M: Hello and welcome to our programme about fascinating jobs. Today our guest is a jeweller John Mayers. He is an enthusiast and a huge fan of the Royal Collection, which you can visit and see at the Tower of London. Before starting his own jewellery business, John had worked at the Tower of London, taking care of the precious jewels. Hello, John, good to have you with us, how are you?

JM: Hello, Mike, I’m great and it’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for your invitation.

M: So John, my first question to you: are the jewels in the Royal Collection real? 

JM: Ha, (John laughs). This is the first question all visitors ask. And the answer is yes, the jewels are real. 

M: That’s interesting. And how many jewels are there? 

JM: Well, the whole collection is quite impressive, there are over a hundred objects. And they feature twenty three thousand five hundred seventy‑eight gemstones in total. 

M: Wow, that’s impressive! 

JM: Yes, indeed. But remember that we are talking here about the most important symbols of the British Monarchy. 

M: Which leads us to the most important question of security. Did many people try to steal those precious jewels? 

JM: You may be surprised but there was only one person in history who tried to do that. In the seventeenth century, a man named Thomas Blood almost stole the royal crown. He was caught with the crown and other jewels on his way out by one of the guards. Since then, the Crown Jewels have always been kept under armed guard. 

M: Fascinating. And what happens when a monarch wants to use something from the Royal Collection? 

JM: Well, that is a very interesting question. You would be surprised by just how often the monarch uses pieces of the collection on important national ceremonies. On such occasions, we take out the jewellery and leave a note “in use”. 

M: Talking about the jewellery. What are your most favourite pieces of jewellery? 

JM: To be honest, I am into diamonds. That is why I absolutely love the Koh‑i-Nûr diamond which decorates the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It is one of the most famous and most impressive diamonds in the world. 

M: And what is the oldest item in the collection? 

JM: Well, one of the oldest objects in the collection is the gold Coronation Spoon from the 12th century. It has been used for the holy oil during most royal coronations in British history. 

M: So, John, my last question. How often is the Royal Collection cleaned? Is it every day? Every week? Every…? 

JM: This may surprise you; the Royal Collection is cleaned only once a year, in January. 

M: Oh, that is surprising indeed. Well, thank you very much for your visit, John. It was great to have you with us!

JM: Thank you, Mike. My pleasure.