Gem Pursuit: An Antique Jewellery Podcast

An 11 minute raid. Six smashed display cases. Twenty-seven works gone, including one of Rene Lalique's most symbolic jewels: the Woman Dragonfly With Open Wings pendant.

In episode 125 of Gem Pursuit, Matthew tells the story of the Lalique Museum Heist. This time the setting is smaller, but the loss is deeply painful for anyone who cares about jewellery history: 27 works by Rene Lalique stolen from the Musee Lalique in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace.

Matthew begins with the reason Lalique matters. His jewellery was not valuable only because of gold, diamonds or precious stones. Lalique used glass, enamel, horn, ivory and semi-precious stones to make jewellery whose real value sits in design, technique, cultural importance and imagination.

The episode then reconstructs the theft itself: three masked men, an early morning break-in, sledgehammers, six display cases and an alarm response that appears to have failed at the worst possible moment.

Matthew also looks at the practical problem facing the thieves afterwards. These pieces are recognisable, fragile and difficult to sell openly, while breaking them up would destroy much of what makes them valuable.

The episode closes with the wider question raised by the Lalique and Louvre thefts: how should museums protect vulnerable objects while still allowing the public to see the real thing?

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If you trace Princess Diana's sapphire ring, Queen Mary's crown and the Koh-i-Noor back far enough, one name keeps appearing: Garrard.

In this episode of Gem Pursuit, Matthew Weldon and Fenia Sigkoudi tell the story of Garrard & Co, Britain's oldest luxury jewellery house and the first official Crown Jeweller. The story begins in 1735 with master silversmith George Wickes, follows Robert Garrard's rise from stockkeeping assistant to owner of the firm, and explains how Queen Victoria's 1843 appointment placed Garrard at the centre of British royal ceremony.

Matthew and Fenia look at what the role of Crown Jeweller actually involved, from making jewels for the Royal Family to maintaining and securing regalia used in coronations, state openings and public ceremonies. They also explore Garrard's work on the Koh-i-Noor, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara, and the sapphire cluster engagement ring chosen by Princess Diana in 1981.

The episode closes by looking at Garrard's modern legacy, the end of its Crown Jeweller appointment in 2007, and the difficult balance between protecting a historic jewellery house and adapting it for a new audience.

Key Takeaways

- Garrard's story does not begin with a Garrard. The house traces its origins to George Wickes, a master silversmith working in London from 1735.

- Location mattered from the beginning. The episode connects Wickes's West End position with royal and aristocratic access, and compares that logic with Boucheron's Place Vendome move and Courtville's own position in Powerscourt Townhouse.

- Robert Garrard joined the business before giving the house the name it still carries. The transcript frames his move from stockkeeping assistant to sole owner as part of a familiar jewellery-house pattern: people, succession and trust shaping the brand.

- A royal warrant and the Crown Jeweller role are not the same thing. A warrant can be held by several firms, while the Crown Jeweller is an appointed individual responsible for the Crown Jewels.

- The Crown Jeweller role was practical as well as prestigious. The episode describes making jewels, maintaining existing pieces, resetting stones, visiting the Tower of London and guarding regalia when it appeared in public ceremonies.

- Garrard's royal importance is not limited to one jewel. The episode references Queen Mary's Crown, the Imperial Crown of India, the Imperial State Crown, the Coronation Crown of Queen Elizabeth, the Koh-i-Noor and several major tiaras.

- The Koh-i-Noor section shows Garrard's technical ambition and the changing taste around diamond cutting. After the diamond disappointed some viewers at the 1851 Great Exhibition, Garrard oversaw a high-risk recut involving Amsterdam cutters, a steam engine and 38 days of work.

- The royal tiaras show two sides of Garrard's design language: the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara as a classic western royal tiara, and Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara as a Russian-inspired "wall of diamonds".

- Princess Diana's sapphire engagement ring gives Garrard a modern commercial legacy. Matthew connects the ring to the lasting popularity of sapphire cluster rings in the jewellery trade.

- The end of Garrard's Crown Jeweller appointment in 2007 opens the wider business question of the episode: how does a house protect its historic identity while still adapting to a modern luxury market?

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Forget Faberge for a moment. In this episode of Gem Pursuit, Matthew Weldon and Fenia Sigkoudi tell the story of Bolin, the Russian jewellery house that supplied the Imperial Court, became famous for tiaras and high jewellery, and survived the revolution through a branch that found new life in Stockholm.

The story begins not with the Bolin name, but with Andreas Roempler, a German jeweller in St Petersburg who became known as the "master of diamonds". Through marriage, succession and family ties, Carl Edvard Bolin entered the business, earned imperial recognition, and helped shape a house admired for grand parures, kokoshnik tiaras and gemstones that seemed to float in their settings.

Matthew and Fenia look at Bolin's place beside Faberge, the difference between Faberge objects and Bolin jewellery, the importance of the Moscow and Stockholm branches, the loss of so many pieces during the Russian Revolution, and surviving examples such as the Vladimir Tiara and the ruby and diamond parure. It is a story about craftsmanship, continuity, political upheaval and why one of the great jewellery names is still less famous than it deserves to be.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

- Bolin's story begins before the Bolin name, with German jeweller Andreas Roempler establishing himself in St Petersburg and becoming known in the episode as the "master of diamonds".

- Marriage and succession shaped the house. Roempler's daughters, Gottlieb Ernst Jahn and Carl Edvard Bolin all form part of the early story of how the business changed names and passed through the family.

- Imperial titles mattered. Being jeweller to the Imperial Court and an imperial appraiser did not just bring prestige, it signalled that the Tsar trusted the house with extraordinary jewels and valuations.

- Bolin's reputation was built around high jewellery: tiaras, parures, exceptional stones and settings that made gemstones appear almost as if they were floating.

- The kokoshnik became an important symbol in the episode, moving from traditional Russian headwear into court dress and creating demand for the tiaras Bolin became known for.

- The Moscow and Stockholm branches proved crucial. Because part of the family line had expanded beyond St Petersburg, the Bolin name had a path to survive outside Russia.

- The Russian Revolution explains why Bolin is less visible today. The episode describes not only confiscated stock, but client records being used to track down jewels already sold.

- Surviving pieces such as the Vladimir Tiara and parts of the ruby and diamond parure show both sides of Bolin's legacy: some jewels survived in royal collections, while others were broken up for their stones.

- The episode argues that Faberge's greater fame is not proof of greater craftsmanship. Bolin was one of the great jewellery houses of Imperial Russia, but Faberge had the eggs, the mystery and the tragic public story.

Resources

- W.A. Bolin official history: https://bolin.se/om-oss/historia/

- Sotheby's Bolin biography: https://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/bolin

- The Hermitage

- The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

- Museum of Moscow

- National Museum in Stockholm

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He was born a draper's son, apprenticed at 14, and told that he would never run his own jewellery business. In this episode of Gem Pursuit, Matthew Weldon and Fenia Sigkoudi trace how Frederic Boucheron built one of the great French jewellery houses, from his early training in Paris to the 1858 decision that changed everything.

The story begins in the Palais Royal, where Boucheron learned the trade, watched a business pass to someone else, then raised 100,000 francs and opened his own boutique. Matthew and Fenia follow the early shop, the sale-or-return model that helped him build trust, the 1866 maker's mark, and the exhibitions that gave Boucheron an international name.

They also look at what makes Boucheron feel like Boucheron: jewellery that is striking, unusual and beautifully made, but also fluid and wearable. From the Question Mark necklace and plique-a-jour enamel to diamond engraving, the Grand Mazarin, the Maharaja of Patiala commission and a client list that runs from Sarah Bernhardt to Queen Elizabeth II, this is a story about risk, taste and the power of doing things differently.

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Matthew and Fenia continue the story of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, following his sixth voyage to the Mughal court, his encounter with the Peacock Throne, the rough stone later known as the Hope Diamond, and the restless final chapter of one of history's most important diamond dealers.

Key Takeaways

Tavernier's sixth voyage, dated in the transcript as 1664 to 1668, is presented as the journey that made him famous.
At the Mughal court, Tavernier encountered extraordinary imperial jewels, including the Peacock Throne and the rough stone later known as the Hope Diamond.
The episode frames Tavernier as both adventurer and businessman, with close attention to how he classified, priced and traded diamonds.
Tavernier's book matters because it preserves not just travel stories, but commercial knowledge, notes and drawings from decades of journeys.
His voyages helped feed a shift in jewellery design, with large gemstones becoming a stronger focal point in European jewellery.
The final part of his life reinforces the central portrait of Tavernier: wealthy, celebrated and still unable to stop travelling.

Quotes

00:12:18 "There was an adventure, but it was commerce driven, I think."

00:15:05 "I think it's the people at the end of the day who made history and objects worth studying."

00:16:52 "The king was aware that Tavernier was not only gathering jewels, he was also gathering knowledge."

00:31:45 "He's widely recognized as the most important diamond dealer of the 17th century."

00:37:10 "A man who was born above a map shop in Paris who spent his life making those maps for real."

00:39:15 "He wasn't at peace unless he was on an adventure."

Resources

The Six Voyages of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Internet Archive
Smithsonian Museum

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