The purple gemstone - Amethyst - has long been associated with royalty, aristocracy and clergymen.

In this episode we discuss the story behind its glory days as one of the big five "cardinal" gems as well as the reasons why this all changed in the 19th century.

We'll also give you all the tips and tricks you need to know about this popular purple gemstone.

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A Tape Deck Podcast

The Gemstone Series is back with a bang!

We return to our roots to discuss the incredible gemstone known as Aquamarine.

As always we discuss the history & lore of this beautiful blue stone as well how to identify and value the gem. We also bring you stories of some of the most famous and interesting Aquamarines in history, as well some trade tips for you to add to your arsenal.

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A Tape Deck podcast

To celebrate 40 episodes of Gem Pursuit, we decided to go back to our roots and record an old school, just Matty and Alyce episode!

This is a special 'jewell dual' where Matty & Alyce go head to head on their favourite female designers (outside our Unsung Heroines) and make the case for who was the best, with the final decision being left up to you, the listener!

The battle royale is between Angela Cummings and Marina B.

And, although it has been a while, there's also a special, extended edition of Gem Trivial Pursuit to decide who is the champion of champions.

A Tape Deck Podcast.

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To round off our sixth season Golden Girls: Unsung Heroines of Jewellery, we welcome a very special guest, Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld, author of Twenty-First Century Jewelry Designers: An Inspired Style.

Juliet is a Dublin native but is now based in France, so we were so lucky that she could join us in our studio when she was in town to give us some amazing insights into the women who changed the jewellery world in the 20th century.

We talk more about all of our Golden Girls - Jeanne Toussaint, Suzanne Belperron, Alma Pihl and Elsa Peretti - and Juliet provides some context for us around their influence and where they sit in the pantheon of great jewellery designers.

We also discuss some of the great female designers who you may not have heard of (yet!) who may turn out to be the next Jeanne, Suzanne, Alma or Elsa!

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A Tape Deck podcast.

Our fourth and final Golden Girl this season is the incredible Elsa Peretti.

Described by Vogue as “arguably the most successful woman ever to work in the jewellery field", was an Italian jewellery designer and philanthropist as well as a fashion model.

Joining us all the way from Boston to discuss the legendary Tiffany designer is jewellery historian Ariana Bishop.

Ariana tells us about Peretti's early life, how she started working with Tiffany, the inspiration behind some of her most famous designs such as the Open Heart, the Bean and the Bone Cuff, as well as her collaboration with Halston and her influence on the fashion industry.

We discuss the simplicity, accessibility and wearability that are all fundamental to her designs.

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A Tape Deck podcast.

In part 3 of our sixth season Golden Girls, we jet off to Finland to meet Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm and learn about the life of one of the most one-of-a-kind jewellery designers in history, the wonderful Alma Pihl.

Ulla comes from a great jewellery family herself, her great-grandfather was St. Petersburg goldsmith Alexander Tillander, a supplier to the Russian imperial court, and she has been researching the oeuvre of the Russian jewelers for many years.

Ulla was so kind to welcome us to her summer cottage outside Helsinki where we chatted for hours about her life and works, and she gave us such a great insight into the incredible life of one of Fabergé's greatest yet shortlived jewellery careers.

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A Tape Deck podcast.

In Part 2 of our sixth season - Golden Girls - we go on another jaunt to Paris (yep that's two weeks in a row!) to find out all we can about the life of the incredible French designer Suzanne Belperron.

The life of Suzanne Belperron really does read like a Hollywood movie with secret love affairs, war, scandal, intrigue, mystery and heroism galore!

After a very quick pit stop at a shop window (typical) we make our way to meet Olivier Baroin, who is the world expert on the work of Suzanne Belperron, bar none. Olivier talks with us at length about his love for Belperron's work, how he can identify her (famously unsigned) pieces and finding her archive in 2008.

He also shares some unbelievable real life stories about the larger than life jewellery legend that is Suzanne Belperron.

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A Tape Deck podcast.

Gem Pursuit is back with season 6, Golden Girls - Unsung Heroines of Jewellery!

We jet off to Paris for our first excursion (of many) this season, to find out more about one of the first women to blaze a trail in the jewellery industry - Jeanne Toussaint! Appointed Director of Fine Jewellery by Louis Cartier in 1933, Jeanne Toussaint was the original Art Deco tastemaker who's incredible eye for style and beauty catapulted her to the top of the biggest jewellery house in the world.

We take a walk around an exhibit on the influence of Islamic Art on Cartier at the Musée Des Arts Decoratifs before visiting the Parisian office of Olivier Bachet, one of the world's foremost experts in the history of Cartier, about Jeanne Toussaint's early life, her controversial legacy, her relationship with Louis Cartier, her rivalry with the designer Charles Jacqueau and much, much more.

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A Tape Deck podcast.

After a short hiatus, we will be back with the sixth season of Gem Pursuit on Monday 20th June and we can't wait to share it with you!

Golden Girls: Unsung Heroines of Jewellery will shine a light and give props to some of the most underappreciated yet incredibly talented women who have had such a lasting impact on the jewellery world over the last 100 years.

We have a few surprises up our sleeve so make sure you click subscribe but in the mean time, here is a little preview of what we have in store this season...

Produced by Tape Deck

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In this Bonus Bank Holiday Special episode, we wanted to mark the recent passing of the founder of Courtville, Catherine "Kitten" Pierse by having a chat about the history of how Courtville began and how much of what was started by Kitten so long ago and continued by her daughter Gráinne has been carried through to what we at Courtville are all about today.

Producer: Ross Hannon

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