At a time of dramatic change, in an era of transparency and free-flowing access and information, GemGenève opens up the secret world of international gem and jewellery trading. Hailed as the global watchmaking centre, the city of Geneva is also home to world-renowned gem merchants and antique jewellery dealers. It is a city of striking natural beauty and low-key, cosmopolitan elegance, but also of unrivalled expertise, exquisite hand-craftsmanship and long-established authority. This discreet sense of pride, passion and professionalism in every aspect of precious jewellery creation draws designers, jewellers and connoisseurs from across the globe.
Now, highly esteemed merchants, at the heart of Geneva’s gemstone and jewellery world, have joined forces with leaders of the industry worldwide, to launch a new genre of trade exhibition, a fresh approach aimed at revealing the true spirit of the jewellery world, showcasing its expertise and excellence. GemGenève will be an intimate, elegant, contemporary and user-friendly show bringing together a community of 100 top-flight exhibitors, including gemstone, diamond and fine pearl merchants, antique jewellery dealers, select jewellers and manufacturers, all hand-selected by the organisers for their experience, knowledge and dedication to supreme quality. Crossing boundaries, breaking down barriers and preconceptions, the show will also be open and accessible to a targeted audience of private buyers and collectors.
Where and when:
The inaugural GemGenève will be held May 10-13, at Palexpo. Located in Geneva, Switzerland, Palexpo is a major centre for exhibitions and conventions in Europe. The dates have been carefully coordinated to coincide with the major Geneva auctions, during which the city becomes a centre of luxury. The Geneva May auctions, high points in the jewellery calendar, attract the world’s top buyers, collectors, dealers, curators, bringing traders, experts and enthusiasts together.
GemGenève will offer their visitors not only the opportunity to access the widest possible choice of the finest quality gems and jewels, both antique and contemporary, but also a unique environment, a networking hub of expertise and authority, the stimulating exchange of ideas, information and knowledge that is one of the most engaging and enduring characteristics of the international jewellery world.
What makes GemGenève different?
• This is a specialist show organised by industry insiders, merchants and dealers, who understand the needs of their colleagues and clients, their personalities and characters, the ways in which they operate; organisers and leaders who understand and cater to the idiosyncrasies and intricacies of the business.
• GemGenève is perfectly positioned between the many small exhibitions held around the world and the large, highly commercial more generic shows.
• Along with EPHJ, the annual forum for innovation in micro-technologies applied to the watchmaking and jewellery industries, and the SIHH, the Salon of Haute Horlogerie, both at Palexpo, GemGenève completes a trilogy of shows highlighting Geneva’s long traditions of expertise and luxury.
• Exhibitors will be carefully selected for their particular specialities and expertise, for the fine quality of their goods, providing visitors with a curated, focused and informed, and wellbalanced offer, to meet the highest standards of the industry.
• GemGenève offers all the advantages of the city of Geneva. Geneva is easily accessible by rail and air. Palexpo, the exhibition site of GemGenève, is situated a five-minute walk from the airport so that visitors from Europe can comfortably fly in and out in a day. Trains connect directly with the airport, while for those visiting by car, parking is readily available and Palexpo is situated close to the highway. Geneva takes pride in its world-class hotels and restaurants, museums and art galleries, as well as some of the most exclusive jewellery ateliers in the world.
Gems and antique jewellery: a historical connection
The combination of antique or period jewellery and gemstones that forms the core of GemGenève, highlights two fields of expertise that have gone hand in hand through centuries of gem trading. Antique jewellery is often set with the finest gemstones from the great heritage mines of the world, Golconda, Kashmir, Mogok, Colombia, or with natural Oriental pearls from the Persian Gulf, so that antique dealers traditionally became gem experts, and gem dealers acquired fine stones from antique dealers.
While GemGenève honours long-held and often secretive traditions, at the same time, through a stellar rollcall of exhibitors including leading contemporary jewellers, ateliers and manufacturers, it showcases the dynamism and creativity, the craftsmanship and artistry of today’s 21st century world of jewels.
Through GemGenève, the organisers, industry experts, celebrate the intimacy and integrity of their global “family” of gem and jewellery dealers. They open the doors to the hidden world of the international gem and jewellery trade. GemGenève’s dynamic display of the finest Couture gems and jewels from around the world honours long-established traditions and welcomes new talent, inviting modernity, innovation and ingenuity and the lively interchange of knowledge.
