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A
Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.
B
Zoey, this thing weighs a ton. Drew Ski, lift with your legs, man.
C
Santa.
D
Santa, did you get my letter?
B
He's talking to you britches. I'm not.
A
Of course he did.
B
Right, Santa, you know my elf, Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list. And elf, I'm six' three. What everyone wants is iPhone 17 and at T mobile you can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies, right, Mrs. Claus?
A
I'm Mrs. Claus much younger sister. And AT T Mobile, there's no trade in needed when you switch. So you can keep your old phone.
B
Or give it as a gift.
A
And the best part, you can make the switch to T mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.
B
Nice. My side of the tree is slipping.
D
Kimber, the holidays are better.
E
AT T Mobile, switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed. And now T mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 month bill credits for well qualified customers plus tax and 35 device connection charge. Credit balance due if you pay off earlier. Cancel Finance Agreement. 256 gigs $830 eligible for in a new line. $100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line. Visit t mobile.com this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.
B
Get it the Burch show.
D
We have Annette Esposito in studio this morning from Holly Springs Jewelers. And I think it's really funny that when we ask Birch to a list, look, if you got a piece of jewelry that you were really kind of on the fence about that you didn't know if it was real or if it was fake, would you want to know? And we took a whole bunch of calls and like 80% of those calls from women said, yeah, I would want to know one way or another. Even if I did it without my husband knowing that I went and I got the education, I would want to know if it's a. If it's a real diamond or not, right? So we had all these people set up over the last couple of weeks and one by one they have dropped out when reality struck. And we told them, look, we can do this thing until we got down to one person. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but. What's that?
C
Chickens?
D
Would you just rather not know and just assume?
F
So, fifth grade.
E
You're yeller.
F
You're chicken yeller. Well, I wonder if when it comes to crunch time like you said, I wonder if they're like, it would change. Oh, my God. If you found out it was fake. I mean, just imagine the repercussions of that. You know, like if you had this engagement ring, especially, that you found out was fake.
G
I don't know.
D
Wouldn't you want to know the truth the one way or the other? Or would you just like to say, you know what? I'm sure it's real and just. And talk yourself into believing it is?
H
If you've been waiting a long time to get engaged, I'm not sure you want to know right off the bat. You might want to bask in that.
D
Glory for a little while. Okay, well, first we're going to put Tracy's jewelry underneath the microscope here. And there's kind of monocle underneath the monocle.
G
It's a loop.
D
A loop.
C
Underneath the loop, a loop.
D
All right. And then we're gonna talk to Birch show listener Kristen, whose story is a little bit more intriguing. But, Trace, tell us the history behind this piece of jewelry.
I
Well, my mom and dad started dating when they were very, very young. And my dad gave my mom a pair of diamond earrings, or I'm assuming they're diamond earrings when they were 16 years old. My mom lost one of them in the beach. So of course, they're now divorced. And she thought I might like to have the other one. So I had it made into a necklace, but. But I don't know. He was 16. Like, can 16 year olds really afford diamonds? But then it's never been told to me that they weren't real diamonds, so I have no idea.
D
Does your mom just assume that they were real?
I
I don't think she's ever said, like, I think that I've always just assumed they were diamonds. And she's never told me differently. You know, like, I always just said, it's your diamond, you know? You know, your diamond earring that you lost. Can I make it into a necklace? And she's like, yeah, sure. Your dad gave it to me, so she never said, well, honey, they're not real diamonds.
D
Would this. If you find out it's fake, will you start wearing it less?
I
Actually, I don't wear it that much now because I'd always assumed it was real and it meant so Much to me, because my dad gave it to my mom, that I never wanted to risk losing it. So I kind of have it, but. So I guess I wouldn't wear it less. But I'd kind of be a little bummed, I guess, because, I mean, don't you kind of want to think that. I mean, isn't it more of a romantic story that my dad gave my mom a diamond at 16 rather than a cubic zirconium?
D
Yes, it is.
F
But then, you know, think about. You could wear it more because. Because, I mean, if it's not real and you lose it, Meh.
D
Yeah, you can wear it all the time. Now, there's silver lining.
H
It's still got sentimental value. Just won't be as expensive to replace.
I
You know what? Now I'm thinking, okay, it's seven o'.
G
Clock.
I
My mom's in the car right now, and she didn't ask for this. And as far as she knows, she got a diamond at 16. And as far as she knows, she passed on a diamond to her daughter.
D
All right, well, you're gonna find out very quickly if it's the real deal or not. I know.
H
Tracy's mom turned down the radio.
G
It's real. It's real.
I
Go, dad.
D
Can you tell us a little bit more about it?
G
And just look, it's got a pretty big inclusion in it. So it's like an i1, which means that that's probably why he could afford it too. Cause it wasn't. It's a diamond. It's white, but it's got a little bit of inclusions in it.
F
What's inclusion?
G
It's like there's different things in diamonds because they're natural. So they could have different. They could have diamonds inside diamonds. They can have carbon. They can have garnets. There can be different elements inside a diamond.
C
Bert not might be able to remember, but I can tell you what an inclusion is, because I think most guys know more about diamonds than women do.
G
Is I have to be educated to buy one.
C
Oh, I went to school when I bought Jessica's diamond. Like, I mean, I got school.
F
That's pretty bold, though, to say that guys know more about diamonds than women do.
C
Absolutely.
F
You think?
D
Yeah.
C
Do you know the scale? Do you know the 4C's scale is.
D
For all of them?
F
I'm not gonna get a diamond, so I don't. I didn't educate myself.
D
Honestly, I don't think guys. I think. I don't think most guys know more than women do about.
H
I think Jeff may Be right.
C
Absolutely.
D
Clarity.
G
Cut.
D
Cut. Yeah, I'm out. There's another one.
G
Carrot weight.
C
Carrot.
E
Carrot.
D
There you go. And inclusions are just like the little flaws and stuff in it.
G
Yes. And you're gonna. On some diamonds, you're gonna see them more easily than others. And I. One means imperfect.
D
Okay. I told you.
F
Oh, I'm sorry. But I just want to say specify what the inclusion is in this particular piece.
G
It looks like another crystal. Okay. So it's a diamond. And diamond.
D
So there's kind of a cool story behind it. I mean, it would probably cost him a fortune back then, you know what I'm saying? Like, he probably. I don't know.
G
Yeah, I don't know.
I
I mean, a fortune is. Isn't that much for a 16 year old.
D
That's what I'm saying, though.
G
Yeah. You know, so he.
I
I mean, yeah, he made the effort to get my mom diamond earrings, so that's cool.
D
Yeah.
C
And she lost one of them at the beach. God, that's.
D
Well, she was making out with another guy. I know, it's terrible.
C
God, that's heartbreaking that she lost one.
D
Is this about the time of year where a bunch of women will come in to find out if it's real or not?
G
Actually, men and women, I mean, we have. I have stuff come through all the time. Being a gemologist, I get to. They want to bring it to me to tell them if it's real or not. And I do it all the time. Yeah, I just did it yesterday again to another guy. He inherited a bunch of jewelry from his mother and he doesn't know if it's real or not. So I have to go through and pick out what's real and not.
D
I would think that this would be about the time of year that women got jewelry around the holidays. And for three or four weeks it's starting to eat at them. Like they're just not sure. And this would be the week where they go, screw it. I'm gonna go find that.
G
Let me go get it cleaned for Valentine's. Yeah.
C
Cleaned.
D
Yeah.
G
Yeah.
C
Take a look at that while you're cleaning it.
E
Thank you.
D
Is that what they usually say? That's the excuse they use to get in there.
G
Well, it's been about a month and it's time to get it cleaned.
C
Let me ask you a question that all women want to know the answer to. How easily can you or a trained eye spot a fake immediate. If somebody's wearing a big old three karat cubic zirconia, can you tell in passing.
G
Oh, yeah. Cubic zirconia. Zirconia is going to look a little purpley to us.
C
Like, in passing.
G
Yeah.
C
So you don't even have to have your.
G
Well, it depends. I mean, if it's really clean. Yeah, it's hard to tell. But people don't keep their jewelry that clean. So as soon as the cubic zirconia gets dirty, it gets like a haze and oily surface to it. So it's easier for us to tell.
D
All right, before we get you on here with virtual listener Kristen, who wants to know about her ring, Kelly has a question for you. Good morning, Kelly.
J
Good morning.
D
Hi.
J
My question is, every time I'm around a black light, one of my diamonds glow. I have three diamonds in my ring, and one of them glows. And I'm sort of curious, is that sort of saying that it's not real or.
G
Actually, that's saying it is real. What happens is a lot of diamonds, it's called fluorescence. And back in the 70s, when disco was really popular, they used to call them disco diamonds. Cause you'd go into the black light and your diamonds would glow.
D
Oh, really? Yeah.
C
I'm really curious as to why you're spending so much time around black light.
J
Actually, I first noticed it when we took our kids Rock City. And you go through the little fairyland, and we're pointing stuff out. And my husband and I noticed that a couple of our diamonds were growing. And we started questioning, oh, my gosh. Because we had them specially made. We thought we might have got gypped or. But only one of them glows. That means there's different diamonds, different types of diamonds in our rings.
G
Oh, yeah. There's all kinds of different diamonds. They have different elements that make them glow. They'll have. Sometimes they'll glow purple, orange. You know, they'll change colors, too, when the fluorescence hits them.
D
Did you think that she just had, like, one room that had all those rock and roll posters, those velvet posters.
C
You know, the Spencer's Gifts Museum, lava lamps, those big glass things that you touch, and the little light goes to your hand. And then a Black Sabbath poster.
D
All right, Annette Esposito from Holly Springs Jewelers is here. And let's get virtual listener Kristen on the voice disguiser.
C
Activated.
D
Hello, Kristen. Hello.
C
Did you pick her up?
D
Nope. Hey, Kristen.
I
Hello.
D
There you go. How are you?
J
Fine.
D
How are you doing? Good. You're on the voice disguiser. There's no way that anybody could recognize your voice at this point. Okay.
J
Okay, good.
D
Okay. Give Us a little history behind the ring that Annette is gonna be taking a look at here.
J
Okay? The ring was a Christmas gift. It didn't come in a box. It came on the tree. There's no paperwork on it. I haven't been told the clarity, the size, where it's from, anything. My husband can't give me any of that information. So I'm just kind of curious.
D
What is his reasoning for not giving you that information?
J
He just doesn't know. He just. He just kicked it out is what happened. He just picked it out and he.
C
From somebody else's house in the middle of the night when they were home or.
H
Well, I think she probably can't give too many details because, I mean, she is on the voice disguiser, and she doesn't want her husband, right, to know in case he is listening, you know, so she can't give exactly word for word what he said to her, you know, did he get.
F
Did he. I mean, did he say, though, he did go to, like, a store?
J
Yes.
G
Excuse me.
J
He did say he got it from a jewelry store, but when I ask him, I'm being nosy, so that's what I'm told, is I'm being nosy.
C
But you still should. If you get a rock like that, you need to get it insured, and for that, you should get the paperwork from the jewelry store. They'll give you an appraisal. Even a pawn shop will do that.
J
Well, I asked for that, and he didn't get it, and I can't imagine why. He couldn't even tell me what size it is. I mean, I don't even know what the carrot is on it.
D
If you find out that this thing is a fake, how will it change your attitude towards the ring and towards your husband?
J
Well, first, I don't know. I'm really nervous right now because.
G
I don't know.
J
I mean, what do you say to your husband? Thanks for the fake ring. Love you, too.
F
Well, I think the. I think even if it's real, it brings up questions, because if he didn't insure it, like, to me, even if it's real, I would question where it came from. Who did it come from? I don't think it came from a store.
J
I don't either, because it's not financed. I haven't seen any bills, and there wasn't money taken out of savings. And, I mean, I'm Burt when it comes to finances. He does everything, but I at least know how much is in the bank.
H
And there's nothing gone she says she's clueless about finances like you are.
D
Yeah, I do nothing. My wife takes care of all the finances in the house, so we're in that boat together. Yeah.
H
Is your husband a pretty well off guy? I mean, we talking about somebody who could afford a real diamond?
J
He could afford a real diamond, but I don't know that at his time. We could afford a real diamond. We're not poor, but, you know, I don't. We just got a new car as.
D
Well, so it does raise an interesting point. Like if you find out that it's fake, what do you say to your husband? First, first you're offended that he gives you a fake ring. Then he's offended that you didn't trust him enough, and then I don't. Boy, what do you say? Or do you say anything at all? Right.
J
Well, my husband is the kind of person who can turn anything that he does around on anybody else who's involved.
F
He's a man.
J
In the end of the conversation, it would be my fault.
D
Yeah, we go to class for that.
H
That's years and years of training. Like her genealogy training.
F
That's what the Boy Scouts, the Eagle Scouts, all those. That's what they do. They teach kids that it's not campfires and crap like that.
D
We're not learning what north is where south is.
F
Those patches for how to lie and how to turn things around on other people.
H
Manipulation school.
D
Okay, Kristen, at this point, I will turn it over to Annette Esposito from Holly Springs Jewelers and she's going to be brutally honest with you if this thing is real or not. Okay?
J
Okay.
D
Okay, Annette, take it from here.
G
It's real.
D
It's real.
G
Nice. Thank you.
H
It is real.
D
That's a religious.
G
Really nice diamonds, too. They're a little off color, but they're very, very clean.
J
Oh, okay. So they're off color. How big is it? Can you tell?
G
You've got probably about 3/4 carat in the center and about 70s on each side. So you're about a carat and a half total. Weigh a little over.
J
Oh, okay.
C
So the good news is you've got a real ring. The bad news is it's probably stolen.
D
He took it off a corpse. Well, Kristin, congratulations. At least. At least it's the better of both of two alternatives here. It's real, right? Yes.
J
Well, I mean, even if it is stolen, honestly, if it's real, I don't really care.
H
If this were in your shop, about how much would this ring cost?
G
You're probably going to be as they're very clean. So you're probably going to be about 4700, 5000.
F
Wow.
D
About five grand.
F
All right, Kristen.
J
Hey, that's not too bad.
D
Now you're going to start. See, no, but like Melissa says, women think and think and think. So now where you're going to start getting all stressed about where the money come from.
F
Is it an heirloom? Is it something, something he bought for somebody else in the past? Is it, you know, like all these not to plan a scene.
J
Think about that. So now.
F
Sorry, sorry. Kristen's husband.
G
Actually the mount is kind of new, so I wouldn't think it'd be that.
F
Okay, see?
C
Okay, so maybe he had. Maybe he proposed to somebody else and was just holding onto the stone and then had the stones replaced in the setting.
F
Right.
J
Maybe you would do that, Jeff?
C
I'm just wondering if that's a possibility.
D
And that would that be a possibility?
G
Well, one of the diamonds is, is an older cut. It's got. It's called an open culet. The part at the bottom of the stone is open. So they're not all cut the same.
D
Which means what?
G
That one stone's a lot older than the others.
C
So he did get one stone from somewhere else.
F
Would you know, you could have put.
G
It together that way.
F
I'm just curious. I mean, not CSI doing anything. So the. Can you tell us the name of the older cut? Is it. Which stone is it? Is it the center stone or is it one of the side stones?
G
Okay.
C
Is it possible to tell us the name of the other woman he loved?
G
Unfortunately, it's not lasered on the side.
H
Otherwise I can do that for you inside the van.
G
Yeah.
D
All right, Kristen, you found out it's real, but now you've got a whole other set of questions that need to be answered.
C
So.
J
Yeah, thank you for that.
D
All right, thank you for coming. She's actually in the other studio.
G
Right.
D
But we had to put her on the voices.
F
Guys, Kristen's going to come in studio and you know, slap my face or something here in a second, but.
D
All right, Kristen, thanks a lot. And I'm going to put you. Well, I don't need to put you on hold because you're in the other studio. Come on down here.
F
Come on and get your way, honey.
D
I see you later. Bye. Bye.
B
Get it. The Bird Show.
D
Think enterprise software is too costly, too complex and takes too long to get up and running? Think again. Workday. Go. Makes simplifying your small or mid sized business simple. HR and finance together on one powerful AI platform right at your fingertips. Workday Go gets you live fast and fits the needs of your business. Find out what Workday Go can do for you. Go with Workday Go.
E
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.
A
Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.
B
Zoe, this thing weighs a ton. Drew Ski, lift with your legs man.
D
Santa. Santa, did you get my letter?
B
He's talking to you britches. I'm not.
A
Of course he did.
B
Right Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list and elf. I'm six' three. What everyone wants is iPhone 17 and at T Mobile you can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies, right?
A
Mrs. Claus I'm missing is Claus much younger sister and AT T Mobile there's no trade in needed when you switch so you can keep your old phone.
B
Or give it as a gift.
A
And the best part? You can make the switch to T mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.
H
Nice.
B
My side of the tree is slipping.
D
Kimber the holidays are better.
E
AT T Mobile switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers plus tax and $35 vice connection charge credits and balance due to if you pay off earlier, cancel finance agreement. 256 gigs $830 eligible board in a new line $100 plus a month plan with auto taxes fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line. Visit T mobile.
C
Com.
Date: December 30, 2025
Host: The Bert Show Cast (Bert, Kristin, Abby, Cassie, Tommy, others)
Special Guest: Annette Esposito, Holly Springs Jewelers
In this playful yet emotionally charged episode, The Bert Show crew investigates a universally relatable question: “How do you really know if your jewelry is real?” With the help of gemologist Annette Esposito, they examine pieces brought in by listeners who aren’t sure about the authenticity – and implications – of their most sentimental jewelry. The show explores the motivations and trepidations behind asking "is it fake or not?" with two listener case studies, mixing genuine curiosity, humor, and real talk about relationships and trust.
The Bert Show blends humor, relatable banter, and real-life drama. The cast freely jokes about themselves (and gender stereotypes), but also listens to and validates the concerns of their guests. Emotional moments—like the relief and ambiguity felt by Tracy and Kristen—are treated with sensitivity but balanced by levity from the cast and guests.
The episode delivers both reassurance and humanity: sometimes the treasures we worry about are the real deal, but what we value is as much about the story and trust behind the jewelry as the price tag. Trust, communication, and sentimentality—all come into play when it comes to relationships... and rings.