Eating Diamonds with Gem Hunt

If you weren't already aware of Fine Jewelry Blogger Catherine Cason of @gem_hunt on Instagram, you'd better get a move on. For the love of all that sparkles, join her as she rises fast to a climbing 30K following right here. 

Catherine visited the F&B office earlier this month to work on a super exclusive collaboration that we can't wait to share with you once it's up on her website. As she was doing what she does best with our jewelry, we were able to pick her mind about a few things we thought you'd be interested in finding out about, too! 

How did you get started this line of business? 

It may come as a surprise, but Catherine has actually only been working at building her brand for 6 months thus far. We were curious: how did it all begin? As a newly engaged, avid Instagram user before she took on this glamtastic role, she had a craving to know more about the ins and outs of the jewelry industry. What are the 4C's? What is a fancy cut? How many different center stone options are there?--all questions that came from an inquisitive mind after she was proposed to with the cut she would soon come to know as her absolute fave of faves: the asscher. 

With a background in beauty, it wasn't a huge jump from one field to another. After all, what's not beautiful about jewelry? Curiosity had ensued, she began to ask around, and found there to be a "huge disconnect between independent businesses." She made it her mission to share about these hard-to-find jewelry designers, their story, and she knew just the platforms to use (Catherine's collection at Gem Hunt HQ below).  

Personally, she prefers to keep settings simple and sweet. Catherine adores the asscher's step cuts because she's able to see through and/or look down into the gem (the hexagon also makes the cut). And as for the metal, she likes to keep it lightweight; when fine, detailed work is evident in fine jewelry, it's set apart from the rest. 

Do you have a favorite type of setting?

"Art Deco." She needn't say more, really (we agree). It's historically classic, chic, and has outlasted many in never going out of style. (Pictured with Head Designer and F&B Founder Michael Nguyen and Social Media Ambassador Cid Nguyen below).  

   

There are a number of jewelry trends that are taking the internet by storm at the moment. Which ones do you find catching fire lately?

"Classic, big rocks are always going to be in," she says. We went on to talk about how much rose gold has really risen to the top as a popular metal choice. In her personal opinion, she's really digging black diamond trends as of late. She agreed with us and the many Pinteresters out there on the craze of asymmetrical settings being one that is going to stick around for a while.

What are your thoughts on lab-created gems as opposed to natural ones?

"I'm definitely open to the idea." Being created in the lab doesn't make a gem any less authentic, she thought. We just knew from her answers that Catherine shares the same love we do for all things sparkly under the sun!

"Wear it all, all the time. Jewelry isn't meant to be hidden!" It's like she's in our heads. 

It was such a joy to sit with Catherine and get familiar with the personality behind @gem_hunt. This was a collaboration not only between brands, but friends!

With her documented travels from place to place, ring blinging through the trying storms of Instagram famedom seem to come quite easily. Girl is on fire. And the tagline for her social media presence? "We eat diamonds and talk about fine jewelry." I mean, if we gave you a quarter for every time we felt the same way, you'd have... a lot of quarters. We hope you enjoyed getting to know her as much as we did!

Thanks for reading. Love, F&B.