BIJORCHA The International Fine Jewelry and Watch Show

By Jane Rosenstein – Edited by Harold Dill

Journalist Francesca Grunupp and I attended Bijorcha an extremely interesting jewelry and watch show held in Paris, France from January 23-26, 2015 at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center. The exposition showcased the latest spring/summer jewelry and fashion collections. Jewelry materials included silver, gold, gold plating and bronze as well as fine stones and crystals.

Although sales of jewelry have decreased 2% in 2013 and another 6% in 2014 these figures do not reflect costume jewelry that increased by 6% last year! People have tighter budgets and that coupled with the risk of theft for expensive jewelry has helped the sales of costume jewelry.

First we visited some vendors from Brazil, Francesca’s native country. We saw unique jewelry combining vintage style with modern day trends at LAVISH JEWELRY, a company founded by Tricia Milaneze and her brother Gervasio Milaneze in 2005. It produces unique hand-crocheted gold thread and glass beaded jewelry. Tricia designs the jewelry  and her brother manages production at their factory in Brazil. I particularly liked their earring designs. To view the LAVISH collection please visit www.triciamilaneze.com.   The company has two shops: one in Parkland, Florida and another in São Paulo, Brazil.

Next we stopped by to see Natalia Chaim Colpo whom I met last year and who has the Brazilian company, NATALIA CHAIM, in São Paulo.  We liked her beautiful and colorful creations including some fabulous rings and necklaces. You may view her collection at www.nataliachaim.com.br

Patrick Aubert, the former surfer and creator of JALAN JALAN told us that he has been exhibiting at shows for 25 years. His line features new pieces in silver with fine stones of turquoise, amethyst and citrine and are created by artisans in his studio in Bali. His designs reflect the cultures he experienced during his travels. Some themes include romantic and sensual motifs.  Visit www.jalanjalan.fr to view his collection.

Francesca and I discovered some very distinctive watch designs at RAIMBAULT & GAMBALA. Maxime Gaudet showed us his watches featuring different triangles for each of 12 hours. At the top of the watch face the hour is displayed.  Leather watchbands are available in black, brown, orange and white with a silver face and black face on a black band.  Hours on the dial are denoted by 12 different colored marks with each color corresponding to one specific hour (AM/PM).

When the bezel is open the colors rotate counter-clockwise.The more the color scrolls to the right, more time elapses.  You see the hours, then 15 minutes, then the hours +30 minutes and then +45 min. In this way one color leaves the place to the next one which is placed to the left of the central feature of the bezel. The central feature goes ahead till to right side and so for scrolling color which represents the 12 days and 12h00 am, and 12h00 pm.   www.maxime-g.com

We were intrigued by the jewelry at a company appropriately named BLUE STONE. Lionel Carviser told us that the blue stones featured in the designs were larimar – a stone resembling turquoise, was discovered in Dominican Republic. and is found only in the Dominican Republic and Italy. Blue Stone’s jewelry is made with sterling silver to highlight the blue lagoon color of the larimer and is rhodium plated or gold electroplated. Some of the designs use all larimer while others offer combinations of stones including garnet, lapis-lazuli and labradorite that can be fused with materials such as black horn, ebony wood and sha-green.  Although the company is only three years old it has 350 stock items and is sold at approximately 200 shops in France, Holland and Switzerland. There are new collections twice a year in summer and winter and thus the line has classic and diverse fashions. I wanted to purchase a pair of earrings but they were not for sale! Please visit www.bluestone.fr to view the entire collection. Please visit www.bluestone.fr to view the collection.

Bijorhca was a very interesting and enjoyable jewelry show.

Jane Rosenstein

Jane Rosenstein is a U.S. citizen living in Paris, France. She is a professional translator/interpreter. She is the owner of The International Connection which does international marketing consultation including sales of wine, interpretation, and translation.

She enjoys the cultural life that living in Paris offers and has talents in organizing events. She speaks English, French, and Spanish. She has a B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.B.A. degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.