Episode 5: Made to Be Worn with Tania Valrani of The Jewels Jar

Podcast
Written By Lois Melbourne
 

I kept seeing The Jewels Jar's pearls and claw earrings on Instagram, and I wanted to know how a mother in Dubai and a daughter in San Francisco are building a brand made to be worn every single day.

Tania Valrani spent five years as a software engineer before she quit to help her mom, Mamta Valrani, grow The Jewels Jar, the fashion jewelry brand Mamta started in Dubai in 2017. Mamta is a certified gemologist and a former abstract painter, and she still designs every piece herself, bringing that trained eye to romantic, vintage inspired jewelry built around pearls and the highest grade cubic zirconia. Tania leads the US side from San Francisco, where pieces sell online for $80 to $200. Everything is meant to leave the jewelry box, with extra thick plating and simple care habits that keep a piece looking good for years. In this episode we talk about what cubic zirconia is and why you should always get a diamond certified, how the same earrings are office wear in Dubai and wedding wear in the US, the hand chain trend, and what it takes to turn a company that sells jewelry into a jewelry brand.

  • 00:04 Welcome to What A Gem

    00:30 Lois's jewelry stories, including a blue topaz necklace that came out of a lonely Christmas Eve and earrings from a shop on a bridge in Bath

    02:22 Meet Tania and The Jewels Jar, the family brand her mom started in Dubai

    02:50 Growing up surrounded by traditional Indian jewelry, and why it did not feel wearable to her

    04:04 Stainless steel, sterling silver, plated brass, and how extra thick plating makes a piece last

    05:29 Keep the perfume and lotion away: care advice for almost any jewelry

    05:45 What cubic zirconia actually is, and why you should always get a diamond certified

    07:14 The claw earrings, and the pearl line that made the brand take off

    08:35 The Orchid Bloom earrings: office wear in Dubai, special occasion wear in the US

    09:40 How shoppers in the US and the Middle East buy differently

    10:30 Gifting, bridesmaids, and a customer who wore her pearl earrings down the aisle

    11:05 Mamta's path from abstract painter to jewelry designer

    11:53 Four collections a year and something new every month

    13:00 Hand chains, explained

    14:19 Where to buy, from thejewelsjar.com to the Abu Dhabi airport to Bloomingdale's

    15:15 Why Tania left her corporate job to work with her mom

    16:43 Star signs, younger sisters, and who shapes the designs

    17:45 The dream: a tennis partnership at an accessible price point

    18:41 Going from a company that sells jewelry to a jewelry brand

    19:56 Where to find The Jewels Jar

    20:24 The elevator pitch: soft, romantic, and made to be worn

    21:53 A discount code for What A Gem listeners

    22:21 Thanks for listening

Find Tania Valrani:

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Lois Melbourne
Next

Episode 4: Discover the Allure of Opals with Christine Ryan