What is The Adventurine?
I conceived The Adventurine in 2015 as an online fine jewelry magazine, where I could do some freewheeling that wasn’t possible elsewhere in the media landscape.
Establishing the publication has given me a place to deep dive on rarefied topics, like Louis Comfort Tiffany’s mysterious Medusa pendant, and muse on lighter subjects, such as the real story of Chris Evert’s tennis bracelet. It gave me an outlet to do some historical myth-busting as well as contemporary trend spotting and red carpet reviews.
Over the years, The Adventurine website became a popular destination for jewelry enthusiasts and the jewelry curious. Journalists also noticed the steady stream of stories. The New York Times has quoted me and referenced The Adventurine on 15 occasions, which has felt so validating.
I decided to move The Adventurine to Substack in 2025 for a number of reasons. The general shift away from websites and the simplicity of Substack's backend features were big ones. Most of all, I like that Substack places The Adventurine in a community of writers.
What does The Adventurine mean?
In an effort to come up with a name for my website, I flipped through the pages of The Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry. When I came across the gem aventurine, I thought it had a certain ring and some potential. I added the "d" to capture the concept that jewelry stories take you on a journey to various corners of culture.
How often do you publish?
Every Sunday
Extra posts with breaking news will appear occasionally.
What are some subscriber benefits?
A newsletter is delivered to the inbox of paying subscribers who also have full access to the Archive. Free subscribers receive a preview of stories in an abbreviated newsletter and occasional free posts.
Popular stories from the old Adventurine website are being added to this publication’s Archive on an ongoing basis.
At the end of some newsletters there will be "Gold Links" to interesting stories on the web, as well as general jewelry news, interesting new collections and announcements about books, exhibitions and lectures.
In addition to the newsletter, The Adventurine Substack can be read on the Substack app or the old-fashioned way on the website.
If you do not receive the newsletter check your spam. If you are using Gmail, take a look at the promotions tab.
What Is Your Background?
I have (somehow) written 11 books on jewelry design during the course of my career. The first five, I co-authored with Penny Proddow while working as an archivist for a private jewelry collection. Our book Hollywood Jewels: Movies, Jewelry, Stars led to a very different experience. We became Contributing Editors of Fine Jewelry & Watches for InStyle, then a new celebrity lifestyle magazine. The publication changed our lives as we covered the market and learned about jewelry from contemporary talent.
After Penny passed away in 2009, I remained an editor and took on special projects. One of my favorites was writing the story for the 2012 exhibition Cartier & Aldo Cipullo: New York City in the 70s staged at the French jeweler’s landmark Fifth Avenue Mansion. The following year, I began the Bvlgari Collection trilogy of books published by Assouline: Serpenti, Monete and Bvlgari-Bvlgari.
The idea for The Adventurine began to percolate in my mind while working with archivists on these projects and realizing that so many jewelry topics were not being covered by mainstream media.
While I had envisioned The Adventurine as a journey for readers, the publication has taken me to unexpected places as well. The American Museum of Natural History noticed my work on The Adventurine and invited me to be the guest curator for the first jewelry exhibition in the newly renovated Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. I chose the theme Beautiful Creatures: Jewelry Inspired By The Animal Kingdom as a tribute to the museum's 150th anniversary in 2021.
My late friend M.J. Rose, a pioneer in independent publishing, gave me the courage to expand into The Adventurine Limited Editions. It was a joy and a challenge to write, produce and print the books: B is for Bvlgari: Celebrating 50 Years in America and The History of Diamond Engagement Rings: True Romance.
I am thrilled to be on Substack with The Adventurine and look forward to exploring the possibilities of this platform where even a podcast looks doable. We shall see. For now...
Welcome to The Adventurine (Substack Edition)!
