2023 TEFAF Maastricht Will Host A Breadth And Depth Of High And Historic Jewels

For the first time in years TEFAF Maastricht will return to its normal March schedule. Last year it was held in June and the year before Covid caused its cancellation. It’s one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious art fairs in the world.

This year there will be 270 dealers from approximately 20 countries presenting objects ranging from Old Master paintings, antiques and classical antiquities to modern and contemporary art, 20th-century design and works on paper. The fair will be held March 11 – 19 at the Maastricht Exhibition & Conference Centre (MECC) with two invitation-only previews on March 9 and 10.

One of the highlights of this fair is the breadth and depth of jewelry that is available with contemporary high jewelry artists sharing this precious art category with dealers of antique and period pieces.

Among the contemporary jewelers are Anna Hu, who specializes in highly artistic and colorful jewels, and Boghossian, a multi-generation family-owned Swiss firm that specializes in acquiring exceptional gems and creating gem shapes that are unique. They are the newer exhibitors at the fair who will join veteran fair jewelers, Hemmerle and Otto Jakob, both based in Germany and both specialize in highly crafted creations, although their artistic viewpoints are quite different.

There will be many exhibitors that either specialize in antique and period jewels or includes them in their collections. Two exhibitors who specialize in Fabergé will be showcasing a variety of historic jewels spanning many periods. They are New York based, A La Vieille Russie (ALVR), and London jewelers, Wartski.

ALVR is presenting a group of animal and insect jewelry that includes a Schlumberger pink and blue enamel caterpillar pin set with cabochon sapphires and turquoise in 18k gold; a pair of micromosaic hoop earrings decorated with beetles; a Victorian diamond and ruby coiled snake bracelet with a gold scaled body, English, ca. 1880; and a pair of 1950s gold and diamond spherical birdcage earrings with pearl drops.

Didier Ltd., founded by Didier and Martine Haspeslagh, occupies a special place among art and design galleries by specializing in jewels created by modern artists, which have been acquired from the secondary art market. It was niche the London firm exploited early when there were few collectors of jewels by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Alexander Calder. Now it is a quite popular category for collectors as recent auction sales and exhibitions have proven. The couple presents a themed showcase each year at the fair. This year it will be dedicated to a group of Italian artists.

French jewelry house, Van Cleef & Arpels, although very much a player in the contemporary world, will be exhibiting a selection of its historic jewels.

Les Enluminures, with galleries in Paris, Chicago and New York, specializes in manuscripts and miniatures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as rings and jewelry from the same periods.

Other jewelry exhibitors include Véronique Bamps, the Monaco-based dealer who is a mainstay at TEFAF and other similar events in Europe and the U.S. There’s also Epoque Fine Jewels, based in Kortrijk, Belgium, specializing in 19^th and 20^th century period jewels; and VKD Jewels, based in Milan, specializing in European and American antique and vintage jewelry.

Last year’s event was marred by a brazen armed robbery on the TEFAF Maastricht showroom floor in front of visitors and exhibitors. The robbers made off with a necklace reportedly valued at 27 million euros, which is unconfirmed. The robbery was recorded on at least two smartphones with the faces of the suspects easily visible. However, the thieves were never caught and just a single item was recovered recently, according to reports. The same reports quote law enforcement saying the robbers may be from Balkans and are suspected of being from the infamous “Pink Panthers” crime ring, known for their high profile robberies.

Despite the robbery, longtime TEFAF exhibitors are back this year.