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Bench Jeweler Memes
From the makers of Bench Jeweler Memes, this podcast dives into the chaos, comedy, and the pain of life at the jewelers bench. Stories, struggles, and laughs straight from the jewelry industry. Join us as we discuss all facets of this ever evolving trade!
Bench Jeweler Memes
#29: The Durability Dilemma & the Illusion of Indestructible Jewelry
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Episode 29: Brad and Dusty spend almost the entire episode unpacking the absolutely baffling mindset clients have when it comes to the durability of fine jewelry. At some point, somewhere along the way, everyone collectively decided that gold, platinum, and tiny prongs holding expensive stones should apparently function like military-grade equipment.
We get into the question no one can seem to answer: when did jewelry become “indestructible”? And what happened to the good old days when people understood that maybe—just maybe—delicate, finely crafted pieces require a little care?
As usual, we ramble. We get sidetracked. We probably contradict ourselves at least once. But in between all that, we try to make sense of how we got here… and whether there’s any realistic way to turn the tide—or if we’re all just destined to keep having the same conversations at the counter forever.
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Good news is I started recording about two minutes ago just to be safe. I don't know if we're gonna use any of that content. If you're listening to this, you may have heard us ramble for a little bit. If not, good morning, Brad. We edited out.
SPEAKER_03Uh good morning.
SPEAKER_04Man, um, well, first off, making some coffee. You can hear that, right? It's fine. Yeah. Um it's hard for me to leave the intro and also prepare my coffee at the exact same time. I tried to start it a little few minutes earlier, and it's really forever. It's taken forever. Uh, Brad, how's bench life? How's it been this week?
SPEAKER_03Do you have anything prepared? It this sounds like you're stalling. I'm not stalling. I'm asking just how's it been around the shop since our last episode? I mean, it's been fine, I guess. I've I think I've finally caught up.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I don't think I've caught up. I did get here early, and honest to God, I made I didn't make it a big deal, but um switched up my schedule with my wife and kids so that I could come in early. And in my mind, the entire day yesterday and last night and even this morning was all right, I gotta get here early because I really just want to catch up on some jobs. And then when I got here, I was like, actually, we're recording this morning, so I will not be doing any jobs whatsoever. I really need this coffee to hurry up. But also, while I was um setting up uh the microphone here, um, that just got louder, didn't it? A little bit. Yep. We gotta get we're we gotta we gotta upgrade some stuff soon. Um, but I was putting my mic and stuff, everything back here. My mic is where we do all the watch batteries. And I forgot that at closing time yesterday somebody dropped off nine. Nine watch batteries.
SPEAKER_03No, is that what watch batteries sound like?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but I think they're that's exactly how they sound. When there's nine of them in a bag, um, I think they're all pretty easy. Um we have to do that as soon as we're done. I don't think he's coming back until later in the day, though. That's good. Man, there is nothing that'll ruin your day when you just think you're done for the day and somebody brings in a bag of watch batteries.
SPEAKER_03Yes. You know how hard it is back to getting here early and getting stuff done? Like, I think just our internal clocks have like a set schedule of when we work and when we're done working. And so when you come in like 30 minutes early, it's just like, oh, I got 30 minutes to just play on my phone. Like, like you just never get work done.
SPEAKER_04Yep, 100%. Alright, so leading up to today's episode, I had throughout throughout the weeks and days, also, this is a good reminder to like we meet we mean this sincerely because we want this podcast. It's obviously me and Brad are gonna we're gonna do our thing, and we're probably not gonna venture too offer too far off from who we are. But we really do like suggestions, topic ideas, guest ideas. Um, because as we move into closer to the summer, we're gonna kind of restructure some things. Uh, you guys won't probably see any difference um as far as our releasing and everything. Okay. I know it's as far as us uh dropping episodes, I don't think anybody will see a difference. The only difference you could see is we won't be on such a time constraint. I think when it's just me and Brad rambling, um, I'm sure we'll probably always keep it uh under under an hour. I don't know. I mean, see I I say all this to say we want your feedback. So you can DM either of us. Uh what is it, Brad, from BJM on Instagram or obviously at Bench TularMemes, of course. Our um our uh email that is rarely used is also available. Um we do get a couple emails straggling in, and um but like we we want like you know, hey, I wish you guys could talk for two hours. I don't know if we could do that, but if that's a desire, let us know. And we want to hear from the people who actually listen uh consistently. So it's like, hey, we would love for you to have more guests. We want you to have this type of guests, or honestly, like you guys can just ramble for an hour every week and we love it, and and that's fine too. Um, so go ahead and get that stuff out of the way.
SPEAKER_03I guess the other thing we want you guys to laugh for 30 seconds about the word release. I tried to keep it.
SPEAKER_04I wonder why we don't have a sponsor yet. We probably never will. Speaking of sponsor our our actual true air quote sponsors are you guys. Absolutely. And right now, the only way we have set up a way for you to support what we're doing here because it does take time and equipment, and we are already realizing we need to upgrade some stuff. Because when we started this, I started with all the cheapest stuff ever that I could get, and it's fine, it's functional. We can roll with this for a while, but um, I really want to update some stuff. Um, with that said, um, Brad, because we went a week or two without mentioning the buy me a coffee link in it. Is in, well, it's in my in it's in the Benchelor Memes Instagram description bio thing. It's also wherever you see this podcast, whether it be YouTube, Apple, or Spotify, there should be a link that you can click and donate. And because we haven't mentioned it in a couple weeks, we have had zero donations in the last two weeks. Sad face.
SPEAKER_03I thought we had um a few that we read. Have we read everything on on the air?
SPEAKER_04Okay, yeah, because we haven't mentioned it, and that's okay. We're not you know, we're not begging here, but we do have something. I have to follow up with some a friend of mine. We are um gonna be sending out I I should I tease this, Brad.
SPEAKER_03I don't know.
SPEAKER_04We're gonna we're we're making a little special nothing crazy, a little special thank you gift for people who uh send us money via buy me a coffee. Um I'm not gonna say anything else about it right now. Um we're working on getting these kind of brought in, and it's just like a little, it's just a little, hey, thanks for supporting uh the the little podcast here. The potty.
SPEAKER_03The potty.
SPEAKER_04Um all right, so you want to get into business?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and also just tell your friends, keep listening. That that's also super helpful.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, because right now, from what I can tell, it's like Callie and Ron sharing this. So everybody else, where you at? No, we appreciate because I can see the um um I can see the the downloads and stuff, and in the in the whole podcast community, we are doing pretty good.
SPEAKER_03I I know some people also will be like, yeah, I was at a party and and we were talking about you guys. Or so I know it's not just people just sharing or you know, people have lives too. They they go out and yeah, dude.
SPEAKER_04The last episode with uh critter, it's it's within 24 hours, it's pushing a hundred downloads. So it's pretty good. That's good. Um, all right. So what we were well, what did I don't know what brought this up. I will say this. I'm gonna make a mention of this, even though I know Brad, you haven't seen the video and I'm gonna use this. You will see it later today. I thought about playing it because it's like six minutes, but I don't think I'm going to. Um, I will reference it. If you are on Jewelers Helping Jewelers, now this video did not inspire our topic for the day, which we still haven't announced. Um, but I'm gonna show this video to our part-time girl Ari because Jake Fox, who has been a guest on the show, made this video just about custom jewelry and and all this stuff. And it kind of I saw his video. If you're if you're on there, just go find it. He just talks about kind of pre-COVID doing custom work versus now and just kind of how the general public, how how they treat it, how they want constant revisions, and they they're they're blah blah blah. I'm not gonna I could just play the video, so I'm not. Um, but you can go on JHJ and find it. It's really good. I have not seen it. Yep, you have not seen it, so I don't want to dwell out too much. But prior to me seeing that, um, I don't know what happened here in the shop, Brad. Um is that me? I think that is me. What am I doing? I don't know. Um something happened in the shop where and it happens like occasionally, especially when people are shopping in the store. And of course, as a normal jewelry store, we have silver jewelry, we have you know, inexpensive, I would call, you know, thin silver chains, simple pendants, and we have nice engagement rings, and we have you know tennis necklaces, so we we the whole gambit of of jewelry and quality, right?
SPEAKER_03We also have uh silver rings with our town's name on it.
SPEAKER_04We we do. Those are hot, hot, hot around here. They're not. I can't get rid of them. But the point is like we try to you know, obviously carry something for every budget. And what is the the the trend, I don't know if everybody else has picked up on this, but as we get further in time, it's this idea of um clients' obsession over how durable and how everlasting jewelry's gonna be. You know what I'm saying? It's like like I wrote out like silly examples, and some of these may or may not have happened, but it's like you know, they pick out sixty-five dollar silver chain with a little pendant, it's like a one millimeter silver chain, cable chain, and it's like you know, after they spend you know 20, 30 minutes, you know, dwelling over, it's like, you know, this isn't gonna break, is it?
SPEAKER_03Yes, right.
SPEAKER_04Or you you know, they're switching over to the to the yellow and white gold chains, and now you know the little 1.5 millimeter and under chains are three to four hundred dollars now. And it's like, oh, well, is it gonna break? Or now we're getting a little more uptake in the um silver joy with a gold plating since gold's so expensive. Well, it isn't gonna turn, is it? Right. Um, I've even we've even heard, you know, or if people, you know, got like their ring design and it's like, oh, I had a bezel set, so I never have to worry about, you know, it's just gonna be safe forever. And it's like, well, yeah, yeah, you've been wearing it for 30 years, Linda. Like the bezel weren't out, the stone's about to fall out, like half your bezel is like chipping away. And I'm trying to figure out, and I don't know how we can get through this episode of like, how do we get through of like how did we get here? I don't know. Like, how do is that a new thing? I feel like it is. I don't know why, but it's like this. I I did, I'm not gonna lie, I did try to use some AI to help me organize my thoughts.
SPEAKER_03Here we go.
SPEAKER_04It does help me organize my thoughts because if you've ever listened to this, you know we're we're all over the place. And um, it kind of came up, it said the the durability delusion.
SPEAKER_03Oh see, that's what AI is great at.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it just kind of puts it like takes all my thoughts on this. I'm like, can you just like organize it though? Um but basically it's like it kind of talks about like how it doesn't sorry, it doesn't say this. I was trying to organize my thoughts, and I was trying to, and one of the points that it outlined in in all my ramblings, I just typed in all my ramblings of things I want to get to, and it kind of organized it. And other than the just the delusion of like everything lasts forever, it's kind of the trap of like the way we've marketed jewelry, I think. And I'm not I don't know if that was intentional or if it's salespeople or what. I don't know. What do you think?
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean, a diamond is forever, right? Like that was the tagline forever. Um, and so I think people think that the ring is forever. Like, you know, this is that's true.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, maybe they're mixing those up. It's like, yeah, your your diamond is forever, but the one millimeter shank that you set it on is not forever. Right. It might not even be for the next year.
SPEAKER_03And so I think and you know, a lot of our phrasing when it comes to especially ga engagement rings, you know, this is a ring that'll last, you know, a long time. Like we we expect it to last a lifetime. And it will, one, if it's good quality, but two, even if it is, there's gonna be some maintenance around it. It's not just gonna be you put it on your finger and and 80 years down the line it's still gonna be the same thing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it like I was even like in my notes just writing about like you know, I feel like this comes up a lot here in the shop and with customers, it's like or maybe it's not to their face, but after they leave. It's like physics still exists.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_04And so it's just really weird when people come in and are like, well, I'm gonna I want a chain that doesn't break. Like legit, we've heard that.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_04And I'm like, I don't know what you want me to say. Like, do you want me to sell you like uh a 12 millimeter Cuban? Like I I don't is that's not what you can that's not what you want, that's not in your budget, and that's fine, but I don't understand like the general public's idea of like, oh I and and again, because money means different things to different people. So for some people a hundred dollars is a lot of money and for some people a thousand, and for some people ten thousand. But either way, even if it's a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand, all three of those items can break.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_04If they're not taken care of. And it was um so it's just this this just the whole idea of like yeah, and and maybe it was the the marketing, and I don't know if it was in I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but I just don't understand why people think they could just wear their jewelry 24-7 and nothing bad's gonna happen to it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I had a lady yesterday brought in a diamond tennis bracelet. Um she lost it in the lake because she wore it in the lake, even though she knew that it had um clasp issues because she's brought in before and we've had to tighten the clasp. She's like, Can you just put something else on it to make it safer? It's like I'm gonna put a safety chain, but you know, still still just don't wear it in the lake. She's like, Oh, I won't. It's like why would you ever?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and it and some of our silly examples when we were just briefly talking about this last week was like, you know, it this is some of these examples are gonna be super silly, but it's like, you know, if you go and you know, you inherited some type of like really nice fine china to eat dinner with and you and you have this, you know, this party, and but but with the party it's just gonna be everybody bringing their kids and then the kid knocks the plate off the table and it breaks, and it's like this was very expensive.
SPEAKER_03This shouldn't have broken.
SPEAKER_04It it shouldn't have broke. And I don't know if if people are saying the same thing about that, or if this is just like a new phenomenon.
SPEAKER_03Maybe because it's metal, even though I mean maybe I don't know. Like I I don't know. Like we had a lady yesterday, what happened yesterday with with a chain that we fixed now twice. Well, we sold her a new chain, but she was like, Yeah, I've had this eight years and and I've never had it worked on, and now y'all have had to fix it twice. I'm like, Yeah, because every single link has eight years of wear on it now. Like it's gonna keep breaking just in different spots. You mentioned yesterday, and it was the opal ring lady too. Oh, is it the same one?
SPEAKER_04No, that was a different lady. Oh, no, because this uh a lady came in with a it was just a yellow gold opal ring. Now, this is not a new ring. I mean, looks it's minimum 25 to 30 years old. I forgot about this lady, yes. And and she came in with the mindset of like, I mean, I just had this in here, and y'all, and she was saying, like, you know, y'all fixed it, or and but you know, you never know. Thank God for the edge. And thank god Ari was helping her because I'm over here just like my blood is boiling. Because she was vaguely trying to say, like, it was fine until y'all worked on it.
SPEAKER_03But you know how people do, they just like hint like, oh, this is really your fault, but they won't ever get to that.
SPEAKER_04I wore it for like 20 years and nothing ever happened, and then it's then something happened and y'all fixed it, and now something else happened. It's like that's crazy, isn't it? And so, yeah, and so um one of the prongs broke off, and the prongs were like all worn and thin, and apparently all we did was I think the I don't know what exactly had happened um or why it came in, but it wasn't had anything to do with the prongs.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_04And I'm like, yeah, like after 25 years, a prong might break off, like, and we're gonna charge you to fix it. Like, yeah, it's so ridiculous. It's like I used to say this about Rolexes. I know Rolexes are fabulous watches. I know they're water resistant quite a bit. I almost said waterproof. They are very good watches, but it's like, but like if I'm out there, you know, um, you know, building a deck in my backyard, I'm just gonna take my w RAM Rolex on it.
SPEAKER_03Right? I don't I don't understand it.
SPEAKER_04I mean it should be able well, it probably will, but why? Right. Like I'm a construction worker and I've after 30 years I'm gonna wear my Rolex to work. I mean, fine. It might be fine, but when it breaks, that's not Rolex's fault.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_04I just don't understand it. And then I was like, you know, thinking of more silly examples, like if if uh if I just wanted to spoil my wife with a brand new 2026 Sienna minivan, because that's what we need for all of our kids. You need the and we just and we just get all the bells and whistles and everything you can add on. I would never think like this thing's pretty nice. I'm about I'm gonna take it up to the mountains and go off-roading in it.
SPEAKER_03Right, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_04Because that's not I mean, could it do it for a little bit? Probably. Yep. Is something gonna break? Maybe. And I don't know, like, because it's uh it is terrible because we're more like um, I know we're in a unique situation because me and Brad have to do benchwork and we also have to do customer service. And so it is like we're total buzzkills, at least I am, when people start asking these questions because I'm I'm honest with them, and they're like, Oh, is this gonna last? I'm like, I mean, I don't do you plan on never taking it off? Then no, it probably won't last. It's a one millimeter silver chain, it's costing you $75 for this independent, and if it gets caught or if your kid pulls it or a dog, you know, grabs it, or you bend over and it gets caught, it's gonna break 100%.
SPEAKER_03And I I wonder, and I'm not trying to because I don't know, but a store that is just salespeople, are they saying, oh yeah, you're it's it'll be fine. Or you know, because one, they might not know you know the problems that that come up with those chains, or two, they just want to make a sale. So, you know, I I don't know what they're telling the customers, especially like engagement rings. Oh, this lasts forever.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, because even like when we sell engagement rings, um, granted, I mean we see them all the time. We see a lot of engagements come in that we didn't sell, which is fine. You know, purchase offline or purchase from you know one of the the big box stores or the mall stores or whatever. It's like I've only had it for six months and the head bent sideways. Okay, yes, two two things are happening here. One, it's it was made pretty cheap. Two, you hit it on something. Right. And so even if I made it, if you hit it hard enough and we made it well enough, like it can still happen. And they act like, well, I mean, this was like 4,000. I just feel like you know, after three months of wearing it, it's kind of like saying, like, hey, I just bought this car. Um, hey Jeep, I just got this new Jeep, and uh, I just don't think I should have ran over a nail two weeks. Now I got a flat tire. That's weird.
SPEAKER_03I shouldn't that shouldn't have happened. I just hit this power pole. I mean, I spent thirty thousand dollars on this vehicle, and now it's totaled.
SPEAKER_04Like, that's weird.
SPEAKER_03What's wrong with that? It's a weird world.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. It's just I don't I don't know how we can even start to to combat it. And some of it is um, some of the things I wrote down was just kind of this um like some of its trends, you know. There's been like a a trend for big labgon diamonds and very dainty rings. Thankfully, we've we've resisted and pushed back against that. But I again I know there's tons of jewelry stores that are mostly salespeople, or they're just owned by people who just want to sell the customer what they're asking for, and I get that to some degree. And I think this is what what reminded me of Jake's video. I can't stop like I got like burping or something going on.
SPEAKER_03I'm trying not to say anything just so you can edit it out.
SPEAKER_04It's like Lord, dog is like coffee and it's like keeps coming up.
SPEAKER_03Coffee and pork rinds, I don't know what there's a problem.
SPEAKER_04That's how you know you're a real binge jeweler. If you're listening to this and you haven't drank two cups of coffee and smoked a half a pack of marlboro reds, d are you even a binge jeweler? Do you even fix jewelry, bro? All the All the younger bench stillers are like, I've already vaped this morning.
SPEAKER_03Um and did my mindful exercises. That's mean. Um, but this I'm all for that.
SPEAKER_04Just overall for real. Um, but I think that's what made me think of Jake's videos because there's this this trend. And as uh his point was, as experts, as we're supposed to be experts, and he really actually dived into the importance of like the kind of old school bench toolers, because back in the day, before all the CAD and the revisions and everything being so technologically advanced, the way this process would work is you know, the salespeople would talk to the customer and then they'd come back and you know, the bench tooler had to carve a wax or something like that. And so when they came back to the bench tooler with these ridiculous ideas and requests from the customer, because the customer's always right, the bench would be like, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_04And and it it was almost like you didn't even have to explain it. It was just, no, I'm not making that. It's not that's gonna it's gonna break. No, absolutely not. And so I think his point was, you know, back in the day, definitely before COVID, but you know, definitely in the you know, 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago, people would come in and they just knew we were the experts. Hey, I really have this idea, and we're just like, yeah, that's actually not a good idea because you know, you're probably gonna want to wear this for a long time, right? Okay, so we really can't do that, which is why we see um when this jewelry comes in from the 80s and 90s, it's like this big, heavy, clunky stuff. And I get why people don't necessarily like it, but I'm like, but it's lasted, but here it is, it's still here. And so there is there is a way to make fine jewelry that's not gonna fall apart when you breathe on it. And so some of it is some of it is like Instagram, Pinterest, and all this stuff of putting this crazy delicate stuff. And for the record, I wouldn't be opposed to making and designing like this really delicate work if people understood what they were were getting. It's like, hey, you're creating and I get it, if you spend a lot of money on it, you want to wear it every day. But sometimes I want to tell people, and I think I have told them like this this is this is an item that is like a special occasion piece of jewelry.
SPEAKER_03And I think people back in the day actually did that. Like they had pieces that they just wore on special occasions. Um just to church when they're clapping. Just to church.
SPEAKER_04Um and and maybe, yeah, and and that's the thing is I think there's maybe we live in such a time where we've been flooded with there's cheap jewelry, like at every department store. And so, yes, if you spend $20 on a pair of earrings and they're all cute, see if my wife is guilty of it, and they break, you kind of just think like, oh, I'm just gonna throw it away. But then if you spend sixty dollars on some like silver earrings and they break, it's like is it because they come into a jewelry store for that? I think so. I mean, I wonder if it's just the the the the the aura. Absolutely. Aura farming. But yeah, it's like I came into a jewelry store, so everything I purchased from here should last, you know, a lifetime. If I wanted something cheap, I'd go to Target. And is it fun to, you know, hey, when people are shopping, hey, just so you know, most of this jewelry doesn't last as long as you think it's gonna last, like then you'll never sell anything. Right. And so I it's a very tricky thing to like to balance because it's no different than if I went to buy a car and they're just like, you know, started telling me all the things that could happen. It's like, hey, this is a pretty good car, but you know, you you could hit a mailbox and it's gonna cost a lot of money to fix it. Or, you know, hey, at some point you're gonna have to get new tires, and yeah, we can't help that. Because um I mean it seems like common sense, but for some reason it's not common sense with jewelry. That's why I I do love the the the tire analogy when it comes to prongs, and it really does help people. And it's also like one of my things I I used to hate hearing was when you buy these rings from the the the big chains, and what people don't realize is then they go and sell you a warranty. Yes. So they're not saying like, oh, that that'll be $450. Oh, by the way, this is warrantied for the next 10 years. That's not how it happens. And people act like that's how it happens, but it's like, hey, this is $450, but for an additional hundred, you can get a 10-year warranty on this. And guess what you have to do every six months? You have to bring it in, get it inspected, because you get ahead of it, you notice things, because eventually what's gonna happen is in there those inspections are gonna find something wrong and they will take care of it, but it's like you you paid for that. And so on one hand basically prepaid for the repairs, and if I'm not mistaken, you could lose out on your warranty if you didn't if you missed a year, right? And and so as much as I hated that, like part of me wants to kind of bring that back because it it opens the conversation for hey, this is a piece of fine jewelry. Yes, I do want you to wear your engagement ring every day, so I'm going to build it in a way that it is gonna withstand normal, normal wear and tear. Not, you know, oh I never take it off and I do freaking Tae Bow and I garden every day. I don't know. I don't know. And I have five kids and I go to the punching bag gym every day. Is that a thing? A punching bag gym, just as much as Tybo. And I clap a lot at church and I also lift weights, and I don't plan to take it off, so you better last. It's like, well, well, no, take it, take off your engagement ring for all those activities.
SPEAKER_03Right. There's so many people that lift weights with their rings, and they will tell you, oh, I don't take it off. I'm like, yeah, I know. And they do it like it's like a like bragging, like I don't take it off.
SPEAKER_04Like, that's not that's not a flex. No. Girl, that's not a flex, girl.
SPEAKER_03Or or boy, or bruh, or bruh.
SPEAKER_04But yeah, I just I just don't, it's like it's so frustrating, and I genuinely we're just talking out loud, but I don't know how to get around it. Because it's like if you start the conversation, if they're not asking and you bring it up, it it's almost like you could talk yourself out of a custom design or a I think on custom design it's easier because you're in the in the weeds with details anyway. But when you're just selling out the showcase, it's just like, hey, I need a new chain. All right, cool. We have all right, I'll take that 1.5 millimeter rope chain. It's solid, you know, but it's not gonna break, is it? Okay, well, well now the sale just took a real because I'm I'm spending $500 on this, so it's not gonna break, is it? It's like, how do we answer that?
SPEAKER_03I can imagine the people that work for like a signet or a a larger chain, and they get these pieces, you know, um, that are super popular for one Christmas, and and like you know all of them have the same flaw to them. So, you know, maybe a bell breaks or or a loop or or a stone little little Melly falls out, you know how how upset they have to be every time they see that piece come back in.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah. I mean and at some point they probably that is the benefit of selling the warranty because that honestly I think they they probably have to deal with the customer, but they probably don't really care.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Yep.
SPEAKER_04And then but on the other hand, stores like independent stores like us with bench toolers, we get these rings and it's like these little bands, and they're like every um it's shared prongs, all the stones are one millimeter, and they've been wearing it for four years and they've never taken it off. Yep. And so a stone falls out, and then when we get it, it's like, yeah, so we get to be the bearer of bad news. Yeah, you're right, your stone fell out, but every single prong, and there's like 70 of them, is worn completely thin and they're all barely being held in. Yep. Because this ring is one millimeter wide, it's got one millimeter stone, shared prongs. Yep. And do you think the person that sold it to them mentioned that and in in their defense? Granted, we don't sell that, but we probably sell one that's 1.5 millimeter, a dainty ring. If somebody was like, Oh, I really like that, I love it, I'll take it. Do you I mean we're not gonna sit there and say, Oh, just so you know, if you wear this every day and ever take it off in about four or five years, you're gonna have some serious problems.
SPEAKER_03But then it also comes back around when we have people wanting to reuse their old jewelry in new custom projects because they think, well, I've got these these stones, they're amazing, but they're not. And I've got this metal that's so much metal, it's not, and it's just like you know, just because you got it uh for your fifth anniversary or your engagement doesn't mean that it's high quality, and that's okay. Like a lot of people like we definitely didn't have the money to do anything like that, but also I'm not trying to turn you know something out of chicken salad.
SPEAKER_04I don't know, and and I've thought about this before, and I've I've I haven't done it, and I I wonder if there's a stores out there, or maybe as jewelers jewelers with with shops, with stores, whether you have a social market media team, or if you're just doing it by yourself, if we really should, and I think this was Jake's point in his video, kind of, is we should re-establish that we're experts. I know there's AI, I know there's Google, I know you can, and I I was even like uh trying to get the outline done for this. Like, AI kept trying to talk to me about the difference between 10 and 14 karat, which is not what I was trying to get at because I was trying to organize some thoughts, but it kept like and it and I started reading it, and I'm like, this is really good information. So customers read this, and it's like now they're the expert because they they read something on AI for five minutes before they came into the store. And it's really frustrating. And so, back to circle where I started with the sentence is I think jewelers, jewelry stores, since we have so much access to social media and are able to put out instead of just constantly posting the new custom work, we should sprinkle in like these educational type informational type videos of like, hey, show two different rings. You know, one's one and a half millimeters, one's three. Hey, yes, there's a big price difference. Hey, this one is technically more durable because it's bigger and it's heavier, but that doesn't mean it's indestructible. Hey, let's talk about proper care for your jewelry. And most of the proper care is what we usually focus on as jewelers, I feel like, is cleanliness. Where we should be focusing on, like, hey, like it's weird because you know, I am a jeweler and I understand this. So when I get home from work, I take off my ring and my watch. Like it's just a habit. Sometimes it's kind of a habit, but it's also like I don't I don't need to risk wearing out my jewelry faster or damaging it because I'm you know wrestling with the kids. Like I always I've been I've been wearing a chain recently. You have I've worn it so much that my wife stopped making fun of me for it, so now it's become part of my routine. Yes.
SPEAKER_03So you just gotta get over that hump.
SPEAKER_04But it's like innately, I don't know if it's because I'm a jeweler or because I'm I'm not an idiot, but I'm like, hey, I'm about to start, you know, I got four boys, and at some point tonight we're gonna be fighting or wrestling, or I'm gonna pick somebody up. So I get home and I take my chain off.
SPEAKER_03That's like my wife, when we go to the beach, she has she just wears her band. Like she'll either you know leave her engagement ring in the safe or at home or or whatever. And that way she doesn't have to worry about it. Um same way with uh my father-in-law, big Bob. Oh, yeah. Um, he's listening. Uh he has a beach watch. So it's just like a Casio, not even like a G Shock. And so he wears it, wears it in the hot tub, wears it in the ocean, and if if something happens, he's out 20 bucks.
SPEAKER_04Throws it away.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Moves on. But you know how many people are in the hot tub with their Rolexes?
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Adam's here, I gotta get the UPS. Maybe, maybe is he stopping. We'll keep talking. What is he doing? Yeah, he's stopping right there.
SPEAKER_04He's um, I don't want to say too much while Brad is gone. It's been a while since we had a UPS interruption. Shout out to UPS. We should have a whole conversation on shipping uh jewelry because that's a whole whole nother thing. But I know in our area, I don't know about you, it seems like jewelers are they're either like pro-FedEx or pro UPS, and it seems like it's not really company loyalty, but driver loyalty. Like our FedEx driver in this area just sucks. Like, I'm just gonna say it. But our UPS driver, like, I have a cell phone number, I can text him. He texts me all the time, it's like, hey, I got something for you. And I'm like, hey, I got a package for you to pick up. So I'm like, every time somebody sends me stuff, I'm like, please just use UPS. And then I'm you so I became UPS loyal. Man, this is just uh Brad went outside to talk to the UPS guy. Oh lord, we got a big old box. Brad, what is that? Is that for us? Even that big box.
SPEAKER_03This one's from Stellar. Big box from Stellar.
SPEAKER_04We got a big what did we order from Stellar that would be in a big box? I bet it's they probably sent us some free tools and stuff.
SPEAKER_03Is this what we were teasing earlier?
SPEAKER_04Um, no, no, I don't think so. No. Okay. Okay. This is some engraving work though from um that should have came like a long time ago.
SPEAKER_03What did you guys talk about? Well, I was gone.
SPEAKER_04I was mostly talking about people seem to be pro FedEx and or UPS based on their driver, not necessarily the company as a whole.
SPEAKER_03I think we talked about that before.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we have, but I was just trying to ramble. And I legit don't even know where where we We got a big stellar box. We did. It's probably free gifts. Thank you guys. You guys are so amazing. Thanks for talking about us, even though we're not sponsoring you.
SPEAKER_03Oh, go ahead. Uh I did it while you were talking. So I so our boom stand, which is going to be one of the things we need to upgrade. See, this is what it sounds like. Oh god. Um now I gotta leave that in. Yep. Um, so I've I've gotten to the point where if I need to adjust it, I'll wait to when Dusty is talking so he can just mute my mic and nobody knows, except I stop to remind everybody that you're doing it.
SPEAKER_04I was talking with um our favorite supporter Ron this uh yes last night and this morning because we have several layers of um things we need to upgrade, mostly like just around the store in general. We got to get a new computer uh to run the edge and to run like all the stinking editing and all the things that I've been saving to the computer since we've been doing all this. So I think like we have to do all everything in baby steps, but um being and once we get a computer, probably maybe a camera or so in case anybody wants to see us talk. It's riveting, I'm sure. It sure is. Um anyway, so we are. I go back and forth on this, and this is why I really want we can kind of talk about this until we finish up. I I think we've well I don't know what to do. Um I don't want to derail from what we're talking about, but I really do want I'll take a minute to say we really do want people's feedback, and and by the feedback I mean the people who listen to this somewhat consistently. Yeah, I get behind on podcasts too, whatever. Oh yeah. Um of like, hey, yes, because if we do the although I think on Spotify you can do the video and the audio. Um but when I start when before we ever launched this podcast, I put up a poll was like, hey, we're thinking about doing this. Does anybody care audio video? And it was like it seemed like overwhelming audio only. And I think this is a this is what's weird about our uh account and our podcast is this is a very niche type thing that we're that we're we're we're reaching people who are in this industry, whether they're wholesalers, store owners, binge toolers, salespeople, it's specifically for them. And so like binge toolers are most likely just throwing on some headphones or some earbuds and hit and play and just listen to podcaster music all day. And then but there might be another portion that's like actually I'm I'm always on YouTube and I would just be nice to see your faces.
SPEAKER_03And what's weird is like if I listen to a podcast or or particip not participate, but if I I'm gonna listen, I'm gonna listen, I'm not gonna watch a podcast. Um but I see so many clips of podcasts that are visual. So it's it's like you almost have to have both, but the ones that will be seen, the visual content are people that don't typically listen to the podcast.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's yeah, it's this weird, like it feels like a catch-22. Because also when we share like just little snippets from episodes to kind of bait people in, it would be a lot more engaging if it was a video of our faces and our mouths moving.
SPEAKER_03It should be just a video, just our mouths, just close up of our mouths.
SPEAKER_04And we just we just take a generic video of both of us just doing the whole like uh what is it like you say like watermelon or something? Yeah, say that over and over. And so it's just this the audio clip over just cutting back and forth between me and you, me and you, your mouth, my mouth. And we're just we're it looks like we got like watching those old like movies that were just translated. Yep. If you guys want to see that, just let us know. Oh man. Um, I I do want to we gotta we gotta at least wrap up um this whole this whole thing. And I I know we're preaching to the choir, right? And so some of it is us venting about this issue, some of us is bringing awareness to it. I'm also aware that if you're a benchdown and you've been doing this for any length of time, you are you're like, yes, I already know this. You give me some new information. This is boring. But I'm assuming that there's people who are newer to the industry and they're just like, hey, I needed to hear this because I needed this reminder. I think we need the reminder as jewelers that we are the experts. And if you're not an expert yet, keep growing, becoming one. Our awesome uh girl Ari, um she's a great example. She's been here a year. Granted, she missed what, like a couple months with with uh with the baby. And so she's kind of getting back in. She's kind of learning how to walk through customers through the custom process. And it's just a lot to learn, and it's gonna take time. You can't rush it. But the more you do it and the more you uh have people who've been doing this longer than you, kind of guiding and coaching you, um, then you will become an expert. And so it's not that we're trying to be combative and constantly talk people out of what they want. I'm okay on some degrees creating for a client exactly what they want, as long as they fully understand, and I and I and I say that, but what's gonna happen, Brad? If if somebody comes in here and they're like, I really want this, you know, thin narrow ring, and we're we fight it and we're like, you know what, we'll just do it, and we make it a big deal and go, hey, you know, especially like I've had the ones that are like it's like the one and a half millimeter dainty solitaire, and it's all rose gold, and for some reason, I don't know, maybe somebody can explain the science, but rose gold tends to bend so dang easily. And so you tell them, like, hey, if we put all these little tiny stones in the shank, it's gonna bend and you're gonna lose them, and they're like, Oh, yeah, I understand. And I'm like, you have to be careful, and they're like, Oh, I understand. But what happens after a year goes by, Brad? And they bring it in and we fix it, and mostly they don't understand and they don't remember any of that conversation, and it feels counterproductive to like, hey, I'm gonna make you sign this saying that you understand that this ring is gonna bend and you're gonna lose a stone, and then it's like, well, okay, that's a terrible way to get someone excited about their new custom project, right? And so we have two options, which is why I mean, in this hypothetical, I would just say, hey, I we're we're actually getting better about this. And the sad part is there's always gonna be a jeweler in the next town over that'll do whatever the client wants, and that sometimes means that we miss out on something. We are getting better at just saying, like, I just can't do it. I think it's okay for good quality bench jewelers and jewelry stores that push quality to just say, Hey, I don't think this is a good fit. You know, what what you're asking and what we do is is they're they're competing against each other, and I'm so sorry. And that is really hard for a jeweler to say for some reason.
SPEAKER_03So we just you know, just let us know what we need to say.
SPEAKER_04Just like a two-word sentence that people are perfectly fine with, and tell us how we can have our cake and eat it too with no problems, and we can sell a lot of dainty jewelry and mark it up and get really rich and it never breaks. Mm-hmm. That's kind of what we're looking for. Yeah. So if you guys have any vendors that sell that kind of stuff, indestructible, cheap jewelry. Let me know in the comments. But also solid gold. Oh yeah. Cheap, uh solid gold, uh indestructible. If you guys know a chain company that is out there doing that, actually don't put it in the comments because I don't want everybody to know about it. Send me a DM. Yep, yep. Just let us know. And so we can just keep it between me and you. And then we'll become the greatest uh jewelry empire in America because we're the only ones who are selling indestructible cheap solid gold necklaces and engagement rings. That'll be face to. Yes, yes. And then um and then we can retire. Finally. I mean, technically, Brad, we still have some more time to ramble about stuff, but I think we've got this. Um some things in summation, a uh diamond is forever, but the prongs are not. There we go. Did AI do that? I'm not gonna lie.
SPEAKER_03It sounds like AI.
SPEAKER_04Also, no matter what carrot the gold is, you can't argue with physics. And on that note, thank you, AI, for helping to summarize my my random thoughts into nice little cute quotes. That's great. Some people will I wonder if some people uh stop listening or unfollow us because there's like elements of AI in some of our stuff. Yeah, you might as well get out, yeah. For get out now because we ain't gonna stop. Well, for the record, I think it is I think it is funny to use for uh for comedy purposes. Yeah. Almost every time I use AI, it's never for anything. No. But it is getting better at me because I would spend um people don't know this, Brad, but I actually maybe if you listen to our first episode, I might have mentioned it. But I was uh big into journalism and writing. You sure were. And um the hardest part for me was like I I if I just started writing, it was all over the place, kind of like the way I talk. And the hardest part was me to spend how much time, like, all right, I have to organize this so it makes sense and it flows. And so since I've stopped doing that in the last you know 20 plus years, uh now it's just gotten worse. How disorganized my brain is. So hey, actually, if I like type in like, hey, here's all the the junk that's on my mind, and it'll kind of just tidy it up for me. And it does it way faster than my brain does. That's for true. Anyway. All right. Well, we need to get it going. Um I just want to end with one. I'm just kidding. Let's just we're like pastors. Just one one more one more thing, though. I know you guys thought we were done, but we're not done. Just one more thing. Sincerely, please feel free to DM and email us. Um, just topics, ideas, guests, um, anything like that. What do you think about the video just stuff? We really do want your feedback, like genuinely so. Yep. That doesn't mean we're gonna do every suggestion or but it's worth a shot, you know? Right. All right, Brad. Um, I almost I almost ended this with I love you.
SPEAKER_02And now I've already said it, so and I love everyone.
SPEAKER_00Well that's another one done. Time to pack it in. Randy time with a time. Next way with the list, we'll complain to you. Next week to back to the bed. Back to the bed with a top list, and the dead last week you clips will be right. What can you gotta try to understand why every ring's a nail and every rush job play Back to the Benchy and we get the meat?
SPEAKER_04Your uh headphones sound good?
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_04Are you done fiddling with the microphone? I need a fiddle. If I had a fiddle, what would you do with a fiddle? I'd go downtown and buy a mercury or two.
SPEAKER_03Um have we ever told the people we have a 90s country meme page?
SPEAKER_04I mean, it's still it's still up and active on my time hop, it always pops up. Um and I'm like, man, those are we could probably completely redo it now with all the with all the technology and how I've changed making content. But it's like I just don't have time for it.
SPEAKER_02Alright, are we ready? Yeah.