Smith recalls a bit of wisdom the industry leader, who died last week, shared at a diamond conference years ago.
7 Incredible High Jewels from TEFAF New York
TEFAF’s first New York edition brought four illustrious design houses to the Big Apple.

When all of 2014’s jewelry designers pulled out of this year’s Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris, speculation ensued as to where the major haute joaillerie houses would show their collections.
Most ended up at haute couture week over the summer, which has become somewhat of a temporal home on the fashion calendar for high jewelry presentations, but a few opted for TEFAF (an acronym for The European Fine Art Fair). The fair expanded for the first time this year, from its annual event in Maastricht, the Netherlands, to a second edition in New York City.
Like the Biennale, TEFAF New York combines fine art antique booths with jewelry antique dealers and a smattering of contemporary high jewelry.
Wallace Chan, Alexandre Reza, Otto Jakob and Hemmerle were the four designers representing today’s jewelers. Except for Hemmerle, it’s rare to see any of these brands in New York and, for me anyway, they utterly stole the show.
See below for a sampling of the magic that was TEFAF New York via seven spectalular jewels (and one Wallace Chan sculpture for good measure).
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