Episode 4: Guest Joe Thompson

In This Episode

In the latest installment of “The Jewelry District,” you’ll hear JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates recap the summer news, including the first Jewelers of America Convention and an inside look at how the JCK 150th Anniversary issue is shaping up.

You’ll also hear Rob and Vic interview Joe Thompson of Hodinkee on how he got his start at JCK in the 1970s, and the memories he has of the people he worked with during that time.

Show Notes

01:00 Rob covers the highlights of the first Jewelers of America Convention.

01:55 A member of the State Department talked about the importance of traceability.

02:31 Rob led a talk on traceability and Blockchain.

08:00 The challenges and future of detection of lab-grown products.

11:02 JP Morgan economist talked about the economy vs. the jewelry and retail industry.

13:58 Victoria speaks on the 150th anniversary issue of JCK, and how people across all different time periods grappled with the same things.

18:20 Rob does the Weird Jewelry Story about doctors who removed a large quantity of jewelry from a patient’s stomach.

21:56 Rob introduces guest Joe Thompson of Hodinkee, who got his start at JCK in the 1970s.

25:30 Joe talks about his early days at JCK and what he found in the archives from that time period.

37:40 Joe describes the different watch revolutions he’s seen over the course of 40 years in the business, including the smartwatch revolution today.

41:15 The watch business used to be the pillar that JCK was built on, and now watch advertising in the industry has declined. Vic asks if Joe sees this as a continuing trend in the watch industry.

Episode Credits

Hosts: Rob Bates and Victoria Gomelsky

Guest: Joe Thompson

Editor: Levi Sharpe

Producer & Engineer: Natalie Chomet

Plugs: jckonline.com, @jckmagazine, hodinkee.com

Show Recap

The First Jewelers of America Convention

Rob attended the first annual JA Convention and recounts some of the talks that took place, including a sternly toned talk by a woman from the State Department on traceability. People were taken aback by her hard line. Rob led a panel on traceability and Blockchain. It’s something that the outside world is calling for, but it will be a challenge to figure out how to enact. Vic wonders if this will be easier to implement when technology catches up and Blockchain becomes a ubiquitous, household term.

Inside the Anniversary Issue

Vic has been diving into the archives and has seen that the same issues jewelers grapple with today are things the industry struggled with in the 1800s through today, including synthetic stones, how to sell certain stones or watches, survival of retail, etc. Vic reads certain sentences that—if it weren’t for the syntax—if they were from the past or present day. It helps build a feeling of camaraderie with our predecessors.

Weird Story: Hungry for Wealth

Doctors removed 1.6kg of jewelry from a woman’s stomach, worth £53,000. The woman was suffering from abdominal pain and went to the doctor. Baffled doctors in Bengal, India discovered the woman had 69 chains, 80 earrings, 46 coins, 8 lockets, 11 nose rings, 5 anklets, and 1 watch dial in her stomach. The coins likely came from her brother’s store, and the items had disappeared from her family’s home over time, though the family did not suspect anything.

Interview: Joe Thompson

Joe describes Hodinkee, and why the fan site for watches captures the interest of watch connoisseurs out there. Joe talks about his early days at JCK and what he found in the archives from that time period, including articles he wrote from when he got his start. He tells stories about the managing editor in 1977, George Holmes, including a tale about an article he wrote that the interviewee wanted altered. Lesson: never send a copy of the article to the subject before it’s published!