Jewelry trends (and pao de queijo and caipirinhas) were on the minds of many at this week’s 51st Feninjer Brazilian Gems and Jewelry Show in São Paulo. From July 31 – August 3, the Brazilian Institute of Gems and Precious Metals (IBGM), organizer of the fair, unveiled jewelry trends for 2011—courtesy of Brazilian trend forecaster Maria Regina Machado Soares—and provided a forum for the country’s leading jewelry designers and purveyors of gemstones to showcase their latest products.
Five different “inspiration portals” were outlined by IBGM for 2011, including classic shapes like bows and hearts; fantasy elements like bird motifs; oversize urban-inspired designs; natural elements and handmade touches (such as primitive textures); and Brazilian gems like quartz in a multitude of cuts and colors.
On the show floor, new styles mirrored these trends—bow jewels from FR Hueb, beetle wings set in silver from Silvia Blumberg, and bold new additions to the Looping Shine collection from Brumani—plus a few more. For example, blue and green stones like sapphires, amazonite, and emeralds, and black and white rocks like onyx and agate, were abundant. Blackened gold—perhaps inspired by the Italians, who showed lots of it earlier in the year—added drama to styles featuring champagne and cognac diamonds (uncommon for Brazilian designers), while an increase in rose gold jewels spoke to the metal’s increasing popularity in Brazil and abroad.
Because the show catered largely to the Brazilian and South American jewelry market, styles with dramatic looks, movable components, and some convertible features—like removable earring drops—were also plentiful.
Sales at the show were equally impressive. Booths were packed with buyers—from Brazil and other parts of South America—until the last day of the fair. Contributing at least in part to the healthy traffic was the addition of some 15 new loose stone dealers who previously exhibited at the now-defunct Brazil Gem Show in Governador Valadares in the state of Minas Gerais. “We incorporated that show into ours,” said Clarissa Maciel, IBGM spokesperson.
Still, for most exhibitors, it was the designs that drew the crowds. At 10 p.m. on Monday evening (four hours after the fair officially closed) Cristina Abdala, owner, FR Hueb, was forced to ask one enthusiastic buyer to return the following morning. “We had to leave—the safe was closing for the night!” she explains.
Earrings feature nude quartz set in 18k gold with blackened areas and brown diamonds. Vancox
Modern bows in 18k gold feature diamonds. FR Hueb
Onyx and diamond earrings in 18k white gold. Denoir
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