This year, a small jewellery event set the direction for jewellery in 2025. The first edition of Joya launched in Monaco on 21 November 2024, at the Richard Rogers-designed One Monte-Carlo, a gemstone’s throw from the Casino. Joya (an amalgam of joyau, ‘jewel’ in French, and gioia, ‘joy’ in Italian) was founded by Monegasque duo Delphine Pastor-Reiss and Vanessa Margowski, previously the gallerists of the contemporary art and design Galerie 11 Columbia. Their distinctive curation presents jewellery as personal and collectable works of art. We went behind the scenes to discover just how the trends are set.
‘Our shared background in art and design gives us an entirely new perspective on jewellery collecting, with a cultural, artistic – even an architectural dimension,’ said Pastor-Reiss.
‘No other salon celebrates jewellery this way,’ continued Margowski. ‘Our approach is radical and exacting. We assembled a little community of jewellery creators and sellers who trust us to create an intimate setting on a human scale, one that accurately reflects their vision, that stimulates all the senses, and is not purely commercial.
‘People’s perception of jewellery has shifted. They are viewing and acquiring jewellery in the exactly the same way that they collect works of art. I don’t see myself as a brand, I don’t have a boutique and I don’t produce collections. It might sound arrogant, but I see myself as an artist. I collect historic pieces of antique jewellery that have had a previous life, then begin creating something only when I have formed a complete story to tell, a new chapter in the life of the jewel. It takes time. It’s fuelled by nothing other than a desire to create something exceptionally beautiful. It’s very humbling to hear people say, “This isn’t jewellery, this is art!”’
Their curation is an intriguing guide into what we should be looking forward to in 2025, and features artist-inspired, designer-created and vintage jewellery by ten international exhibitors: Eliane Fattal, Elie Top, Gabrielle Greiss, Tatiana Verstraeten, Gioielleria Pennisi, Karry Berreby, Dorothée Potocka, Ciaudano, Karl Fritsch and Veny X World.
The exhibition design by Basel-based architects Christ & Gantenbein, who drew inspiration from the links of a chain to create a dynamic flow of circular booths in polished steel and aluminium, connoting openness and connectivity. The modules are designed to be reusable and easily transportable for Joya’s next international editions.
Joya’s visual identity was created by French artist Julien Carreyn, who documented the jewellers and their works in their homes or studios through Polaroid shots.
The cultural and artistic aspect of jewellery was assured through Joya’s partnership with conferences, workshops and displays by L’École, School of Jewellery Arts, Van Cleef & Arpels, the Musée d’Anthropologie Préhistorique de Monaco, and the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.
In addition, London-based artist and art historian Eliane Fattal, who creates contemporary pieces using antique jewels sourced from SJ Philipps, presents her finished works in a book with a text recap of the story of the piece to date.
