At Brafa in Brussels, antique and designer jewelry will be on display alongside antiques and art.
Brafa, the Brussels expo dedicated to art, antiques, and jewelry, is celebrating its 71st anniversary. The new edition is scheduled for Sunday, January 25th to Sunday, February 1st. Nearly 150 galleries from 18 countries will be present at the new edition. Last year, the expo attracted more than 72,000 visitors, a record number that the organizers hope to replicate. Most exhibitors present furniture, paintings, sculptures, and design objects, as well as vintage and designer jewelry.
From Celtic torques to Egyptian collars, from Renaissance pearls to Art Deco creations, the necklace remains one of the oldest and most universal pieces of jewelry, spanning the centuries as a symbol of status, elegance, and identity. “Decorating the neck is a gesture that has accompanied humankind since prehistoric times,” emphasizes Beatrix Bourdon, director of Brafa Art Fair. “The necklace, a fragile defense and a powerful ornament, reveals the universal need to give visible form to power and beauty. A visit to Brafa is enough to appreciate the full richness of these proposals in jewelry from every era.”
By René Lalique, for example, there is an Art Nouveau choker in gold, diamonds, enamel, and glass, made in Paris around 1905, offered by Epoque Fine Jewels. The necklace, composed of six pentagonal plates of molded amber glass, features intertwined thistle flowers and curved spines studded with diamonds, embellished with yellow and brown enamels. Small floral motifs in orange glass, also adorned with diamonds, complete the composition. Preserved in its original Lalique case from the Place Vendôme, the jewel embodies the symbolic and naturalistic spirit of Art Nouveau.
Also from the early 20th century, it’s impossible not to be captivated by the extraordinary Art Deco pendant offered by Pauline’s Jewellery Box: a platinum, emerald, and diamond necklace, crafted in France between 1920 and 1930. The centerpiece is a 13.44-carat Colombian pear-shaped emerald, set with old mine diamonds totaling approximately 3 carats, in a play of luminous contrasts that conveys the geometric elegance of Art Deco.
The Castellani necklace, presented by Véronique Bamps, dates back to the 19th century. Dating back to around 1870, it evokes the archaeology of goldsmithing with a choker of gilded vine leaf fringes and bunches of white glass grapes: a direct tribute to the legacy of ancient art, which dialogues with Roman and Pompeian models. The exquisite Cartier necklace clasp presented by Cabinet of Curiosities – Honorable Silver Objects dates back to the 1970s: 18-karat yellow gold, diamonds, and onyx intertwine in a jewel of refined simplicity, originally commissioned by a Belgian family and now returned to the attention of international collectors.
The Italian presence is no less significant. The Barbara Bassi gallery in Cremona, founded in 1982, brings necklaces and masterpieces by Buccellati, Bulgari, and Chaumet to Brussels, as well as a precious collection of artist jewelry, true wearable sculptures by Melotti, Arman, Pomodoro, and Picasso. Vkd Jewels by Aimée & Fleur van Kranendonk Duffels, with boutiques in Milan, stands out for its necklaces and vintage creations of rare elegance, exhibited with a careful eye on their cultural significance. Finally, Nardi di Venezia, an icon of Piazza San Marco since 1926, continues to enchant with its necklaces and jewelry that combine goldsmith art and Venetian tradition.
BRAFA ART FAIR 2026
Sunday, January 25 – Sunday, February 1, 2026
Brussels Expo, Pl. de Belgique 1, Brussels
Hours: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm (Thursdays until 10:00 pm)
Admission: €25, under 16 free, €10 for children 16-26.
Catalog €20.
Info and tickets: www.brafa.art
