SPEAKERS
JOSÉ ALBERTO RIBEIRO
Director
Ajuda National Palace
PORTUGAL
José Alberto has been director of the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda since 2013 and, since 2022, director of the Museu do Tesouro Real (Royal Treasure Museum), with other executive duties at the Biblioteca da Ajuda, Galeria D. Luis and Sala dos Sereníns. He was also director of Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves, Lisboa (between 2006 and 2013) where one of his milestones was the curatorship of a successful exhibition about the Exhile of Queen Amélia de Orléans e de Bragança, visiting professor of Art History at the University of Lisbon and president of ICOM Portugal from 2014 until 2020.
With more than 40 publications as author and co-autor, José Alberto made his PhD at Lisbon University with e thesis on Queen Amélie de Orléans. His multiple qualifications in the art museum and patrimony sectors also include Royal Collection Studies at The Attingham Trust for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections, Windsor- United Kingdom, a post-graduation degree in Cultural Management and Enterperneurship at ISCTE/Business School, a course in Cultural Economics at the International Summer School and a Masters in Art History and Conservation that followed his college studies in Art History at Lisbon University.
CAROLINE DE GUITAUT
Surveyor of The King’s Works of Art
Royal Collection Trust
UNITED KINGDOM
Caroline de Guitaut is Surveyor of The King’s Works of Art at Royal Collection Trust, where she is head of the Decorative Arts department. The department consists of 28 members of staff including curators, conservators and collections management teams. Under her care is a collection of over 700,000 works of art, located in 15 royal residences which includes furniture, sculpture, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, arms and armour and jewellery including the Crown Jewels. Caroline sits on the Operations Board, the senior leadership team of Royal Collection Trust responsible for managing the day to day operations of the Charity.
She has curated many Royal Collection exhibitions at The Queen’s galleries in London and Edinburgh as well as at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle and has published widely on aspects of the Royal Collection, particularly fashion, jewellery, Russian decorative art and royal collecting.
DR. JEFFREY E. POST
Curator Emeritus
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Dr. Jeffrey Edward Post received Bachelor of Science degrees in geology and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville, and his Ph.D. in geochemistry from Arizona State University. Prior to joining the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History in 1984, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University. He was Chairman of the Department of Mineral Sciences 1989-1994 and 2014-2019, and from 1991 to 2023 served as Curator-in-Charge of the National Gem and Mineral Collection. Dr. Post was the lead Curator for the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals that opened in 1997. In May 2023 he was appointed research curator, emeritus. He has published more than 150 scientific articles and is author of The National Gem Collection, and the recently published: The Smithsonian National Gem Collection—Unearthed: Surprising Stories Behind the Jewels.
DR. USHA R. BALAKRISHNAN
Independent Scholar
INDIA
Dr. Usha R Balakrishnan, based in Mumbai, is a highly regarded independent scholar and historian specializing in Indian art and jewellery. With a Ph.D. in Ancient Indian Culture and a post-doctoral degree in Museum Studies from NYU, her expertise is unparalleled. Her seminal work includes Dance of the Peacock: Jewellery Traditions of India, reflecting on India’s 5000-year history of adornment, and Jewels of the Nizams, a government-commissioned documentation of the Nizam of Hyderabad’s royal treasures. Other publications include Diamonds Across Time, Enduring Splendor: Jewelry of India’s Thar Desert, India: Jewels that Enchanted the World, etc. Silver & Gold: Visions of Arcadia: The Amrapali Collection of Indian Jewellery is forthcoming.
Usha’s contributions extend to curating significant exhibitions like the Museum of Meenakari Heritage at Jaipur, Enduring Splendor at UCLA’s Fowler Museum and Shringara: Adornment at Mumbai’s CSMVS Museum. She has also been instrumental in curating jewellery conferences, offering insights into India’s vast and ancient jewelled heritage.
PEDRO GIRÃO
Chairman Emeritus
International Advisory Board
Christie’s
UNITED KINGDOM
Pedro is an art expert, having worked for Christie’s, the auction house established in London in 1766, for over 30 years. During those years, Pedro met with private collectors, royalty and celebrities that looked into selling or collecting exquisite works of art, namely jewellery and also rare gemstones.
DR. ELOÏSE GAILLOU
Director and Curator
Mineralogy Museum
Paris School of Mines
FRANCE
Dr. Eloïse Gaillou is director and curator of the Mineralogy Museum of «l’École des Mines de Paris» (Paris School of Mines), now known as Mines Paris - PSL. After a Master degree in Geology / Petrology, she received her PhD in Material Sciences at the University of Nantes (France) studying opals. She combined her PhD with a DUG (Diplôme d’Université de Gemmologie), beginning her work on diamonds. Dr. Gaillou continued studying diamonds during her postdoc at the Smithsonian, then at the Carnegie Institution, both in Washington, DC. She took the position of associate curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 2012, before eventually heading back to France in 2015 to take the position of associated curator at the School of Mines, where she oversaw the collection of 100,000 specimens and took care of the permanent and temporary exhibits. She took the position of Director of the museum in January 2024.
Dr. Gaillou is the author of more than forty articles, notably on opal and diamonds. She regularly gives lectures in France and abroad for scientists, connoisseurs or beginners. Dr. Gaillou is currently the French National Representative for IMA - Commission on Museums and member of the Board of the Society of Mineral Museum Professionals (SMMP). She is a member of the MSA (Mineralogical Society of America), of the MetSoc (Meteoritical Society), of the SGF (Geological Society of France) and of the SFMC (French Society of Mineralogy and Crystallography).
JONAS JÜCKSTOCK
Head of Conservation
Munich Residence
Bavarian Administration of Palaces, Gardens and Lakes
GERMANY
After two years of internship at the Hamburg Museum and the Bavarian National Museum the study of restoration, art technologies and conservation- science followed and was completed with a diploma in 2012. The thesis focussed on the conservation of very fragile objects and delicate surfaces by ultrathin layers of polymers in vaccum deposition and was carried out in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institut. A period of six month of working in Ringve Museum in Trondheim, Norway and of two years at the metal restoration at the bavarian national museum followed.At the end of 2015, the PhD thesis had already started, the call for the treasury came and could be answered in 2016. In 2018 the promotion to head of conservation department arts and crafts, ceramics and treasures followed. Ever since the first experience working as a restorer, any given opportunity to work as freelancer or independently was utilised to improve the skills, knowledge and network.
PETER KRISTIANSEN
Curator
Rosenborg Castle
DENMARK
Peter Kristiansen is curator of the Royal Danish Collections at the Rosemborg Castle, Copenhagen, having worked in the museum since 1992. Peter, with a masters degree in Architectural History at KADK - Kunstakademiets Arkitektskol, was also curator of the Nationalmuseet.
DR. GAETANO CAVALIERI
President
CIBJO - The World Jewellery Confederation
ITALY
One of the most prominent leaders in the international jewellery industry today, Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri has served for more than 20 years as president of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation. Uniting national jewellery and gemstone associations from more than 40 countries, and including many of the industry’s major corporations and international associations, CIBJO is the industry’s oldest international organization, having been established in 1926. It covers the entire jewellery, gemstone and precious metals sectors from mine to marketplace, within each of the component sectors in the various production, manufacturing and trading centres.
As president of CIBJO, Dr. Cavalieri was responsible in July 2006 for the organization receiving “Special Consultative Status” with United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), making it the first and only jewellery and gemstone representative to be officially recognized by the international body. Together with the United Nations, he established the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), which is responsible for promoting Corporate Social Responsibility education in the international jewellery and gemstone industries.
In addition to being president of CIBJO, Dr. Cavalieri has served as president of the Italian Federation of Gold, Silver and Jewellery Wholesalers, has been a member of the International Executive Council of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), a member of the Goldsmiths’ Company of London, a member of the European Assay Association, a member of the International Coloured Gemstone Association (ICA), and chief financial officer of the World Diamond Council.
Dr. Cavalieri was a consultant to the Italian Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Welfare, and to the European Economic Commission in the areas of harmonization of standards and value added tax (VAT) on gold. He is a consultant to trade fair organizers across Europe, specializing in the luxury industries, and was chief of the International Relations Office of Confcommercio (Italian General Trade Organization), a delegate to the Commission of Foreign Trade, a member of the board of the Italian Trade Commission, and an Italian representative to the World Trade Organization and the Transatlantic Business Dialogue.
JORGE LEITÃO
Leitão & Irmão Joalheiros
PORTUGAL
Representative of the 5th generation of jewellers at Leitão & Irmão, established in 1822, Jorge has been steering the family business for more than four decades. Heir of a two-century tradition in manufacturing jewellery and silver, exalted by Emperor Pedro II of Brazil with the title of "Goldsmith of the Imperial House of Brazil" in 1872 and, later in 1887, the title of "Jewellers of the Crown" by King Luis I of Portugal, the Maison Leitão under Jorge’s leadership has continued this legacy of manufacturing excellence and Portuguese heritage inspired narratives in almost all its statement masterpieces, from the maritime-related instrument replicas from the time of the discoveries to devotional artefacts, including jewelled crowns of Our Lady of Fatima and the Rosary of Light introduced in 1999 for Pope John Paul II.
LAURENT DHENNEQUIN
Director of Cabinet
Comité Colbert
FRANCE
After studying and teaching archeology at La Sorbonne University (France) and Gutenberg University in Mainz (Germany), Laurent Dhennequin joined in 2008 the Comité Colbert, the association that brings together 95 French luxury houses, 18 cultural institutions and 6 European members. Initially chief of staff, he became Director of Cabinet in 2020. In 2022, he successfully completed the Cycle of Advanced European Studies at the Institut National du Service Public (National Institute of Public Service), formerly ENA.
He is responsible for the association's institutional events and external relations, particularly in regulatory issues in France and internationally. Since 2020, he also leads the studies initiated by the Comité on the luxury sector.
EMMANUELLE AMIOT
Research Manager
L'École - School of Jewellery Arts
FRANCE
Emmanuelle Amiot is Research Manager at L'École des Arts Joailliers since 2022.
She received the Musée d'Orsay prize in 2006, then published her PhD in 2007. She has worked for international and French museums such as the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée Marmottan-Monet, for which she curated the exhibition in 2019 "L'Orient des Peintres". She taught at the Prépa du Patrimoine in La Sorbonne University for 13 years and with Warwick University and the IESA (Institut d’Etudes Supérieures des Arts) in London and Paris till 2021. She has been the Academic Director of the Centre d'Études d'Histoire de l'Art (CEHA) in Chatou until 2022.
FRANCISCO CARVALHEIRA
Secretary General
LAUREL - Portuguese Association Brands of Excellence
PORTUGAL
Francisco, has dedicated his life to the luxury, excellence, premium and corporate markets with his expertise in marketing, strategy and sales. Currently serving as visiting professor at Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics and Teacher at Luxury Management and as Secretary-general of Laurel - Associação Portuguesa de Marcas de Excelência (Portuguese Association Brands of Excellence), he is also board member of ECCIA (European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance). As an executive, has worked at Heron Aviation, NetJets Europe, Aeroneo, GV Executive, Heliportugal, Grupo BCP, Brandia, SIRAM Turismo, Turismo da Natureza and Alcatel.