Episode 43 is just Brad & Dusty this week… because apparently our schedules have decided to become our biggest haters. It’s another short episode, but we packed it with plenty of jewelry nerdiness and the usual nonsense.

This week we’re talking about one of the greatest tools in every jeweler’s toolbox: the analogy.

You know the ones… the comparisons we use to explain to customers why prongs wear out, why jewelry isn’t indestructible , or why you can select a diamond by just the report. We share some of our go-to analogies, plus several hilarious and surprisingly brilliant ones sent in by fellow jewelers.

Naturally, we also wander completely off the rails a few times because staying on topic has never really been our thing.

So grab your coffee, your torch, or your favorite burr, and come hang out with us for another episode filled with shop talk, customer stories, laughs, and enough jewelry humor to make your coworkers roll their eyes.

If you’re a bench jeweler, goldsmith, stone setter, apprentice, or anyone who survives life behind the bench, this one’s for you.

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This week, Brad and Dusty sit down with Drew Hadley for a conversation packed with jewelry industry knowledge, career advice, and a few bourbon stories along the way.

Drew spent 13 years at New Approach School for Jewelers, helping train and inspire countless jewelers across the industry. But recently, he decided to take a leap of faith and start a brand-new adventure by opening his own retail jewelry store, Southern Diamond Jewelers.

We talk about teaching, CAD custom jewelry, and repairs. And because no Bench Jeweler Memes episode would be complete without going off the rails a little, we also spend some time talking bourbon.

Whether you’re a seasoned jeweler, a student, or somewhere in between, Drew brings a ton of experience and insight to the conversation.

Topics include:
• New Approach School for Jewelers
• Opening Southern Diamond Jewelers
• Teaching and mentoring bench jewelers
• Retail jewelry store ownership
• Bourbon and bench talk

Thanks for listening, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, share, and tell your favorite jeweler about the podcast!

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Episode 41 is a short one… or as Dusty calls it, a “Brad episode.”

We were short on time, busy testing out some new technology, and somehow still managed to record enough nonsense to release an episode.

This week we finally address the hottest topic in the jewelry industry: the new Stuller-branded Dum-Dums. In fact, Stuller sent Dusty a giant box of them for his birthday, which is either a thoughtful gift or a very strategic marketing campaign. The jury is still out.

We also dive into a few JHJ posts and give our completely unqualified opinions, discuss the current gold prices and the emotional damage they’re causing jewelers everywhere, and chase several conversational squirrels along the way.

If you’re looking for deep industry insights, there might be a few hidden in here. If you’re looking for two bench jewelers getting distracted, making questionable observations, and laughing at their own jokes… you’re definitely in the right place.

As always, we do our best to offer advice and perspective to jewelers of every skill level and every stage of the journey. We just happen to wrap it in sarcasm, candy discussions, and general shop-floor chaos.

Thanks for listening, and remember... gold may be expensive, but bad decisions are still free.

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Brad is on vacation, which means Dusty is stuck doing all the jewelry repairs and is handling it about as well as you’d expect.

In this episode, we tackle a topic that actually matters: how jewelers can level up. Whether you’re a brand-new apprentice, an experienced bench jeweler, a stone setter, CAD designer, goldsmith, or jewelry store owner, we do our best to share advice that can help you grow, improve your skills, increase your value, and take the next step in your jewelry career.

We definitely don’t have all the answers, but we clumsily take a swing at it anyway.

Along the way, there’s plenty of the usual Bench Jeweler Memes banter, sarcasm, shop talk, repair stories, and random detours.

Topics include: bench jewelry repair, goldsmithing, stone setting, jewelry career growth, jewelry industry advice, continuing education, shop life, and one very grumpy jeweler trying to survive without Brad.

BENCH JEWELER DISCORD LINK BELOW (that we mentioned on this episode). Tell them Bench Jeweler Memes sent ya!

https://discord.gg/Zrj2XfaUuj

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Episode 39 is officially our first-ever full-length VIDEO podcast, which means you can now watch all the awkward eye contact, random hand gestures, and questionable facial expressions that were previously hidden by audio-only technology.

As usual, we start with a plan and immediately abandon it. We answer a few listener questions, share some wild stories from our days working together at the jewelry store, and somehow manage to bounce between a dozen completely unrelated topics along the way.

At its core, this episode is exactly what Bench Jeweler Memes has always been: two bench jewelers sitting around, talking shop, telling stories, and giving each other a hard time for an hour or so.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you put cameras in front of two jewelers with no real agenda, here’s your answer. Consider yourselves warned.

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Episode 38 is here, and somehow we survived Memorial Day weekend with all of our brain cells mostly intact. This week we’re catching up after the holiday chaos, briefly discussing how quickly we’d sell out to the highest bidder (answer: probably faster than we should), and sprinkling in a little JCK Vegas chatter because apparently that’s what responsible jewelry professionals do this time of year.

We also read and react to an email from one of our loyal listeners “across the pond” — yes, England itself has officially entered the Bench Jeweler Memes cinematic universe. International fame is clearly moments away.

AND… because making questionable decisions is part of the brand, we included some audio from our very first video podcast test run. It’s raw. It’s awkward. It’s probably a mistake.

Oh… and if you make it all the way to the VERY end, there may or may not be a surprise song from the upcoming BJ Mandrel album waiting for you. Consider yourself warned.

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This is one of those special episodes — meaning we got together with our good friend “BJ Mandrel” and immediately stopped behaving like responsible adults.

If you’re new here, "BJ" is not just a recurring character in our chaos… he’s a real human being, a longtime friend of ours, and yes — he actually worked in our jewelry store for years. He’s also genuinely a musician, which he will remind us of whenever there’s a guitar within 30 feet.

Now, about the “music” you’re going to hear in this episode: let’s just say it was created with the cutting-edge technology of “us messing around with AI and pretending we’re a record label.” It’s all in good fun, and if it sounds like a genre that doesn’t exist yet… that’s because it probably shouldn’t.

As always, we take absolutely nothing too seriously, including ourselves. Expect questionable business ideas, even more questionable lyrics, and a level of sarcasm that should probably be regulated.

If you’re reading this far into the description, congratulations — you’re officially in the inner circle of people who understand that this podcast is mostly just an excuse for friends to hang out and say ridiculous things into microphones.

Enjoy the episode. Or don’t. BJ would probably say the mixing is off anyway.

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Episode 37 is all over the place… in the best possible way. Brad & Dusty kick things off with the usual bench jeweler chaos before diving nose-first into one of the weirdest topics yet: the smells of the jewelry industry. We attempt to describe a scent that every jeweler instantly recognizes… but can never properly explain.

Then things get completely out of hand when we brainstorm a new jewelry store concept inspired by “Dick’s Last Resort” — where jewelers finally get to say what they’re REALLY thinking to customers. Brutal honesty? Yes. Sarcastic? Of course! Nothing is off limits.

Eventually, we steer the ship back toward reality and break down comments from Martin Rapaport regarding lab-grown diamonds. We discuss why we (and so many retail jewelers) are tired of being talked down to from the “ivory towers” of the diamond trade.

BONUS: Stick around until the end of the episode to hear the brand new BJ Mandrel single, “One Beautiful Week,” officially releasing May 23rd!

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