The new showcase dedicated to Italian jewelry design is set for Oct. 29-30.
Award-Winning Jewelry Designer Jose Hess Dies at 87
He led many industry organizations during his career and was a champion of American designer jewelry.

The award-winning designer’s impact resounded beyond just the scope of his art, impacting many in the jewelry world, particularly through his championing of branded jewelry.
According to a statement from CIBJO and his obituary, Hess was born in 1933.
His Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1938, settling in Colombia, where immigration officials changed his given name, “Josef,” to “Jose.”
He began working in the jewelry industry at the age of 14 to support his family after both his parents fell ill. He worked under a Viennese goldsmith, who had also fled Nazi Germany, learning to fabricate jewelry and set gemstones by hand.
At 17 he immigrated to the United States, continuing to work in various jewelry jobs while also finishing high school and taking gemology courses at the Gemological Institute of America.
He earned a degree at The Mechanics Institute of the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York, then served four years in the U.S. military before becoming a full-time jeweler for David Webb.
In 1958, he pursued a career under his own name, which was difficult given stores’ reluctance to credit designers’ work as their own brands, as was common with clothing at the time too.
To help establish himself as a brand in his own right, Hess entered design competitions.
By 1963 he had garnered his first award, a De Beers Diamonds International Award for a gold and diamond leaf pin.
During his career he won more than a dozen awards from the diamond miner and marketer, as well as two International Gold Corp. Certificate of Merits and a Spectrum Award from the American Gem Trade Association.
Hess was deeply embedded in the American and international jewelry communities, championing independent, branded fine jewelry and often mentoring other designers and industry players.
He was on the board of the Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA), and a president of the Plumb Club and the 24 Karat Club of the City of New York.
He was a founder of the American Jewelry Design Council, as well as the Contemporary Jewelry Design Group, and taught at FIT.
Hess also was the first American to be elected president of CIBJO, serving two terms from 1997 through 2000.
Current CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri commented: “Jose is a one of a handful of people whom one can truly describe as having changed our industry, and he left it a better place.
“In so many respects I owe my position to him, for it was he that, more than 20 years ago, insisted that, if I really wanted to make a mark, I needed to devote myself to public service. I succeeded him as president, but he never left my side. He was my role model, my mentor and my friend.”
Hess is survived by his wife of 33 years, Magdalena “Maggie” Hess, who is also a jewelry designer and continues her husband’s eponymous line.
He is also survived by their four children, Lawrence, Francine, Aaron and Josef, and four grandchildren.
Cavalieri continued: “Jose was compassionate and generous, with a keen sense of humanity and community. In so many ways he embodied the cosmopolitan industry of which we are all part, with a strong feeling of pride of where he came from and remarkable degree of comfort in all the places that life had taken him, from Europe to South America and then to the United States, which he loved dearly.
“He also was a brilliant jeweler, raising the level of our craft to fine art. Our thoughts are of him, and with Maggie and his family.”
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Jewelry Design Council, P.O. Box 1149, Hermitage, PA, 16148.
A private memorial service is planned in Florida.
The Latest

Take a gaze at the sky with this pair of platinum diamond-set star earrings with blue lace agate drops.

The new high jewelry design and production process takes 30 days or less from concept to completion, the auction house said.

You deserve to know what you are selling–to protect your customers as well as your business and your reputation.

The holiday catalog for 2025 features never-before-seen images of more than 100 one-of-a-kind masterpieces.


The brand has released a second installment of its collection of traditional and non-traditional commitment heirlooms.

Corey rescued New England chain Day’s Jewelers, preserving its legacy with strong people skills, pragmatism, and a “get-it-done” attitude.

The upcoming show provides savvy retailers with the opportunity to stock their cases with best sellers in advance of the holiday season.

Charles Robinson Shay was sentenced to life in prison plus 120 years while his accomplice, Michael James McCormack, got 75 years.

The Museum of Arts and Design's new exhibition features 75 pieces by the designer, best known for her work in the “Black Panther” films.

Timepieces at Luxury will take place at The Venetian and, like Luxury, will be invitation-only for the first two days.

The auction house named a new global head of jewelry, as well as a new head of the jewelry department for the Americas.

As chairman of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers, Tom Dixon has been tasked with honoring the past and shaping the future of the family-run store.

Katty Villapando Lyte and Mica Rencher received a $10,000 grant for their business, Shimmer Culture LLC.

The parents of the Dallas Mavericks rookie bought their engagement ring at a Day’s store in Bangor, Maine, in 1997.

The UK-based brand sourced the gemstones, which are fully traceable, from an artisanal mining community in Tanzania.

The trio of Advent calendars include a version with 18-karat gold and lab-grown diamond jewelry in a red lacquer jewelry box.

Created in collaboration with Nymphenburg Porcelain, the lock is part of a four-piece collection that took two years to bring to fruition.

Jewelry industry veteran Alisa Bunger has taken on the role.

The company and industry leader’s two-decade tenure with De Beers will come to a close at the end of the month.

“The Winter Egg” set the world auction record for a Fabergé piece twice at previous Christie’s sales.

The company will pay 1.5x silver’s current spot price for each pound of silver oxide batteries submitted.

The line includes a “Shadow” series crafted exclusively for the new men’s offering and reimagined styles from the brand’s core collections.

The rough on offer was recovered from a newer area at the Montepuez mine.

The retailer’s new collection of engagement rings and fashion jewelry is set with natural diamonds that are traceable via blockchain.

The champagne colorway in her newest “Ombré” collection combines white and trendy brown diamonds, a departure from her usual vibrant hues.

Kosann partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to create a set of necklaces inspired by the artwork on samurai sword handguards.