What you’ll learn in this episode: The history of JCK and the JCK Show How Victoria identifies trends to highlight in JCK Why the line between women’s jewelry and men’s jewelry has blurred, especially among younger consumers How travel influences jewelry design The most exciting new designers Victoria has her eye on About Victoria Gomelsky Victoria Gomelsky is editor-in-chief of JCK, a New York City-based jewelry trade publication founded in 1869. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Robb Report, AFAR, WSJ Magazine, the Hollywood Reporter, Escape, The Sun and Waking Up American: Coming of Age Biculturally, an anthology published by Seal Press. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with a BA in political science in 1995 and earned her MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University in 2002. She specializes in jewelry and watch writing but her greatest love has always been travel — 60 countries and counting. Victoria was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and emigrated to the United States in 1978 with her parents and twin sister, Julia. She divides her time between New York City and Los Angeles. Additional Resources:  Victoria’s Website Victoria’s Instagram Photos: Victoria Gomelsky watches: Transcript: Victoria Gomelsky, editor in chief of esteemed jewelry trade publication JCK, was bitten by the travel bug during her first-ever trip—when she and her family immigrated to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in the late 1970s. Since then, she’s visited more than 60 countries, often traveling to visit jewelry shows and report on jewelry trends. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how her career in jewelry started with a mysterious online job posting; why Gen Z is changing the way we categorize jewelry; and where to find her favorite jewelry destinations. Read the episode transcript here.   Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is a two-part Jewelry Journey Podcast. Keep your eyes open for part two, which we’ll be posting later this week. Today, our guest is Victoria Gomelsky, editor-in-chief of the well-known industry publication JCK. Victoria is an accomplished writer. She’s written about jewelry for the New York Times as well as an extensive list of respected publications. She also covers another of her passions, which is travel. She’s had a quite a jewelry journey, as she was born in Russia and has been to more than 60 countries and counting. We’ll hear all about her jewelry journey today. Victoria, welcome back to the program. Sharon: I have to ask you, why Las Vegas in July or in June? It’s hot then.    Victoria: You know it’s hot. It was this year that it was actually pushed back to August, which was so much hotter. It was hard to even fathom. I think the timing is such because it works well for the majors, the majors being the signets and the chain jewelers who really need to plan out their holiday buying much earlier than your average small boutique owner. A lot of it has to do with the schedule that makes sense for the industry. It’s Vegas because it’s hard to imagine another city that is appropriate for a giant tradeshow—   Sharon: That’s true.   Victoria: That’s easy to get, that has ample hotel room space. There are certainly smaller conferences that have been around the country. The American Gem Society has its annual conclave in a different city every year, but it’s much, much smaller. It’s convenience and ease of access, and I’ve gotten used to it. I don’t love Vegas, but it does feel like my year is incomplete without my week at JCK. I’ve been going since 2000, so it’s hard to imagine a year without it.   Sharon: How far in advance are you planning your publications? Are you thinking about the December issue in August?   Victoria: Well, if we had a December issue, yes.    Sharon: If it was an issue online?   Victoria: Online we can pull together pretty quickly. If it’s a big feature, we like to plan it at least a month in advance, but