INHORGENTA 2023

Based in Munich, Inhorgenta is one of Europe’s biggest trade shows for the jewellery and watch industry and provides exhibitors and visitors with the perfect opportunity to find new suppliers, learn about industry trends, and immerse themselves in everything jewellery!

With over 800 exhibitors from 38 countries, we just knew we had to be there! So in late February members of our design, sales, and management teams eagerly made their way to Bavaria to find out what the Inhorgenta hype was all about! 

As you know, we love an alternative gemstone so our top priority was to seek out those hidden gems (no pun intended!). We headed straight to the huge loose gemstone exhibition hall, where we spent a day and a half perusing everything that Inhorgenta had to offer. To our delight we found several exhibitors offering our signature salt and pepper diamonds, stunning teal sapphires and many, many suppliers of our newest arrival; the tourmaline! We loved them so much that we came home with a huge amount of stones in all shapes and sizes, including rounds, ovals, emerald cuts, and even kites and hexagons (all thoroughly quality checked by our expert dream team, of course!) and we can’t get enough of them. Make sure you keep an eye out for these gemstones hitting the website very shortly for your chance to snap up one of our hand selected, exclusive Inhorgenta gemstones! 

However, gemstones were not our only goal while we were there - we wanted to soak it all up! With so many exhibitors present from small, independent, crafty makers right through to established industry giants such as Thomas Sabo, Faberge and Casio, it was the perfect opportunity to explore industry trends and encounter new visionary designs, and we’re happy to say that Jessica Flinn is still the place to go for that perfect blend of on-trend and classic Art-Deco design! We saw colours such as teals, greens, and blues in innovative and sometimes eccentric designs, and while nothing was quite our unique Jessica Flinn style, it was clear that we have our finger on the pulse and definitely create truly special pieces, especially when it came to some of the more traditional exhibitors we encountered.

One of the main topics at Inhorgenta this year was sustainability and the future of retail, which really struck a chord with us, as we strive to become a more ethical and sustainable brand. It was fantastic to meet fellow jewellery and gemstone suppliers with similar mindsets, and to explore how we can continue on our journey to meet our ethical goals. With the industry-wide growth in recycled metals and lab grown diamonds, there is definitely a positive movement towards and hope for a transparent and sustainable future in the jewellery industry and we are here for it!

So what were our highlights? What did we take from Inhorgenta? And would we go back?

Although we did live our best lives in the gemstones hall, we also loved exploring the ‘Contemporary Design & Vision’ exhibition; also the hub of sustainability, this hall focused on innovation and talent development, and we were drawn to its creativity (and plants)! Here we saw lots of beautiful sculptures, work from new contemporary designers, workshops, and campus talks on a variety of topics. The bustling atmosphere in this hall definitely had a promise of an exciting and bright future for the jewellery industry.

It wasn’t all about the work though, there was some play! We had the opportunity to join the Inhorgenta ‘After Work Drinks’, which was exactly as it sounds; free drinks, music and even a saxophone player! This was a great way to unwind after a full day of networking, looking at gemstones, and exploring the exhibition halls. Although it was clear some of us enjoyed it more than others *insert picture of Grace with two glasses of wine!*. 

We also spent some time soaking up the Munich culture before we headed home. We visited Marienplatz, saw the Residenz, and wandered around the English garden. Munich is a beautiful historical city and we loved exploring, but my word, do they know how to make a pastry! Sampling the pastries from a local bakery was definitely one of our highlights!

On reflection, Inhorgenta was everything we were promised and more. We had a great time, found some fantastic new gemstone suppliers, and left feeling very inspired! Munich showed us that international trade shows are the way forward and we definitely hope to return one day, but next on the list is the Hong Kong International Jewellery show and the Vicenza Jewellery Show in Italy! 

For now, danke Inhorgenta; we had a blast!