Gem Pursuit: An Antique Jewellery Podcast

The doors open, the first cabinets draw a crowd and a ring catches your eye. How do you make the most of an antiques fair without spending the day getting lost or using up your budget at the first stand?

Matthew Weldon shares five tips from his years attending fairs as a jewellery dealer. He explains why it pays to arrive early, check the exhibitor directory, write down booth numbers and ask about closeouts, while keeping an open mind about what you might find.

Along the way, he recalls an aquamarine ring he missed by a few minutes, a conch pearl deal that involved far too much walking, and a pair of gold earrings found among a dealer’s older stock.

COURTVILLE IN NEW YORK

Meet Courtville at the NYC Jewelry, Antique & Object Show, 19 to 22 November 2026, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York. Find us at booth 907.

Early Buying / Trade Day tickets, with the Courtville code included:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nyc-autumn-jewelry-antique-object-show-early-buying-trade-day-tickets-1981908483626?discount=COURTVILLEANTIQUES

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Arrive early and allow enough time to see the whole fair.

• Plan which dealers you want to visit, including those travelling from overseas.

• Take a business card and write down the booth number before walking away.

• Ask about closeouts: older stock may be kept away from the main display cases.

• Keep your wish list flexible enough to notice a piece you had not expected to find.

SELECTED TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Five tips for antiques fair season

01:30 Arrive early

06:38 Make a plan

11:02 Courtville in New York: ticket information

11:41 Get your bearings

17:08 Ask about closeouts

21:18 Keep an open mind

23:56 Meet Courtville at the New York show

RESOURCES

NYC show: https://nycjaos.com/

Exhibitor directory: https://nycjaos.com/pages/vendor-directory

COURTVILLE & GEM PURSUIT

https://www.courtville.ie

https://gempursuit.com

Instagram: @gempursuitpod | @courtvilleantiques

TikTok: @matthew.weldon

Email: info@gempursuit.com

Host: Matthew Weldon

Producer: Ross Hannon, Tape Deck

Video: Darragh

Get social with Courtville, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok

This podcast was produced for Courtville by Tape Deck

Runtime: 25 minutes 18 seconds

A deep red garnet is a familiar sight in antique jewellery. But the same mineral group also includes purple-red rhodolite, bright orange spessartine and green demantoid. Some are plentiful; others are much harder to find, particularly in larger sizes.

Matthew and Fenia look at what connects these stones, how their different compositions affect their appearance, and why garnet deserves a closer look. They trace its place in carved ancient gems and Victorian jewellery, explore the stories attached to its pomegranate-like colour, and open Fabergé’s Winter Egg to find the tiny green garnets inside.

Matthew also considers the qualities that matter when choosing a piece, from colour and cut to the size of a demantoid, before Gem Trivial Pursuit takes a pomegranate theme.

Key Takeaways

• Garnet is a group of related minerals with a shared crystal structure and different chemical compositions.

• Its colours include the familiar reds, purple-red rhodolite, orange spessartine and the greens of tsavorite and demantoid.

• Garnet has a long jewellery history, from carved ancient stones to Victorian necklaces, brooches and earrings.

• Fabergé’s 1913 Winter Egg contains a basket of white-quartz wood anemones with demantoid garnets among its materials.

• Colour, cut, clarity and the rarity of a particular variety in a given size all affect value.

Selected Timestamps

00:00 A closer look at garnet

01:52 What is garnet?

06:03 Garnet names and varieties

09:47 Where garnets are found

12:53 History and lore

22:04 Famous pieces and the Winter Egg

29:20 Looking inside demantoid

32:45 Value and what to look for

39:11 Gem Trivial Pursuit

Resources

• GIA: Garnet description, https://www.gia.edu/garnet-description

• GIA: Garnet buyer’s guide, https://www.gia.edu/garnet/buyers-guide

• GIA: Garnet history and lore, https://www.gia.edu/garnet-history-lore

• Christie’s: The Winter Egg, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6559093

• Courtville Antiques: https://www.courtville.ie

• Gem Pursuit: https://gempursuit.com

Socials & Contact

Instagram: @gempursuitpod

Instagram: @courtvilleantiques

TikTok: @matthew.weldon

Email: info@gempursuit.com

Get social with Courtville, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok

This podcast was produced for Courtville by Tape Deck

Hosts: Matthew Weldon and Fenia Sigkoudi

Research: Veronique Goguen

Producer: Ross Hannon

Video: Darragh

Why does moonstone seem to carry a moving glow beneath its surface?

Matthew and Fenia explore the feldspar gemstone known for adularescence, the soft white or blue sheen that shifts as a stone is turned. From smooth cabochons to carved Victorian faces, they discuss how jewellers work with that effect and why moonstone suited the designs of the Art Nouveau period.

Fenia shares the story of her first moonstone ring, bought in Crete, and introduces a very different love token: a Lalique bat ring given by Liane de Pougy to the writer Natalie Clifford Barney. The conversation also takes in moonstone's romantic folklore and Matthew's advice on assessing its sheen and condition.

Key Takeaways

• Adularescence is the moving glow that gives moonstone much of its appeal.

• Cut and orientation affect how well that sheen appears.

• Carved moonstones give jewellers another way to use the stone's visual character.

• Design, history and personal meaning can contribute to a piece's appeal alongside gemstone quality.

• Turn a moonstone under the light and inspect its condition before choosing a piece.

Resources

Moonstone description, GIA: https://www.gia.edu/moonstone-description

Moonstone quality factors, GIA: https://www.gia.edu/moonstone-quality-factor

Moonstone care and cleaning, GIA: https://www.gia.edu/moonstone-care-cleaning

Lalique's bat ring, Musée des Arts Décoratifs: https://collections.madparis.fr/document/bague/627a8be93edd95462247e72f?pos=4

Courtville Antiques: https://www.courtville.ie

Gem Pursuit: https://gempursuit.com

Hosted by Matthew Weldon and Fenia Sigkoudi.

Research: Veronique Goguen.

Videography: Colin Weldon.

Producer: Ross Hannon, Tape Deck.

www.courtville.ie

www.gempursuit.com

Get social with Courtville, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok

This podcast was produced for Courtville by Tape Deck

Amber can preserve a moment for millions of years, hold a static charge, float in salt water and carry the remains of ancient insects. Yet despite its place in jewellery history, it is not actually a mineral or a stone.

In this episode of Gem Pursuit, Matthew Weldon is joined by gemologist Colin Weldon to explore how amber forms, why it feels warm to the touch and what separates natural amber from convincing imitations.

They follow amber’s journey along the ancient Amber Road, examine its use in Roman, medieval and Arts and Crafts jewellery, and investigate what colour, clarity, condition and unusual inclusions can do to its value. The conversation also takes in the science behind Jurassic Park, the mystery of the missing Amber Room and one of Europe’s largest surviving amber specimens.

www.courtville.ie

www.gempursuit.com

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This podcast was produced for Courtville by Tape Deck

For more than 6,000 years, lapis lazuli has connected Afghanistan, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Renaissance painting and the world of antique jewellery.

In this episode Matthew and Fenia explore the deep, violet-blue stone that shows up in the mask of King Tut, as ancient carved vessels in the Louvre, in the paintings of Vermeer and of course, has been a staple gemstone in jewellery pieces for thousands of years. Lapis Lazuli!

www.courtville.ie

www.gempursuit.com

Get social with Courtville, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok

This podcast was produced for Courtville by Tape Deck