The ninth edition of Swiss gem and jewelry trade show GemGenève will open its doors in Geneva on Thursday, with an enlarged floorspace and a general sense of optimism among exhibitors, even under the shadow of US tariffs.
The show, which runs from May 8 to 11, has expanded to take over two halls at the Palexpo for the first time. This has allowed the event to spread out, but it hasn’t led to a significantly larger number of exhibitors. Last year’s May show had 244 exhibitors, while this one has 250.
There are 15 new exhibitors taking part in GemGenève this year. Notable additions include Arizona dealer Bridges Tsavorite, Australian dealer Cody Opal, and Moizes Ferreira from Lima, which owns Paraiba tourmaline mines in Brazil, Mozambique and Nigeria.
While the fair attracts an international pool of gem dealers, vintage jewelry traders, and contemporary jewelry designers — this edition, from 22 countries and nearly every continent — the majority are American companies. At this year’s show, there are 47 American exhibitors, representing 24% of the total number. As such, the new tariffs President Donald Trump introduced were high on the agenda.
In general, exhibitors are taking a “wait and see” attitude to the levies, yet GemGenève founder Ronny Totah, who also runs gem dealer Horovitz & Totah, spoke of a sense of unease. “We would say that we don’t like uncertainty, so people are a little bit panicky,” he said.
Should entry to the US market become prohibitively difficult for international gem companies, this could lead to enhanced trading within Europe, Totah noted.
“It’s possible, but it’s not something that we would be pleased about, because that would mean our trade would have problems to work with America, which is a very important market for us,” he pointed out.
He likened the trade pressures that the potential US tariffs would cause to a blocked vein in the body: “When you have something that blocks, you have a lot of tiny veins that never worked before that replace this vein, and then the blood will still continue.”
Olena Sur, sales manager for Ukrainian gemstone miner Volyn Gems, was similarly untroubled. When asked about the potential impact of not just the tariffs but the US-Ukraine minerals deal signed on April 30, Sur observed that her country and company had “other problems” to content with — the main one being its depleted workforce due to male staff being called off to war.
Volyn Gems was exhibiting as part of the Strong & Precious Art Foundation collective of Ukrainian jewelry designers, which was also impacted by this. Missing from the stand was award-winning jewelry designer Anton Boyko, who was conscripted before he could finish a ring he was creating for the show. Strong & Precious chose to display a prototype, with founder Olga Oleksenko expressing her hopes that Boyko would soon be able to complete it.
Next door to the Ukrainians was a flagship exhibition of African jewelry designers titled “It’s All in Our Hands,” which the Jewellery and Gemstone Association of Africa (JGAA) curated. The showcase was a mix of international jewelry designers with African heritage, including London-based designers Stefania Indelicato of Ambersouk and Jo Boateng, and those based in Africa, such as Zambian maker Venasho Phiri. It also gave space to showcase the work of African jewelry schools including the MasterPeace Academy in Kenya and Nsanshi Art in Zambia.
JGAA head of strategy and president Longo Mulaisho-Zinsner, who founded the association in 2022, was at the show to promote the message that the gem and jewelry trade must do more to help support African countries develop gem-related industries. “Our mission lies again in supporting sustainable economic development in the African jewelry and gemstone industry,” she said. “Our vision is to see a dynamic African jewelry and gemstone industry with equal access to all training opportunities, utilizing our natural and human resources, developing skills through collaboration, and — above all, without question — always acting with integrity.”
Mulaisho-Zinsner used the opening press conference to showcase the collaboration JGAA was garnering across the industry from companies including Gemfields, the Platinum Guild International (PGI), and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), as well as GemGenève. It also received backing from the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), with president Gaetano Cavalieri lending his support. “The question that I ask today is why there are not more African jewelry and gem professionals in our gem industry?” he posed.
As to visitor numbers at this year’s show, GemGenève said it could not provide figures until after the event. However, Totah believed traffic should be on par with previous shows — the May 2024 show attracted 3,566 visitors. The event is open to the public, and Totah is expecting that 20% to 25% of the footfall will be consumers, who come to marvel at the gemstones on display as well as interact with the various exhibitions. These include the flagship event, “Art Deco: A Legacy of Timeless Elegance,” which features antique jewels on loan from Chaumet, the Faerber Collection, and Golay Fils & Stahl. Consumers are not using the show to shop, Totah said. “They just want to understand, to learn, and this, for me, is the best part,” he observed.
Whether GemGenève will return for a second edition in November, as it has done in previous years, Totah thought this was unlikely now that the Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong September show is back up and running, but the final decision lies with the exhibitors, he maintained. If there is demand, Totah will provide.
Main image: The opening press conference at GemGenève 2025. (Rachael Taylor)
