EXCLUSIVE: Monaco’s Next Grand Prix is All About High Jewelry

PARIS – Come October, there will be a new date to add to the annual high jewelry calendar – and it’s happening in Monaco rather than on Place Vendôme.

The Grand Prix de la Haute Joaillerie will make its debut on Oct. 25 with a gala evening at the principality’s Monte-Carlo Sporting complex where the best designs from top jewelers will receive gongs from a jury of industry experts.

Cofounded by the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) and Jean-Philippe Braud, president of Paris-based events communication agency Profirst France, the event is intended as an annual rendez-vous bringing together jewelry houses, collectors and craftspeople as well as representatives of gem-producing countries.

Some 11 houses taking part in the inaugural edition and the 2025 jury was unveiled at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday.

“This project was born from a simple observation,” said Braud. “High jewelry, as a major art of luxury, deserved its own summit.”

It found an echo with the executives at the SBM, in alignment with its strategy of bringing together the world’s leading luxury players within our resort, said Stéphane Valeri, managing director of the company which owns and manages most of the key properties in Monaco, including the Monte Carlo Casino and the principality’s Hôtel de Paris. Owned in majority by the government of the principality, the SBM counts LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton among its minority shareholders.

Asked if there had been any resistance to setting the event in Monaco rather than in Paris, the traditional epicenter of high jewelry, Braud said there had been much enthusiasm across the board.

“All the houses are present in Monaco, where they have an activity with good performances,” he explained. “And it allows the SBM and brands to also create a commercial moment at this period of the year.”

The principality’s reputation for security was also an asset, also for collectors interested in attending.

Houses who have thrown their tiaras in the ring include Anna Hu, Boucheron, Buccellati, Bulgari, Chanel, Chopard, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Messika and Tiffany & Co.

Each can present up to three designs to a jury headed by veteran French editor and jewelry expert Fabienne Reybaud, who is its permanent president.

Gongs include a Grand Prize, a special jury prize as well as distinctions for design, know-how and gemstones. There will also be an award for emerging talent and a public prize. To be eligible, pieces must have been produced between October 2024 and next month.

For the patrimony prize, which covers jewelry remaining in a house’s patrimonial collection, Raybaud chose 2020 as the cut-off date, to allow newer signatures to take part on an equal footing to their centuries-old predecessors.

To help her determine which jewels deserve honors, she can count on a jury comprising Valeri, the prize’s cofounder who is also a permanent member; architect and designer Tristan Auer, who designed the trophy that will be presented to the winners; François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe and Asia; Evelyne Possémé, honorary curator of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs; and Chayapa Chutrakul, founder of creative data advisory The Pink Lab and executive director of PR and events agency Directions Group Thailand.

Rounding out the 10-strong group are collector and art historian Brune de Margerie, who currently serves as fashion director of Elle France; Constance Assor, deputy editor in chief of French newspaper Le Point ; gemologist Emmanuel Piat, who is chief executive officer of family-owned Maison Piat, and Philippe Scordia, a collector and gemologist.

In a joint interview ahead of the press conference in Paris, Braud and Reybaud insisted on the jury’s deep industry connections but an impartial outlook that extended to the choice of the event’s partners, chosen for their independance from the jewelers or their parents groups.

For the organizers, there’s more to the project than crowning the cream of the year’s bejeweled crop.

Ahead of the gala event on Oct. 25, which will see them presented on live models, participating pieces will be showcased for three days at each brand’s Monaco address or in an exhibition at Café de la Rotonde du Casino open to the public.

Each jewel will have a detailed explanation, a way to combat the misconception that high jewelry creations only touch those who own them, she said.

“That’s false because there’s a dreamlike, magical and artisanal dimension in these pieces that are worth millions of euros but require thousands of hours of work and perpetuate crafts that Place Vendôme – and elsewhere – try to protect,” she continued. “The goal is really to shine a spotlight on high jewelry, which is at once familiar and little-known.”