Becoming Iconic and the Ambani Wedding with Julia Chafe
Welcome to The Clear Cut podcast by The Clear Cut, where we get down to the clear cut of all things weddings, jewelry, and bridal trends! We are so glad to finally have Julia Chafe on for an episode, it's been too long! Julia, also known as JewelswithJules on social media platforms, is a gemstone afficionado and content creator. Having began working with her family business in gemstone sales, Julia has now grown a massive social media platform with engaging conversations on jewels from around the world and from adorned celebrities. We discuss her most recent trip to attend the exciting and star-studded Ambani wedding in India!
Listen to the full podcast here:
Julia recently wrapped up many exciting travel adventures and she is ready to spill! We first wanted her to share her introduction to the gemstone and jewelry business and what it's like to work with family at the epicenter of gems in NYC.
She joined her family business about 3 years ago during the pandemic, which she never thought would happen. Family business was always there and it never struck her to join in on the action. She has now come to learn it is such a rewarding job not only to be involved with family members but to share the experiences with them like traveling, meeting interesting people and getting to know more about gemstones.
The family business is Intercolor USA, a gemstone wholesaler for rubies, sapphires and emeralds! Julia has learned about the great foundation of trust, not only within their business but within the entire industry. It can be tough to work with family sometimes because it is strictly commerce, and at the end of the day, these decisions are being made with people you will go home when all is said and done. It's important to maintain respect, Julia mentions, but she loves that her dad is understanding of her special requests and her independence!
Julia, being one of the biggest jewelry content creators we know, had to get her start somehow with her platform. We wonder what that first post was like! And which content gets her the most views.
Julia remembers the date of her first post like it was yesterday, October 1st 2021. She recalls noticing not many people were using TikTok as a platform to promote jewelry and her husband encouraged her to carve out her online presence. After much hesitation, she finally created a video, showing of a sapphire engagement ring, referencing Princess Diana's ring, accompanied with a viral TikTok audio. It received a good chunk of views, 10 thousand to be exact and she grew from there.
Julia continued to post content around celebrities wearing extravagant gemstones, adding that award shows help to give her new discussion material. No one ever focuses on the jewelry! Celebrities are asked about their dress attire but we are often overlooking the fact that some are wearing a million dollar necklace!
Eventually she started to notice an influx of requests to create content on the Ambani family. She had no idea who they were or their relevance to jewelry. Finally, she paid more attention to the amount of viewers that kept suggesting Ambani content and it turned into a major rabbit hole for her. Once she started learning about them and their wealth, she could not stop.
Indian culture has a great passion for jewelry, it is so deeply intertwined with both daily life and special occasions. Julia and many of her followers were fascinated with the world of jewels that the billionaire family wears, landing her at 4M views on a video she posted highlighting the Ambani fashion choices.
Julia continued to create content around the gems adorned on the Ambani's and their extravagant price-tags. Once these videos circulate on the for-you page, it earns Julia's platform millions of views! This led the ultimate pay-off, an invite to the wedding of the century, for the Ambani family themselves!
How did Julia get invited to the wedding? We are so eager to hear what her experience was like to attend the all-out Indian wedding!
It was such a shock to Julia when she received an official invitation to be her close friend's plus one to attend the wedding. She was initially informed of the marriage months before but did not think it was going to be a possibility for, thinking it was just light-talk. Disbelief and excitement were her emotions when she received confirmation and also got to bring her husband, Bruno to the extravaganza!
The wedding took place over the course of 3 days. Each day encompassing different themes and welcoming thousands upon thousands of guests each occasion. Julia overheard 2,000 guests attended the first day, 3,000 the next and 10,000 on the official ceremony date. She got be face-to-face with many stars, including Kim Kardashian and Priyanka Chopra who stunned in traditional Indian wedding guest attire. And Kim K is definitely an avid Jewels with Jules viewer!
Julia needed help with her outfits and even got Lorraine Schwartz to lend her jewels. She wore prestigious Indian designer including Abu Sandeep.
What was the jewelry like at this Ambani Wedding?
"Out of this world" is how Julia describes their pieces. One night a million dollar necklace is worn then the next day is a completely different set of gems. The jewelry is heavy and worn in different ways than what we are used to. Jewels are worn as headpieces, nose rings and in their hair. Jewels are the glue to Indian culture and special occasion outfits.
After seeing the world of extravagant jewels, we had to ask Julia some rapid-fire "In or Out" questions about jewelry
Brooches? In.
Lab grown diamonds? Out.
Mixing metals? In. Not that deep
Ankle bracelets? In, but not for her personally.
Rose gold? Half-way in, half-way out. Maybe all the girls with middle name Rose are the largest consumers of rose gold.
Toe rings? In, but not for her again
Gemstone engagement rings? In.
Chunky jewelry? In. It never goes out of style
Mix and match earrings? In, but other people pull it off well, it's a particular style.
What is next for Julia? She has been on top of the game and we are so excited to see who is
Julia would love to do content with large jewelers like Bulgari and to be featured in Vogue for a story. She is also hoping to be nominated for the GEM Awards if social media becomes a category. Julia feels very accomplished with her manifestations and hopes to grow more and rapidly!