TEFAF New York returns with five jewelry specialists at Park Avenue Armory

TEFAF New York opened at the Park Avenue Armory with 88 exhibitors, but jewelry was one of the fair’s clearest signals of intent. Didier Ltd., FD Gallery, Forms, Hemmerle and Ana Khouri gave the 2026 edition a five-dealer jewelry spine, turning necklaces, brooches and sculptural adornments into objects meant for scrutiny, not just styling.

That mattered because TEFAF is not a fashion fair in art-cloth disguise. The New York edition filled the Armory’s 16 historic period rooms, the only art fair there allowed to activate those spaces, and the setting pushed jewelry into the same frame as modern art, design and antiquities. The invitation-only collectors’ preview on May 14 set the tone before the fair opened May 15 and drew its audience into a world where connoisseurship is the point.

The mix of exhibitors made the category feel deliberately layered. Didier Ltd. and FD Gallery anchored the historical and vintage side of the story, while Hemmerle brought the authority of a heritage house whose work collectors already treat as miniature sculpture. Ana Khouri kept the presentation contemporary, a reminder that TEFAF New York has always leaned more current than its Maastricht sibling even as it makes room for cultural antiquities and high jewelry. Forms supplied the kind of opulent presentation most likely to break through beyond the usual fair crowd, because pieces of that scale and finish read as collectible art first and adornment second.

TEFAF said the 2026 edition gathered 88 leading exhibitors from 14 countries across four continents, with nine new exhibitors, 78 returning dealers and four rejoining after an absence. The roster was slightly smaller than 2025’s 91 exhibitors, a reduction that made the lineup feel more selective than sparse. Leanne Jagtiani, the fair’s director, has framed exhibitors as TEFAF New York’s core strength, and this year’s mix backed up that argument with uncommon clarity.

Founded in early 2016 and now staged as a single annual spring fair, TEFAF New York has sharpened its identity around discovery. In 2026, jewelry did not sit at the margin of that mission. It stood near the center of it, presented as collectible culture in precious metal, stone and form.