The TRENDFACTORY MUNICH is the centerpiece of hall C2 and was known as the INHORGENTA FORUM in previous years. With its extensive seminar program, the TRENDFACTORY MUNICH, which takes place during the INHORGENTA MUNICH, introduces the trends of tomorrow and beyond. The space is now a format that gives top speakers from around the world a stage. Visitors will discover in conferences, panel discussions and other live events how jewelry and timepieces will change in the future. A place for solidifying the industry’s forward-looking alignment.
Rita Lahlou, Senior Manager and Head of Jewelry at Amazon Europe, will provide insight into the topic of future retail online and offline.
Jewelry insider Katerina Perez will lead a workshop on how to sell successfully on Instagram.
Luxury-expert Paola de Luca will talk about upcoming trends.
The young designer Max Julian Fischer,who gained international recognition for his hearing aid crafted as sleek jewelry, will address innovative design concepts in his presentation.
Be curious about the full program coming soon.
...such as interactive jewelry, novel materials, and 3D printing for precious items. Plus, make the most of some fun networking opportunities, where you will have the chance to meet colleagues, experts and designers from all around the world.
Following a career in luxury, Jonathan Chippindale co-founded Holition a decade ago as a venture start-up to explore and expand the ever-evolving role that technology plays in communicating narrative to today's consumer. The result is a synthesis of mathematicians, scientists and technologists, artists and psychologists, retail specialists and cutting edge leaders in innovative thinking. Holition crafts premium digital experiences for a network of pioneering brands across the luxury, fashion and beauty industries. Jonathan is a Visiting Professor and External Industry Advisor at Central St Martins and the London College of Fashion where he was also a co-creator of the UAL Digital Think Tank. He is a mentor to BBC Worldwide Labs and Techstars, as well as advisor to the University of Cambridge Digital Compass Group. Jonathan is also a Digital Advisor to the British Fashion Council and Innovation Advisor to the Tate museums. Jonathan holds an Honorary Doctorate from University of Arts London.
Martin Curtz has worked at UPS® since 2008. In his activities for UPS and UPS Capital®, he has spent most of the time in managerial positions in sales, always focusing on first-class customer relations. In summer 2018, he took on Product Management for Parcel Pro™ Select, a shipping solution including insurance cover for the trade in jewelry and watches. You can find further information at upscapital.com/de-de/.
Here he is responsible for the operational side of business throughout Europe as well as the geographic expansion of Parcel Pro Select in important centers of industry and trade in this sector.
Gwendolyn Floyd Gwendolyn Floyd is a venture-backed serial social entrepreneur and designer. She is a founder of 4 compa-nies, and has 15 years of experience leading teams and projects working at the intersection of design and international development. Her work in human centered design and fashion supply chain innovation has been celebrated and awarded for its novel approach and measurably high social and economic impact. Gwendolyn built off her expertise to co-found the ethical fashion brand Soko (www.shopsoko.com), which connects arti-sans entrepreneurs in Kenya to global retailers including Nordstrom and Anthropologie to Fossil and countless prestigious boutiques and brand partnerships.
Gwendolyn’s thought-leadership on ethical fashion, new models of global trade, and innovative supply chains has put her on the stage at SOCAP, SXSW, DEMOAfrica, and more and Gwen has been honored as an emerging global leader with awards from the World Bank, SXSW, Vodafone and USAID.
With a history dating back over 50 years, the name GELLNER stands for unusual jewelry design of the highest quality. The manufacture was founded in 1967 by Heinz and Tove Gellner. What began as a small pearl trading operation soon evolved into a genuine success story.
This has been continued since 1997 by Jorg Gellner, who is now the second generation of the family to run the company. Born just a year after its founding, the business graduate has been fascinated by the magic of cultured pearls and the beauty of diamonds since childhood. With his passion and feel for innovation he has made the company what it is today: an internationally acclaimed luxury brand.
Jorg Gellner focuses on strong partnerships and loyalty – to his team, his partner jewelers and pearl farmers. As a consequence, honesty, trust and genuine enthusiasm remain the characteristic values of the Gellner company to this day.
Edahn Golan is a veteran of the diamond industry, researching and writing about it since 2001. He specializes in a wide range of topics relating to this unique industry, including the way it operates, wholesale and retail polished diamond prices, the rough diamond sector of the diamond pipeline and investment in diamonds.
Edahn has written extensively about these subjects and many others, including the Kimberley Process (KP), financing issues, ethics and changes in the way the diamond industry has operated over the years.
Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data Ltd. (www.EdahnGolan.com) was formed to provide research analysis and consultancy services for the global diamond industry. Its sphere of activities ranges from in-depth data analysis based on its own detailed data, research of the diamond mining, wholesale and retail markets, rough and polished price analysis and more.
Prior to founding Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data, Edahn joined the IDEX Online Group to form the news and research department and was its Editor in Chief.
Over the years, Edahn has advised diamond miners, leading diamond firms, industry bodies, investment companies and governmental agencies, writing research papers on topics ranging from provenance analysis and diamonds’ contribution to local economies to the viability of investment in diamonds and the impact of lab-grown diamonds on the industry.
Jelena Gregov Jelena Gregov is an experiential strategist. Through her work she strives to prompt ideas that ask people to feel something, and challenge them to think differently. With a background in Advertising and Strategic Communications, she has worked as a storyteller for more than 10 years. She graduated with an MA in Media Studies from The New School in NYC, where she focused on exploring the perceptual aspects of digital technologies. Having spent the last two years working at The New York Times, she applied her creative and strategic direction to specially tailored brand experiences, and creation of immersive and interactive installations, focusing on technology as a way to enhance storytelling.
Dr. Ulrich Henn studied Mineralogy and Gemmology at the Institute for Gem-stone Research of the University of Mainz (Germany), where he also went on to complete his PhD. He is managing director of the German Gemmological Asso-ciation and head of the German Gemmological Training Center. Dr. Henn is a fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA) and a delegate of the International Gemmological Conference (IGC). He was a chairman of the Federation of European Education in Gemmology (FEEG) from 2006 to 2011. He is the author of gemmological books and various articles in international gem-mological and mineralogical journals as well as trade magazines.
Josh Humbert Josh Humbert’s work in Tahitian pearl farming is infused with his love for the sea and its crea-tures. After 27 years of experience in Tahitian pearl farming he is just as excited by his work as he was on the day he started.
He was one of the first non-Japanese pearl technicians in French Polynesia and the first to tie in and communicate concepts of sustainability in the Tahitian pearl industry. He is considered a leader in the field and strives not only to protect the environment he works in, but to steward it to optimum health. His family farm, Kamoka Pearl is known internationally for it’s progressi-ve methods and beautiful pearls.
As a photographer represented by National Geographic he also brings his visual story telling ability to his work.
Kira Høg Kampmann is the founder og the Danish pearl supplier company Marc’Harit.
As 21-years-old she sailed the South Pacific Ocean and found her passion for pearls on a small atoll in French Polynesia. With an interest in marine biology she was dragged into the world of pearls. It was love at first sight between Kira and the Tahiti pearl and she settled in Tahiti for some years and learned all about pearl farming and grading of pearls.
Kira made it her mission to present the Tahiti pearl to the world and during her stay in French Polynesia, Kira evolved and became the pearl specialist she is today.
It’s important to Kira that pearls sold at Marc’Harit are sustainable and farmed with respect for both people and the environment.
Kira’s passion and expertise is the DNA of Marc’Harit. Today Marc’Harit deliver pearls to jew-ellers, designers, and manufacturers all around the world.
Yong Joo Kim is a SAC and NICHE award-winning artist with an extensive record of exhibi-tions across Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. She is considered a pioneer in the use of hook-and-loop fasteners as material for art. Her work crosses the genre of both wear-able sculpture and installations.
Her work appears in the permanent collection of Victoria and Albert Museum(V&A), Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), and Velcro Group.
Michal Kosior Years of studding philosophy on Gdansk University gave him some ideas how to promote Polish amber and jewellery industry.
Working in the jewellery industry since 1999; general manager of International Amber Association since 2008.
For many years freelance journalist working for jewellery magazines in Poland, press officer of International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones AMBERIF as well as advisor for the private enterprises.
Since 2015 active amber expert of the International Amber Association working both on promotion and research of amber properties. Lecturer on courses, seminars and industry meetings.
His motto is: The world have not seen yet the greatest part of amber design. Let’s change it!
In 2017, Annemarieke Kostense joined Wirecard (www.wirecard.com), the leading specialist for financial technology.
In her position as a Team Lead of the China Payments Team at the Global Consumer Goods/Retail department, she provides consulting for new and existing customers, mainly for the Chinese mobile Apps and payment solutions Alipay and WeChat Pay, including their use as a marketing tool.
Annemarieke Kostense has obtained a Master at European Studies at the University of Amsterdam. In 2008, she moved to China and worked there in different companies such as ETV, FCCE and Digital Jungle for nine years. Today, she is supporting Wirecard with her solid expertise in the field of Chinese payments, finances and consumer needs.
Beanie Major Jewellery consultant Beanie Major has spent a decade delving into women’s jewellery boxes, gar-nering an unrivalled insight into the distinctive and personal role jewellery plays in a woman’s life. She has travelled the world visiting the private ateliers of established jewellery houses, meeting world-class makers and previewing collections by talented new designers.
Beanie founded In Detail in 2011 to put adornment in a lifestyle context, providing a unique and accessible perspective on the jewellery industry.
In Detail is dedicated to immersing you in the beautiful world of fine jewellery via online articles written by a network of industry commentators, interactive events with industry partners and the newly launched Engagement Ring Concierge service.
Dr. Milisenda studied mineralogy at the Johannes-Gutenberg University in Mainz and completed his PhD at its Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry. He has been with the German Gemmological Association and with the DSEF laboratory since 1993. In 1996 he became managing director of the DSEF. DSEF’s main areas of expertise include identification of gemstones, treatment detection and origin determination of coloured gemstones. Dr. Milisenda has published numerous scientific articles in the field of gemmology and is widely known as a speaker at national and international conferences. He is a delegate of the International Gemmological Conference (IGC) and is vice-president of the World Jewellery Confederation’s Gemmological Commission. He is active in gemmological education and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the German Gemmological Association. His scientific research has led him to a wide range of European countries, southern Africa and Southeast Asia.
Main emphases
References
Otto Group, Otto Einzelhandel, bonprix, ADAC, Fressnapf, Deutsche Börse, O2, Karstadt, Walbusch, WISAG, Nestle, Weltbild, WISAG, mobilcom debitel, Manufactum, Frankonia etc.
Markus Ochel can look back on more than eight years of experience in many different sales and marketing functions at UPS®. For two years, Markus has worked in his current position of Retail Segment Marketing Manager at UPS.
His areas of responsibility include the identifying of growth opportunities for retailers with regard to logistics. He likewise advises companies which can better exploit their logistical potential. A further area of responsibility is the identifying of customer needs and market requirements so that UPS can develop suitable new solutions.
Jon has been in the jewellery business for over 35 years and worked in all of its “facets”. He is currently the Divisional Manager for Canadian Diamonds at Corona Jewellery Company Ltd. in Toronto, Canada. Part of Jon’s responsibilities includes managing the rough to polish systems for Canadian Diamonds including purchasing of the rough directly from mining companies to working with diamond polishing factories to produce the final product.
Jon is also the lead instructor for Corona and travels worldwide to promote Canadian diamonds and gold. He is Corona’s first contact for anti-money laundering (AML) and Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) compliances.
He has worked for BHP Billiton Diamonds as a Marketing Manager in both Vancouver and Antwerp and as a service Manager for Birks in Vancouver. He is a part time instructor at Vancouver Community College in the Jewellery Art and Design program. Jon and his wife Carol ran their own custom jewellery business in Vancouver for fifteen years which is where Jon obtained his training as a journeyman goldsmith.
Jon is a Certified Gemologist (CG) from the American Gem Society (AGS) and a Graduate Gemologist (GG) from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
Jon also currently sits as the chairman of the Accreditation and Certification committee of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and is a past member of the Standards Committee. Jon is a past vice-president of the diamond commission for CIBJO and currently sits on the board of Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct Committee (CDCC) and is on several committees for the Canadian Jewellers Association (CJA).
Justin Prim Justin K Prim is an American lapidary and gemologist living and working in Bangkok, Thai-land. He has studied gemcutting traditions all over the world as well as attending gemology programs at GIA and AIGS. He is currently working on a book about the worldwide history of gemstone faceting. He works as a Lapidary Instructor for the Institute of Gem Trading as well as writing articles, producing videos, and giving talks about gem cutting history.
Stephan Reif is a graduated gemmologist (GIA) with a master’s degree in business & law from the university of economics in Vienna, Austria. From young age his passion for gemstones and traveling took him around the world to source for precious gems. During his career, he has been involved in multiple gemstone mining and exploration projects around the globe and he successfully introduced gems from new deposits to the global gem & jewelry markets. Stephan’s expertise includes the sourcing, mining, grading, cutting and marketing of colored gemstones and diamonds. He is an expert on the evaluation of gemstone deposits and building vertically integrated mine to market operations.
Currently, Stephan is director of MRD GmbH an integrated gemstone supplier and developer of the ‘Green Dragon Mine’, which probably comprises the biggest Demantoid garnet deposits in the world. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the International colored gemstone association (ICA), where his focus is on compliance and sustainability in the gemstone sector. Stephan also advices private and institutional investors on various aspects of the colored gemstone & diamond industry.
Marius Schafelner During his studies at Cologne University, Marius Schafelner’s main interest was already in the area of trade and in examining the various distribution channels with regard to the end customer. In his subsequent activities as management consultant at a world-leading business consultancy, this knowledge was deepened and applied in practice. For six years now, Marius Schafelner has been proprietor of the jewelry store Vogl GmbH (in existence since 1923) in Aschaffenburg; and, for three years, he has been commercial manager of Dr. Scharenberg Online GmbH, which sees itself as a technical service provider in the high-quality watch and jewelry sector and looks after about 30 retailers and manufacturers. Current activities are focused on combining the offline and online distribution channels into a multichannel. The aim of this approach is to concentrate synergies both technically and strategically while maintaining the individuality of the respective partners at the same time.
As a consummate online business owner and serial entrepreneur, Raffael Schulz manages FineJewels24, the international marketplace for luxury jewelry. FineJewels24 has transferred the successful concept of Chrono24—the most successful marketplace for luxury watches—to the jewelry sector. Raffael Schulz founded his first online company in 2007 and built up one of the most far-reaching wedding portals in the German-speaking world with more than 7.5 million visitors a year. Since then, he has developed a deep passion for advising small and medium-sized companies in all subjects to do with online marketing. As consultant and coach, he has supported numerous companies in extending and strengthening their online marketing activities.
The main emphasis of his coaching and lectures is on simply making online marketing intelligible, focusing on the real sales drivers and taking account of the time limitations of everyday business.
Hedda Schupak is an editor and analyst in the fine jewelry industry who has covered consumer and style trends in the luxury fine jewelry industry for more than 30 years. A self-professed “data geek,” she loves to study trends in consumer attitudes, societal shifts, historical patterns and modern shopping behavior.
Currently the editor-in-chief of The Centurion Newsletter, a digital magazine serving the American luxury jewelry market, she was previously the editor-in-chief of JCK magazine, one of America’s leading trade publications.
She is a popular lecturer in the jewelry industry worldwide, and has been a guest columnist for both trade and consumer magazines in Italy, Japan, Australia, Brazil, and the United States. She’s regularly interviewed and quoted on jewelry topics in the general media including outlets such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as on television.
One of the industry’s leading advocates, Hedda sits on the board of the Diamond Empowerment Fund and is a member of the 24 Karat Club of the City of New York, and was a 20-year national board member of the Women’s Jewelry Association.
Inducted into the Women’s Jewelry Association Hall of Fame in 2006, Hedda has won more than two dozen awards for her journalism, business expertise, and advocacy of the jewelry industry, and also was named one of the Best 50 Women In Business in her home state of Pennsylvania.
She and her husband live near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
I am the CEO and founder of Madestones. As a third-generation diamond trader, I began my career in the industry in 1978 on the factory floor. I polished diamonds for two years before joining the family business team. I used my polishing experience and started cutting manufacturing operations in Belgium and Russia until the crisis of 2008.
In 2009, I discovered laboratory grown diamonds. In my long experience in the diamond business, I always believed that new products offer retailers, jewellery manufacturers and designers new markets and new opportunities for growth. Lab-grown diamonds seemed the ideal product for me to do so and I started to market lab-grown diamonds alongside mined diamonds.
"In 2015, I created the Madestones® brand. Madestones® is my personal vision for marketing lab-grown diamonds to a target audience that is looking for the brilliance and beauty of diamonds, and finds it equally important to enter a world of new luxury where sustainability and social responsibility are becoming more and more important customer values. Creating Madestones® also allows me to market lab-grown diamonds as a new diamond product in its own right, with full disclosure and transparency as a top priority for its success.”
Hallie Spradlin studied fashion merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University. She then continued her studies while interning at Fashion Snoops, where she has been employed now for five years. Hallie is the director of accessories and oversees women's accessories and jewelry.
Patricia Syvrud is the Program Development Manager for the Minerals, Materials and Society program, an education, research and training initiative at the University of Delaware (UD). She is the immediate past Executive Director of the World Diamond Council, an international organization charged with representing the diamond pipeline at the UN-mandated Kimberley Process forum, (the organization charged with global tracking of rough diamonds from mine to manufacture), and current member of the Board of Directors of the United States Kimber-ley Process Authority. A GIA graduate gemologist with an MBA from the University of Southern California, Pat has spent her entire career in the jewelry industry and is passionate about responsible sourcing and supply chain transparency. She is currently overseeing the creation of the Jewelry Development Impact index (JDI), which is now a technical evaluative research project in the Minerals, Materials and Society program at UD.
Pat’s career highlights include cataloging the entire National Gem Collection at the Smithson-ian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, developing a world-class museum collec-tion for the Gemological Institute of America, and working as a pro bono consultant to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for assistance with Albright's pin exhibition and book, “Read My Pins, Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box”.
A frequent public and industry speaker, Patricia has been featured at the following events: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY MetFridays; World Bank Global Conference on Oil, Gas and Mining; AGTA GemFair; American Gem Society Guild Meetings; Chicago Respon-sible Jewelry Conference; GIA Alumni Assoc.; International Diamond Week, Israel; JA NY Show; Jewelry Industry Summit; MJSA Expo; and the NAJA ACE It Conference.
Jutta Werling-Durejka has been working in the South American mining sector for over 25 years. Firstly as a scientist at La Paz University, Bolivia, and since 2003 as an entrepreneur.
She founded her company BrazilGems with the intention of bringing about a change towards “fair trade” in the jewelry industry.
Her intention was to put her theoretical knowledge into practice. She succeeded in this together with the Soares family from Brazil. Since 2003 and without intermediaries, she has imported their colored gemstones—primarily beryls and tourmalines—and she meets a growing demand.
The stones are mined and cut in an ecofriendly way and exclusively by adults.
These receive a wage which provides a humane and secure living for them and their families. No armed conflicts are financed through the sale of the gems.
Daniel White is Head of Licensing for De Beers’ Forevermark brand. A role that involves the devel-opment of the brand in all countries outside of USA, China India and Japan. Current partners in-clude Thailand, South Korea, South Africa and Turkey with Germany, France and Italy as our most recent new countries.
Forevermark searches for licensing partners that live up to the promise of the Forevermark Dia-mond. This search includes retailers and other partners across the world offering a rare glimpse into some of best businesses in operation.
Daniel is in his second period with De Beers having worked with them in the mid 2000’s. In the first period he was Marketing Director for several countries including UK, Germany Canada and Spain. He was then instrumental in opening the Forevermark Diamond Institute’s first labs in the UK and Antwerp. Setting up the grading standards and systems underpinning the world class integrity they still deliver.
For the Licensing role Daniel draws on a career of nearly 30 years in international business devel-opment and branding. Having worked for global brands such as Van Heusen and niche specialists such as CoutureLab, and from the excitement of ocean yacht racing and Henri –Lloyd to a renewa-ble energy start up, Daniel offers great scope of insight to Forevermark partners. Interpreting this experience to choose partners in both the west and Asia is a key part of what is a diverse life.