TEFAF New York returns to the Park Avenue Armory with approximately 90 exhibitors displaying works ranging from 2700 BCE artefacts to 21st century contemporary art and design. The fair will begin Thursday with an invitation-only preview, then will open to the public Friday until May 14.
Among the exhibitors are six jewelry firms presenting contemporary pieces as well as vintage and antique items. TEFAF New York represents the first chance for many North American collectors and enthusiasts to view the newest creations from the contemporary jewelers.
Hemmerle, the Munich-based high jewelry house, is a permanent fixture at both the New York fair and the venerable TEFAF Maastricht fair in the Netherlands. The family-owned firm specializes in jewels that exhibit superior craftsmanship and exceptional creativity, combining precious materials with items not normally associated with high jewelry—such as aluminum, organic materials hardened woods and antiquities.
Boghossian returns to TEFAF New York combining a traditional jewelry aesthetic with cutting-edge artisan techniques. The family-owned company began as a dealer of exceptional gems, and it still involved in this rarefied business. However, its entrance into high jewelry began after the family moved to Geneva in the 1980s, taking advantage of the exceptional jewelry artisans in the city. The family enlisted celebrated high jewelry artist Edmond Chin as its creative director and are producing pieces that push boundaries in art and cutting-edge Swiss craftsmanship.
Boghossian employs two artisan signature techniques: the “Art of Inlay,” and “Kissing” gems. Both are based in ancient craft techniques. With the first, precious gems are carved and set seamlessly into one another. The second showcases two gems in an artistic “embrace,” with seemingly invisible settings. Both artisan techniques and many of the firm’s other highly crafted gem-set jewels employ Boghossian’s patented Merveilles design technique, which renders precious metal as almost invisible, allowing the flow of light to magnify the beauty of each gemstone.
Otto Jakob is an extremely passionate self-taught master goldsmith from Germany who is well-known among the collectors who attend TEFAF Maastricht. He is returning to TEFAF New York for the second time, showcasing his high complex jewels that are as much miniature sculptures or artworks as it is adornment. He often goes through extreme means to reproduce pieces with medieval themes and flora and fauna motifs. It could be the use of ancient goldsmithing techniques or incorporating organic materials in his pieces using contemporary jewelry making technology.
Ana Kohuri is one of the few jewelers who create pieces that straddle art and fashion. She is equally at home showcasing her sensual gem-set jewels at the Met Gala as well as the having her pieces exhibited at world-class museums. High jewelry and high fashion will be on view at her booth during the exhibition.
Among those who deal in vintage and antique jewels, Didier and Martine Haspeslagh of London-based Didier Ltd., will be showcasing its collection of artistic jewels designed by leading modern masters and designers from the second half of the 20th century.
The theme this year will be American artists, comprising about 100 works. They include an “extremely early” necklace by Alexander Calder that dates to 1928, a rare pocket watch object by the Surrealist, Joseph Cornell, containing an underwater seascape with a mother-of-pearl fish, and a contemporary brooch-pin with a miniature painting by Walter Quirt set into a gold frame.
FD Gallery, the important New York Upper East Side high jewelry art showcase owned by Fiona Druckenmiller, will again be presenting its collection of period, vintage, antique and contemporary jewels in a space that resembles its well-appointed gallery.