be coming to London quite soon.
- [41:38]
C
Yes, we're going to have a. We're going to have a very special presence at Liberty in London. We're also in Dubai. We have a beautiful shop and shop that's just about to launch at that concept store. Where else are we sold around the world? We're sold in Brazil. We are sold in China, Shanghai and Hong Kong at Ling Crawford. I'm trying to think where else are we sold?
- [42:07]
B
But they'll find you. They'll find you from the customers all.
- [42:11]
C
Over the world through our website. We've really worked hard with that.
- [42:15]
B
So we're in. Having talked about your special commissions, we are in the Buy Appointments salon.
- [42:22]
C
Yes.
- [42:23]
B
And we will put pictures of this on YouTube for people to see. It's just fabulous. And you've got your customade enormous jewelry case which opens and closes two of them. It's fantastic. Bright. We can hear the traffic below on 47th Street.
- [42:37]
C
Yeah, I, I would say that, you know, this room is. It's by appointment only. You haven't met. The team you haven't met is the four that are our customer experience team. That's their, that's their workroom in there. So we haven't gone in there yet, but it's booked solid. We had to, we had to block this off for Us.
- [42:56]
B
So what should people be doing to take care of them?
- [42:58]
C
Well, I want to tell you what we did to educate people. People are very rough on their jewelry. We decided to write a little. How could I get people's attention to take better care of their jewelry? Of course we'll repair your jewelry, but there are some things that you should just do better. And most of the large luxury jewelry companies treat repairs like a profit center. And their education about it is just that. You'll see it on the wall over there. But I can grab. You want to grab one out of that drawer? Please. It's. We wrote a children's book, okay. Called Take Care, A not so serious guide to taking care of your jewelry. And every piece of jewelry that leaves here leaves with one is there.
- [43:42]
B
And what are the tips in it?
- [43:43]
C
I mean, it's from the point of view of jewelry. It was painted. It was drawn by a French illustrator, and I wrote it. It's a point of view from the point of view of jewelry.
- [43:55]
B
And it's very well wrapped up.
- [43:56]
C
Yeah. My goodness. No props for me today. Thank you. So this is one of the books.
- [44:03]
B
Okay.
- [44:04]
C
It's called Take care a not so serious guide to taking care of your jewelry. And I figured in thinking about doing this, it wasn't so much. You know, you're not supposed to shower with your jewelry. You know, you're not supposed to have your hands coated in suntan oil and. And put on your diamond rings like, you know, you shouldn't go in your washing machine. So we thought if we could get people's attention with humor, yeah, they might do a little bit better. The only goal of this was to do a little bit better. But at the end of the book, we say, in spite of your best efforts, we know you're going to do some of the things here. So if you need a repair, contact the people that made us. That's their job. Some repairs are free, others are not. Oh, no. What we say is if you do end up getting swept off your feet and wearing your jewelry to bed, it's okay. We hope this happens a lot for you and for us.
- [44:55]
B
Well, this is something I didn't know.
- [44:57]
C
Brass.
- [44:57]
B
A ketchup bath is what keeps me clean.
- [45:00]
C
Well, it's real. I have a lot of brass candlesticks. I kind of collect them. They're all English. And you coat them in ketchup, let it sit for 20 or 30 seconds, then you run it under water. And then you take, like, a paper towel and you wipe it, and you'll Be shocked. It's the acid in the, the, the acid in the tomatoes. It's not really the magic of the ketchup, but it's, it's, it works.
- [45:25]
B
And do garden, that's all right. That's not a problem for me.
- [45:29]
C
No gardening for you?
- [45:30]
B
No gardening. I like planning it but not doing it. And so any other collab you're coming to Liberty, Any other collaborations that you're working on?
- [45:41]
C
I'm working on something with Nymphenberg which has been in the makings for almost five years. It's a 400 year old porcelain company that I admire very much. You know, it's all, it's one of the few porcelain companies without naming names of other very well known porcelain companies. Many of them are digitally printing their dishes now. Nymphenburg is one of the few that is still hand painting very elaborate designs and we chose one of their most elaborate designs to translate into jewelry. So more again with this idea that more people could have access to these gorgeous designs. So you may not be able to have a 12A setting, a place setting for 24 of Cumberland by Nymphenberg, which is their most elaborate and most fabulous. But you could perhaps have a Trend de Luk bracelet or you could have an earring or something.
- [46:39]
B
So people will have to take very good care of that.
- [46:41]
C
Yes, they will. The guide will come into handy.
- [46:46]
B
Marla, thank you so much for hosting us.
- [46:48]
C
Carol, it was really a pleasure. Thank you for having me on your podcast. And I don't know if you know this, but I'm a huge Anglophile and.
- [46:56]
B
I come to England and you're one of the only people around the world who loves English food.
- [47:00]
C
I adore it. Adore it. Don't just love it, dream about it.
- [47:07]
B
Well, thank you for having us.
- [47:08]
C
Thank you.
- [47:16]
B
Thank you for listening. For this and other episodes of if Jules Could Talk, please go to our website which has had a brand new makeover so it's incredibly easy to use. So check it out. Carolwalton.com do spread the word. Do share if Jules could talk with anyone you think will be interested. And we love to have a rating and a comment. And don't forget the if Jules Could Talk book is on sale now. Do join me again in two weeks for the next jeweled nugget when we are continuing our little jewel voyage around New York and we were invited by royal appointment to the home of Prince Dmitry of Yugoslavia to look at his incredible jewelry and talk about his links with every crowned monarch in Europe. So join me then. And thank you for listening. Bye. Bye. If Jules Could Talk with Carole Woolton is produced by Natasha Cowan. Music and editing by Tim Thornton. Graphics by Scott Bentley. Illustration by Jordi Labander. You can find our sponsors@ fully gemstones.com and me@carolwilton.com.