By Karen Nuckols

In Germany, the town of Idar-Oberstein was the home to the 28th Intergem, which opened on October 5 to more than 1,000 visitors eager to find the best of the best in terms of coloured gemstones, diamonds and finished jewelry. By the close on October 8, the fair had been visited by 3,500 visitors from 50 countries around the world.

Carved agate pendant by Daniela Becker from Creativum (photo: Intergem).

The Idar-Oberstein region of Germany is renowned for its generations of high-quality cutters, carvers and jewellery designers, and this year’s 165 exhibitors did not disappoint. While 70 percent of the exhibitors were from the region, 25 percent joined from other areas in Germany, and 5 percent came from other countries. There was something for everyone to purchase in a variety of price ranges, from the finest gemstones and diamonds to carvings, equipment, and supplies.

A new type of green quartz, found in Brazil, and carved by Dieter Lorenz (photo: Dierick Bevoort of Diebe Media).

Intergem is always a place where “new finds” can be seen. One such piece was a carving of unidentified green quartz at the booth of Lorenz Edelstein Design, of Idar-Oberstein. Dieter Lorenz, the carver, said the rough came from Brazil and that he would be taking it to the gemmological society for analysis and identification. Jewellery designers from around the world came to buy Lorenz’s unique carvings to create one-of-a-kind rings, earrings, and pendants.

A remarkable alto recorder flute carved in rock crystal by the firm Emil Becker (photo: Dierick Bevoort of Diebe Media).

Serious collectors also often head directly to the Emil Becker stand to see what spectacular piece will be on display. The firm, under the direction of Manfred Wild of Kirschweiler in Germany, always introduces a new creation for his own pleasure as well as that of his collectors. Last year, he presented the beautiful Ferris wheel, but this year, it was a magnificent rock crystal alto recorder flute, which gives “rock music” a new meaning. The recorder was fully playable as heard in Ulricke Trappe-Krieger’s lovely rendition of “Ode to Joy.” This is not Becker’s first successful instrument. In previous years, he created a fully operative clarinet, also from rock crystal, and a set of panpipes.

“Singing of the Stars” sculpture by Alexander Kreis, of Sonja Kreis (photo: Dierick Bevoort of Diebe Media).

Another equally unusual piece was found at the booth of Sonja Kreis from Dusseldorf. Created by Alexander Kreis, “Chanting of the Stars” is both a piece of sculpture and a pendant. Made of rutilated quartz, the pendant represents a meeting with a comet or a “Star of Bethlehem,” with planet .

When the comet is removed from the “Singing of the Stars” sculpture, it makes a very wearable pendant.

Earth depicted in smoky quartz. Put the pieces together and it is indeed a striking piece of sculpture. Remove the “comet,” and turn it upside down, and it becomes a stunning pendant. Kreis designed and fabricated special tools in order to create the piece, which took nearly a year of work.

Tom Munsteiner holds a new book showcasing the work of himself and his wife Jutta. To the right is one of Munsteiner’s stone sculptures (photo: Dierick Bevoort of Diebe Media).

Bernd Munsteiner announced the release of a new book, “Munsteiner: The Young Generation, Tom + Jutta Munsteiner,” and showed examples of the work of his talented son and daughter-in-law during a well attended slide presentation.

Not only are trade fairs the place to find beautiful goods, but they are a good place to take the pulse of the industry. At Intergem, we heard from Thomas Lind of Hermann Lind II that it has been “an interesting year” for the garnet business, with sales doing well in recent months. He attributed his success to years of excellent customer service and a wide variety of quality stones. Lind added that buyers are learning that garnets come in more colours than just red, which has helped create strong sales for all members of the garnet family.

Achim Grimm from Hermann Grimm KG reported that pink tourmaline was popular at the Hong Kong show this year, and that matched pairs were big with U.S. buyers. He reported that sales at Intergem on Sunday were excellent, but that overall, sales were not quite as high as last year. He felt that this was due to the fact that last year was exceptionally good.

Faceted samples of African tourmaline from Wild & Petsch (photo: Wild & Petsch).

Alexander Wild of Wild & Petsch also reported a satisfactory Hong Kong show in September, and said Basel was exceptionally good last March. At this Intergem, he added that Sunday sales made for a fairly good show.

Alex Taggart of Bella Luce, located in Idar-Oberstein, explained that his company sells finished diamond jewellery to retail stores. Due to the cost of gold, he said that it is hard to get appointments. It seems that jewellers are selling their current stock first, then ordering new. Taggart also commented that when jewellers remove gold jewellery from the display windows, it gives the consumer the impression that gold is no longer the trend, thus contributing to the difficulty in selling it.

Thomas Furstenberg Franzmann of Herbert Furstenberg e.K. described how they are making changes to reflect market needs. As an example, they produce a line of ceramic rings which are selling well and can take the place of gold. He also discussed the availability of gemstones, indicating that, while dealers in Idar-Oberstein can supply the needs of buyers for the next five years, they can only buy rough when it is offered. The Chinese have become big players in this market and will pay more than others. They also take everything the mine has, rather than specifying only the better grades, obviously making them preferred customers.

Amethyst and diamond pendant on a pearl necklace by CC Pearls (photo: Intergem).

Show officials reported that the most sought-after gemstone colours were the autumn tones—red, cognac, shades of browns and berries, as well as combinations with black.

Overall, exhibitors agreed that Intergem provided the ideal setting for developing business contacts. The next edition will be held from October 3 to 6, 2013.

www.intergem-messe.de