Kashmir sapphires and pearls. Image courtesy of GemGenève
Sarah O'Brien: GemGenève, a new jewellery and gem fair, was held for the first time in Geneva earlier this month. Can you tell us about the founders and their goals for the show?
Vivienne Becker: As a jewellery historian who started by working in "the trade," I'd known of Thomas Faerber and the Faerber Collection for years; the head of a Geneva-based family-business, with an international reputation and connections to the most important public and private collections around the globe, Faerber is revered as one of the industry's leading and most knowledgeable antique jewellery and gemstone dealers. So I jumped at the chance to work with him and his equally renowned Geneva-based colleague, gem and natural pearl merchant, Ronny Totah, on the organisation of a pioneering new gem and jewellery show, GemGenève. It was to be, they explained, a new-generation, new-style show aimed at revealing our jewellery world as it truly is, a close-knit international "family" of impassioned specialists, personalities and characters, gem-hunters, merchants, antique jewellery dealers—all at the top of their game, all dedicated to the pursuit of beauty.
The founders also wanted to show Geneva, not only as a watchmaking centre, but the home of the most accomplished High Jewellery ateliers, of long-established traditions of gem and jewellery trading. They wanted GemGenève to be open to both trade and public, to dealers, collectors and connoisseurs, a bold reflection of today's mood of transparency and accessibility. In short, GemGenève was to reveal the heart and soul of the jewellery world, its expertise, authenticity and professionalism.
Co-Founders Thomas Faerber and Ronny Totah. Image courtesy of GemGenève
SO: You played a key role in bringing together the fair's Designer Showcase. What inspired your choices?
VB: As part of their mission in founding GemGenève, Thomas and Ronny wanted to nurture the fresh talent that keeps that world alive and dynamic. With that in mind, they invited me to curate a showcase highlighting the work of individual designer-jewellers, either young designers or those working privately and under-the-radar. I couldn't have been more thrilled, as discovering new talent is my daily challenge—it's what I love to do. Some names were already in my mind: for example, Nadia Morgenthaler, who makes exquisitely refined jewels in her own High Jewellery atelier, one of the finest in Geneva; the Russian gem-hunter-turned-jeweller, Alexander Tenzo; and Julia Muggenburg of Belmacz in London. Others I searched out—notably, Emmanuel Tarpin of Paris and the two young creators of Ninotchka jewels from Moscow. I was looking for designer-jewellers with a strong, individualist point of view, well-defined style and sophistication of craftsmanship. I wanted to showcase very different styles, to highlight the breadth of creativity and originality in contemporary jewellery. After much deliberating, and discussions, particularly with Ida Faerber, Thomas’s daughter, we selected nine contemporary designer-jewellers for the Designer Showcase at GemGenève. Joining the names mentioned above were Fabio Salini, a masterful Italian modernist, Hannah Martin, London-based goldsmith known for her powerful androgyny, Sean Gilson, American master goldsmith, with a fresh way with pearls, Cora Sheibani, Swiss-born and London-based, whose graphic style is resolutely design-driven.
...a new-generation, new-style show aimed at revealing our jewellery world as it truly is.
Left: Cora Sheibani Owl Earrings; Right: Emmanuel Tarpin Hortensia Brooch
SO: How was this inaugural edition of GemGenève received?
VB: GemGenève opened to an enthusiastic VIP crowd on the evening of 9 May and visitors responded positively to the warm, welcoming atmosphere, chic exhibition design, rollcall of elite exhibitors and programme of lectures. The Designer Showcase proved a resounding success, pointing to a growing appetite for jewels that are modern, strong, original and that reach out to a new generation of jewellery lovers. With its considered mix of antique and 20th century jewellery, superlative gemstones, divine diamonds, the finest pearls—both natural and cultured—and the latest in contemporary design, GemGenève became, as the founders had hoped, even more than a lively marketplace but a cultural hub for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and shared passions.
Image courtesy of GemGenève
SO: Do you see any similarities between GemGenève and Phillips' approach to jewellery today?
VB: Yes, I can see in GemGenève the same spirit, the same quest for design-driven style and individuality, in both vintage and modern jewellery, and for stimulating cultural exchange that's driving Phillips today. Your recent milestone exhibitions in New York and London, of resolutely modernist jewels by the young, talented British designer-jeweller Lauren Adriana, presented contemporary jewellery as today's sought-after design collectible, as the potential antiques of the future.
Lauren Adriana XO Cuffs, peridot, tourmalines, spinels, garnets, silver and gold © Lauren Adriana, photographed by Richard Valencia
At the same time, just like the Designer Showcase, the exhibition tapped into today's millennial-fuelled mood of experiential luxury, in which clients want to discover a designer or jeweller for themselves, to understand the individual creative vision, to be part of the whole process.