GemGenève Presents Richest Edition Yet Amidst Upbeat Mood
A diamond Art Deco brooch lent by Golay Fils & Stahl to GemGenève for the Art Deco exhibition.
Gem and jewelry industry insiders came together last week for a vibrant 9th edition of GemGenève, which many visitors felt was the strongest yet. The show, which is one of the few gem and jewelry shows open to the public as well as professionals, featured a focus on African and diaspora jewelry talent, a strong international designer showing, an Art Deco exhibition — and an optimistic mood amongst gemstone and vintage dealers, despite the shadow of US tariffs.
During the conference opening, GemGenève co-founders Ronny Totah and Thomas Faerber acknowledged a general sense of unease, especially around tariffs. They also reported that after initial 'panic in the markets' when the tariffs were announced, on top of the recent surge in gold prices, dealers were now 'resigned and finding solutions,' according to Totah. Faerber noted that the industry had weathered 'many ups and downs over the decades. Tariffs and taxes are regrettable but we still see a positive future for the industry.'
GemGenève organizers Ronny Totah and Thomas Faerber
High and antique jewelry is not usually impacted by high gold prices, and the majority of the 250 exhibitors this year still came from the US. Geneva is one of the world's main luxury hubs and a historic center for the gemstone trade. Surrounded by the spectacular scenery of the Alps and Lac Leman, the Swiss city lies at the heart of Europe and attracts well-heeled luxury shoppers from around the globe to glittering thoroughfares like the rue du Rhône. Housed in two exhibition halls at Palexpo for the first time, this year's show felt bigger and better than before.
As part of a focus on international designers, the Jewellery and Gemstone Association of Africa (JGAA) showcased the work of African and diaspora designers and makers under the banner 'It's All in Our Hands,' illustrating the Association's mission of poverty elevation through jewelry and gemstone education, leveraging African gems and jewelry skills. Norma J. Banton, founder of Masterpeace Academy in Birmingham, England, has just opened a second outpost in Kenya and was showing the first pieces made by her students.
A student at Nsanshi Art Studio, which was exhibiting with the JGAA at GemGenève
Longo Mulaisho-Zinser, President and founder of JGAA, also announced the winners of the first 'It's All in our Hands' awards, including the Zambian goldsmith Venasho Phiri for the Sleeping Tree pendant which showcased the full breadth of his stone-setting skills, and Stefania Indelicato of Amber Souk, who has Eritrean-Italian heritage, for her 1,000 Flowers ring made with an antique millefiori bead found in Sudan. Nearby, London-based Jo Boateng was exhibiting her woven silver and glass beadwork alongside the delicate gold and gemstone creations of Catherine Marche, demonstrating the full breadth of African creativity.
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Next door Strong & Precious Art Foundation was back at the show, to highlight Ukrainian jewelry art and design. This year, participating designers — including Inesa Kovalova, Olgika Nezhenskaya, Julie Kleom and Arevik — used Ukrainian gems to create pieces around the theme of 'Hidden Treasure'. The resulting jewels included meditations on time, freedom, resilience and the life cycle.
A heliodor beryl, mined in Ukraine by Volyn Gems.
The stones came from Volyn Gems, the country's only gem mine, which is still managing to unearth and bring to market sizeable chunks of topaz, quartz and heliodor beryl, despite much of the mainly male workforce being called up to the army. As ever, the resulting jewels were a celebration of Ukrainian culture, including a topaz brooch depicting a stylised bandura, a traditional string instrument by Aga.te, and gold knotted straw earcuffs, which sweep down the ear to a graceful beryl drop, by Lena Yastreb.
The rest of the designer village was even more of an international mix than usual. The Armenian Jewellers Association was out in force, with a breadth of contemporary pieces that included a bejewelled hookah pipe (Vasken Melikian), a gem-set ostrich ring (Karen Hovhannisyan) and a giant pearl earring (Armen Shahinyan). Nearby, was returning designer Shavarsh Hakobian, who has further refined and extended his collection, to include a contemporary engagement ring featuring a solitaire diamond between two layers of quartz, and a butterfly wing captured in one of his emblematic rings.
An automata carrousel pendant by the Australian jewelry artist William Llewellyn Griffiths, on show ... More at GemGenève
Chinese jeweler A.Win Siu was back with a minimalist new collection inspired by Taoism and astronomy, in diamonds and titanium, alongside a poetic interpretation of the four elements as a spectacular set of brooches. From Italy, Donna Jewel's Laura Inghirami presented her design students' visions of the jewels of the future, with multifunctional pieces and wearable tech, while the youngest designer at the show came from Geneva itself; Johnny Depp has already worn some of Lucas Hage's fantasy-inspired heavy silver and gemstone rings. GemGenève's first Turkish exhibiting designer, was Arman Suciyan, whose colored pave points and curves came in the juciest of tonal combinations.
In the centenary year of Art Deco, this year's Art Deco: A Legacy of Timeless Elegance exhibition at GemGenève brought together some of the finest examples of Deco design across textiles, interiors and jewelry, including pieces from the Faerber Collection and Golay, Fils & Stahl. A deep dive into similarly turbulent times to our own, the exhibition was a reminder to visitors of the exuberant escapism of the period, and that diamonds continue to shine bright, even in the darkest of times.
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