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Forbes
13 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Gem Genève: An Appreciation Of The Connoisseur's Gem And Jewelry Fair
Based in Israel, FIMA Diamonds is famous for its expertly cut natural diamonds, which also embody ... More extremely fine clarity and color. Attracting the world's top jewelry designers, retail jewelry buyers, fashion journalists, collectors and goldsmiths, GemGenève, co-founded by Geneva-based gem and antique jewelry dealers Ronny Totah and Thomas Faerber, specializes in design-driven high jewelry, fine jewelry, vintage and antique jewels, plus gemstones of superb quality. Staged in Geneva, Switzerland's Palexpo center since 2018, the most recent edition of the trade show took place from May 8 to May 11 with 253 exhibitors, including 209 dealers, and attracted a record 4,970 visitors, making GemGenève's ninth edition its best attended ever. Yet GemGenève functions as far more than a pivotal jewelry trade fair: it's also a talent discovery zone, thanks to the show's Emerging Talents exhibition that's curated and coordinated by Nadège Totah, daughter of show co-founder Ronny Totah. Gem Genève's program included a lively interview between jeweler and philanthropist Jean Boghossian ... More and Roger Bertozzi. Ms. Totah's considered selection presented new jewelry design concepts by ascendant designers and goldsmiths from diverse countries. As she explained in an email, 'The Emerging Talents & New Designers space at GemGenève grants participants imaginative freedom and artistic license. Rather than dictating themes and strict guidelines like most trade shows do,' she continued, 'we encourage designers and makers to realize their individual aesthetic visions through creative expression, material and technical innovation.' While she selects participants in Emerging Talents based on the quality of their designs, their artisanal savoir-faire, how they use materials and the overall effects that their jewels embody, Ms. Totah also looks for jewels that are contributing original elements to the narrative of jewelry history. Gem Genève co-founder Ronny Totah is a specialist in Kashmir sapphires and natural pearls. His ... More company Horovitz & Totah is active in Europe, Asia and the United States. Toward that end, she does her due jewelry diligence by researching up-and-coming designers and jewelers online, and sometimes travels to meet with them and view their jewels in person. Once Totah selects designs for the show, she detailed, 'We work to create an environment for the Emerging Talents that will compel visitors to do more than view the jewels, for we want them to stop and study these rare creations in all their glory.' (The Emerging Talents & New Designers realm stages jewels in vitrines with strategically created ambient lighting.) As Thomas Faerber put it an email, 'This realm is very important as it allows young talents to benefit from an international platform where they can exchange exchange experiences, consult with their peers, receive advice and hear opinions of their work from professionals, collectors and others.' Very often, Faerber noted, 'Gem Genève is the first time that they can benefit from a large media presence, and for some it can project them into the international jewelry scene and allow them to grow.' FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Nsanshi Art, a Zambian jewelry school based in Solwezi, made its international exhibition debut at ... More GemGenève. Zambian artisans work with copper and silver from their country to create ethical, sustainable, and culturally authentic jewels. There are other vital reasons why this zone of discovery is such an integral part of GemGenève. As Ms. Totah mused, 'Our industry is in fact a global community, and GemGenève is committed to helping shape and propel our industry forward by supporting rising talents in this shared ecosystem. We create our future together, at each edition of GemGenève, and we are only as strong as our alliances.' A key way that the show builds new alliances and extends brand reach is by welcoming members of the public to attend, in addition to those in the trade. As Messrs. Totah and Faerber observed in an email, 'GemGenève is also free for students and offers a full program of talks and panels featuring jewelry historians, gemologists and authors that are evidence-based, educational, and of potential value to students, collectors and many types of industry professionals.' Another culturally eye-opening aspect of Gem Genève involved Nsanshi Art's display of original items crafted by Zambian students, which was showcased in the JGAA's Africa Jewellery Week™ Exhibition space at GemGenève. This collaboration showcased African artisanal savoir-faire and creativity to the international audience. Regarding other opportunities that the show offers to budding designers, Totah noted that, 'Some of the people in the Emerging Talents space, such as Shavarsh Hakobian from Armenia, chose GemGenève to exhibit for the very first time outside their country of origin in 2023. While his designs are distinguished by their unique shapes, materials such as thread or butterfly wings, and labor-intensive, artisanal excellence," she wrote, 'designs by Richard Wu Jewelry are marked by organic fluidity, innovative materials like titanium, and meticulous craftsmanship.' For example, Totah wrote, 'Wu dreamt of an arm gently ascending, a bracelet encircling it like stars. The finished piece seemed as if from outer space; it was devoid of a clasp and free from any support. While its form appeared as effortless perfection, it took hundreds of iterations of trial and error to finally came to life!" she observed. "This piece highlights Richard Wu's blend of bold innovation and timeless elegance with a contemporary vision, she explained. Geneva-based antique jewelry dealer Thomas Faerber, who co-founded Gem Genève with fellow dealer ... More Ronny Totah. Other featured designers and makers in the Emerging Talents category included Lucas Hage, a young Geneva-based designer, who Totah cited as 'interesting for subverting traditional jewelry norms. His distinctive style features broken or imperfect stones and draws inspiration from Dark Fantasy style.' Then there was William Llewellyn Griffiths, based in Australia, whose 'gothic-romantic, baroque-inspired jewelry resembles wearable architecture, with intricate metalwork, secret compartments, and richly colored gems.' Additional talents of note included Bojem, which, according to Totah, 'is an interesting studio for its poetic and minimalist approach to jewelry that balances organic curves with delicate gemstone placements, often using soft-colored sapphires and tourmalines set in brushed gold.' Arman Suciyan, an Istanbul-born designer, was included for its 'sculptural, hand-crafted jewelry that blends traditional techniques with futuristic and organic forms. His work draws on mythology, nature, and personal narrative,' Totah detailed, 'which results in intricately detailed, imaginative pieces.' Turkish designer Arman Suciyan highly sculptural jewels exhibited at Gem Genève 2025 in the Emerging ... More Talents and New Designers realm. As Mathieu Dekeukelaire, Director of GemGenève, wrote in an email, 'GemGenève has always been more than a trade show. It's a living, evolving experience. We have already began working on our tenth edition, which will take place in Geneva from May 7 to May 10, 2026." What's more, Dekeukelaire related, 'We remain committed to constant reinvention, from scenography to layout and to the programming of talks, ensuring that each edition looks and feels like a fresh encounter for visitors, exhibitors, and Friends of GemGenève alike. I'm proud,' he averred, that change and creativity continue to live at the very heart of our identity.' Myriad facets of gem and jewelry-related creativity were shared with the show's attendees through speaker and author programs presented in the Gem Genève seminar areas. Highlights included a colorful talk with jewelry historian Amanda Triossi and Caroline Kranz, the Deputy Curator of the Cartier Collection. These experts regaled the audience with historical facts and anecdotes about masterpieces from the heritage house of Cartier, which has amassed one of the world's most artistically and historically important jewelry archives. Violaine Bigot, Laurent Cartier and Kathia Pinckernelle will discuss how Art Deco jewellery defied convention by looking at materials, techniques, patterns, gems, colours and more. Violaine Bigot, the heritage director of the Paris maison Chaumet, Laurent Cartier, Ph.D., director of special projects at the Swiss Gemmological Institute and jewelry historian Kathia Pinckernelle, M.A. discussed how Art Deco style gave birth to revolutionary Art Deco jewelry by relating the rich history of how that era's jewelers used materials, techniques, patterns, gemstones and colors in artistically novel ways that remain relevant to this day. Then again, Capucine Juncker's talk about her new book, Diamonds of Goldconda, scintillated just like its subject, which happens to cover the legendarily limpid diamonds from India's former Golconda Sultanate, which is located in what are now known as the Indian regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Another authoritative industry figure who presented at Gem Genève was Rui Galopim de Carvalho, FGA, DGA, author of Gempedia: A Comprehensive Glossary For Gemstones and Gemmology. With over 7300 entries related to gemstones and gemmology aimed at students, professionals and anyone interested in these subjects, it's also worth noting that Gempedia has been endorsed by The Gemmological Association of Great Britain, the world's longest established provider of gem and jewellery education, and is also endorsed by the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS), one of Asia's first international gemological institutes. In Faerber's view, "GemGeneve has established itself over the past nine editions as one of the most important shows in our field. We have made it grow every year into an international platform," he claimed, 'where professionals, curators, and private individuals 'can present their designs and gems, exchange ideas, make new connections 'and look forward to meeting again.' While Faerber, the Totahs and Dekeukelaire are too discreet to say so, it would appear that GemGenève continues to grow steadily as it provides a gracious, safe and stimulating environment for those in the gem and jewelry industries to do business. By bringing the JGAA, the first African organization for jewelry professionals, plus African artisans to the attention of the industry and the public, GemGenève is redefining the role of jewelry trade shows in an unprecedented way.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
7 suspects identified in a US$100M jewelry heist near Los Angeles, thought to be largest in U.S. history
The logo for the U.S. Justice Department is seen before a news conference, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES — Seven people have been identified and charged with stalking an armoured truck to a rural freeway rest stop north of Los Angeles and stealing US$100 million worth of diamonds, emeralds and more in what is believed to be the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history, federal authorities announced Tuesday. Two of the seven suspects have been arrested and were due in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, court records showed. Four of them remained at-large Tuesday, while one of the suspects is serving prison time in Arizona for an unrelated burglary and was expected to appear in court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig and Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores were arrested Monday, and both have been indicted on federal theft and conspiracy charges, authorities said. The Associated Press sent emailed requests Tuesday seeking comment from their lawyers. The heist unfolded in July 2022 after the suspects scouted the armoured truck leaving an international jewelry show near San Francisco with 73 bags of jewelry, according to the indictment. The suspects followed the truck for roughly 300 miles (482 kilometres) to the rest stop north of Los Angeles, making off with 24 of the bags that authorities said also contained gold, rubies and luxury watches. Some of the jewelry has since been recovered, the U.S. Attorney's Office in California said Tuesday in a news release. Some of the suspects are also charged with other robberies, including one in March 2022 when US$240,000 worth of electronics was taken from a truck. The indictment says some of the defendants would act as lookouts, while the others would break into trucks and steal the merchandise, sometimes by force or by threatening violence against the drivers.
News24
10-06-2025
- Business
- News24
The Lead: The bloody diamond war in Namaqualand with Jacques Pauw (special edition)
For decades, the forgotten, desolate sands of the coastal Namaqualand region of the Northern Cape have offered both illicit diggers and influential tycoons a chance at the big time. The promise of still-hidden diamonds beneath the hot soil has recently attracted all walks of life to a region whose people feed on the carcass of infrastructure left behind by the De Beers mining group. The veteran investigative journalist Jacques Pauw has returned from the Namaqualand with tales contained in a series of reports and videos for News24 called Dig: South Africa's new diamond rush. He joins host Graeme Raubenheimer in this special edition of The Lead to take us inside the bloody trade. Listen on YouTube: Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Zawya
09-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Omani fund replaces Russia's Alrosa in Angolan diamond miner Catoca
A subsidiary of Oman's sovereign wealth fund has replaced sanctions-hit Russian firm Alrosa as a shareholder in Angola's state-controlled diamond miner Catoca, according to the shareholder structure on Catoca's website. Angola had been under pressure to cease its long-standing partnership with the Russian state-controlled Alrosa, the world's largest producer of rough diamonds by volume, since 2022 when the West imposed sanctions on Alrosa for Moscow's role in the conflict in Ukraine. Catoca's shareholder structure showed that Endiama EP, Angola's national diamond company, owns 59% of Catoca, with Taadeen holding the remaining 41%, which used to be held by Alrosa. The Oman Investment Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alrosa confirmed that it had exited the shareholding, but provided no further details. Angola's Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, said the deal had been formalised on May 26. In November, Angola said having sanctions-hit Alrosa as a shareholder in the Angolan diamond miner was affecting "Angola's credibility in the international diamond market". (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Alexander Marrow; editing by Barbara Lewis)
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Botswana diamond giant Debswana slashes output as demand falls
Botswana's main diamond company has paused production at some of its mines, citing a prolonged downturn in global a joint venture between the government and global mining giant De Beers, saw its sales revenue drop by almost 50% last is the world's largest producer of diamonds by value. The industry accounts for a quarter of the country's total annual income (GDP), according to the International Monetary Friday, Debswana said production this year is being scaled back to 15 million carats - approximately a 40% decrease from its output in 2023. The company, which accounts for around 90% of Botswana's diamond sales expects this reduced output will lead to "significant cost savings" across areas like fuel and a statement, Debswana said it continued to "prudently navigate the challenging market conditions" citing low demand and "emerging pressures such as US-imposed tariffs".The global market for mined diamonds has been experiencing a decline since 2023, partly due to the availability of lab-grown response to this downturn, Debswana paused production at its flagship Jwaneng mine, as well as its Orapa mines, last month. Each mine will be closed for three months in southern African country has for decades been trying to shift its economy away from being dependent on diamond sales, to varying degrees of successive governments have boosted sectors such as tourism, finance and the mining of minerals such as copper, diamond sales still make up three-quarters of Botswana's foreign exchange income is likely to be hit by Debswana's decision to temporarily close its company has stressed that no involuntary job cuts are planned, although it continues to offer voluntary a result of the sustained downturn in the global diamond industry, Botswana will cut its 2025 economic growth forecast to almost zero, a senior finance official was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. You may also be interested in: World's second-largest diamond found in BotswanaHow friends became foes in Africa's diamond state'Proud to be young' - Beauty queen, lawyer and Botswana's youngest cabinet minister Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
