November’s Kara exhibition is being touted as the sourcing spot for independent talent

Retailers in search of fresh, young designer talent have a tough time finding it. Beyond the global trade show circuit, where appointments with long-standing vendors leave precious little time to scour the aisles for interesting inventory additions, where do the most innovative jewelers congregate? The 7th annual Kara exhibition, coming to Paris’s Carrousel du Louvre Nov. 21-23, professes to be the answer.

“Kara has the ambition of promoting independent designers around the globe,” says CEO Valentine Lecêtre. “In a world of brands, consumers are slowly emancipating themselves, claiming their uniqueness as people and for their tastes. Kara is the show of the ‘sur-mesure’ (customizing). Some women come with a stone or an old ring and decide to create a piece along with a designer. This gives a magical atmosphere where a client does feel unique and can find a piece that no one else will have.” Although Kara is a business-to-consumer event, Lecêtre emphasizes its value to retailers in search of new talent. “The advantage is that they can meet designers that they couldn’t encounter at a professional fair,” she says. “Our private opening cocktail reception receives each year about 2,500 visitors (entry is by invitation only), along with journalists, clients and professionals, including the directors of the biggest jewelry brands, such as Chanel, Chaumet, Cartier, Dior, Jean Vendome, Mauboussin, Lalique, Poiret, Boucheron, etc.”

Isabel & Canseco’s Emerging ring in yellow gold with bluish-green diamond center and white diamond pavé.

Among the more than 100 independent designers exhibiting at this year’s fair are jewelers from Spain, Turkey, Italy and, of course, France, such as By Love, a Parisian firm owned by Martine and Hervé Blanchin, who manufacture their jewels, inspired by 17th and 18th century France, from their store in Saint Germain des Prés.

“Each and every designer takes big pride in creating special designs for this show,” Lecêtre says. “They keep them secret until the opening cocktail party, when all of these new pieces are displayed for everyone to admire. It’s a special occasion, it’s a social event, it’s Season’s Greetings, it’s a glamorous, lit-up open window for the whole world to look at.” By Love, a French design duo based in Paris, created the Chemin Montant ring in 18-karat white gold with chrysoberyl, emeralds, rubies, tsavorites, red spinels and diamonds.