This episode is brought to you by Fully Gemstones.

In fact, why are we all buying diamonds then?

Why aren't we buying emeralds?

Because the advertising campaign for diamonds has gone on for a hundred years

and is the equivalent of a military-grade sci-op, if I'm going to be

perfectly honest. That's why we all buy diamonds. Welcome to With Jewels Could Talk. I'm Carol

Walton, the voice of jewelry, an author, broadcaster, and the woman who initiated the role

of Jewelry editor at magazines like Tatler and British Vogue.

This is a podcast for everyone. For people who do like jewelry, for people who don't realize

they like jewelry, and anyone intrigued by fascinating facts, new ideas and forgotten histories.

So please join me as I tell sparkly tales meeting all sorts of people delving into

four centuries of jewellery culture and investigate what's happening now.

Asia, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. And actually, I have to say,

occasionally at the end of the podcast, I say, oh, if anyone has anything that they would love to hear

about, please let us know. And I've had requests for you. Oh, that's nice. Which is really nice.

So, here we go. Welcome to If Jules Could Talk. I'm here with Asia Radin, the New York Times

best-selling author of Stone, which is about jewelry obsessions and how desire shapes the world,

and her new book, The Truth About Lies, and she's a star of the documentary film Nothing Lars

Forever, which probes the diamond industry. It's a study of how

myths are made. So today I wanted to talk with Asia, particularly about what makes a thing

valuable and the psychology of desire. But Asia, first of all, I think people would love to know

how your own jewelry obsession started. because you talk in your book about

...