Joanna Hardy
{{Short description|British jewellery consultant and broadcaster}}
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| name = Joanna Hardy
| image = Joanna Hardy at Thirlestane Castle Antiques Roadshow 2024 (cropped).jpg
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| caption = Joanna Hardy at Thirlestane Castle's Antiques Roadshow in 2024
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|11|9}}
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| known_for = Antiques Roadshow (TV host)
| education = Bedales School
Sir John Cass College
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| occupation = Jewellery consultant
TV host
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| nationality = British
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Joanna Hardy (born 9 November 1961) is a British fine jewellery specialist, dealer and broadcaster who is a regular on BBC Antiques Roadshow and on the board of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain.
Life
Joanna was born in 1961 in London. Her godmother, Margaret Biggs, was the first woman to pass her gemmology exam to become a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. She passed that with distinction in 1923. She was also President of the National Association of Goldsmiths.
Joanna's father, John, was a businessman within the juke box and slot machine industry. Joanna learned to love making things at her father's workshop and every holiday, as a child, she worked at one of his businesses. She went to prep school in the village of Liphook where she was Headgirl in her final year. At 13, Joanna enrolled at Bedales School. She was not a natural academic, but she took a strong interest in design. She left after her first year in the sixth form because she was keen to learn more.{{Cite web |title=Joanna Hardy {{!}} Bedales School |url=https://www.bedales.org.uk/jhardy |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=www.bedales.org.uk}}
Hardy initially trained as a goldsmith at Sir John Cass College before she worked grading rough diamonds for the De Beers company. She worked in a number of countries including Israel, Belgium and Scandinavia.{{Cite web |title=Joanna Hardy {{!}} The Arts Society |url=https://theartssociety.org/arts-news-features/joanna-hardy |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=theartssociety.org}} The diamonds were then all cut by hand and she could look at a gem and tell where it had been cut by the angles of the cuts.{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Elizabeth |date=2018-02-24 |title='People think I have the best job in the world', says diamond expert |url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/lifestyle/diamond-expert-interview-129358 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=inews.co.uk |language=en}}
She went through a rigorous process to appreciate the authenticity and value of a pink diamond gem that was finally auctioned by Phillips and sold at $6 million in 1995.
She joined the BBC's television's Antiques Roadshow in 2007 when she was working for the auctioneers Sotheby's.{{Cite web |title=BBC One - Antiques Roadshow - Joanna Hardy |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/XGwxmzR4jwZvnN3NSbxCGP/joanna-hardy |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}
In 2014 she was cautioning collectors as it was observed that coloured gemstones were the fashion rather than diamonds. Some of the value and interest was due to fashion, but Hardy noted that the gems were rare and that was the underlying reason why they achieved high prices. However many gems were heatreated to give an unoriginal colour.{{Cite news |last=Monaghan |first=Angela |date=2014-12-12 |title=Diamonds are forever but here and now coloured gemstones are cutting edge |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/12/diamonds-coloured-gemstones-demand-gemfields-luxury |access-date=2024-07-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Hardy is a member of the board of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain in 2024{{Cite web |title=Governance {{!}} The Gemmological Association Of Great Britain |url=https://gem-a.com/about/governance/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |language=en-US}} and the fourth Warden of the Worshipful_Company_of_Goldsmiths.{{fact|date=August 2024}}
Publications
- {{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=Joanna |title=Collect Contemporary: Jewelry |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0500288559 |publication-date=15 May 2012}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Hardy |first1=Joanna |title=Emerald: Twenty-one Centuries of Jeweled Opulence and Power |last2=Self |first2=Jonathan |publisher=Thames & Hudson |date=4 February 2014 |isbn=978-0500517208}}
- {{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=Joanna |title=Ruby |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0500519417 |publication-date=19 December 2017}}
- {{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=Joanna |title=Sapphire: A Celebration of Color |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0500024775 |editor-last=Violette |editor-first=Robert |publication-date=9 November 2021}}
References
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Category:BBC television presenters