The month of March was a busy time for those in the jewelry trade. The showcase event on the jewelry calendar, BASELWORLD was held from the 24-31st March. Bringing together manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and the general public, BASELWORLD is the biggest and most important event for the watch and jewelry industry.

The figures are just staggering – over 100,000 visitors from 100 countries, almost 2,000 exhibitors from 45 countries, and over 3,000 journalists from 70 countries in 160,000 square meters of exhibition area.

BASELWORLD comprised 175 exhibitors of fancy color diamonds from all over the world. No doubt their array of fancy color diamonds will highlight and augment the new spring/summer trend of strong, vibrant, and clear colors. This is a striking change from the muted tones that have dominated the past trend of muted colors.

However, just to ensure all the color bases are covered, another strong trend was gothic, dark, and macabre themed jewelry. No need for colored diamonds here you say. Well, you must have forgotten about black diamonds that have recently seemed to come out of the closet, or should that be the coffin. None other than Chopard have utilized black diamonds in their Crab bracelet (see picture below) as a contrast to both yellow diamonds and more colorful stones of other varieties.
                                                             

Chopard Crab bracelet in white gold and titanium set with 8cts of black, yellow and colorless diamonds; and 5cts of yellow sapphires and rubies and one grey pearl

Another trend that came to the fore at BASELWORLD was the move toward large gems – 18 carats, 30 carats, 80 carats – the bigger, the better. This is a trend requires a creative solution to satisfy the purveyors of fancy color diamonds – since their rarity dictates that small stones may be difficult to find, consequently, large stones are even more difficult to obtain. This is reflected in the prices for large stones which can reach stratospheric levels.

One solution was provided by Staurino Fratelli who use large surfaces of light materials to provide mass.  Intelligent use of smaller stones and perhaps even mixing color diamonds with other stones to cover this mass can satisfy the trend for larger pieces in a practical manner and at a more reasonable cost.

It is no exaggeration when event organizers claim that “Trends are set at BASELWORLD.” This year, fancy color diamonds; from the more suppressed blacks for those more inspired by the dark side; to the better known yellows, reds, pinks, and greens for those drawn to the new vivacious and loud colors of spring/summer; once again illustrate that they are a timeless trend sufficiently flexible to complement any passing trend.