The Swinging Necklace reversible choker by Marie Mas, in gold, quartz, amethyst and topaz, on show ... [+] at PAD Paris this week.

PAD art and design fair is back in Paris April 5-10, for the first time since the covid pandemic forced the world's first contemporary design salon online. Modern art and antique 20th century furniture shares space with collectible design and jewelry in the Jardins des Tuileries this week, and a host of independent jewelry designers are garnering interest amongst the fair's design-led audience.

With around 70 exhibitors, PAD is one of the few international design fairs to include jewelry alongside other decorative arts, erasing the common perception that art with a function is of lesser importance than that without. Absent from the show this year due to new post-Brexit import-export regulations, are UK-based exhibitors who now prefer to show in London in the Fall, but the mainly Europe-based exhibitor list includes galleries and individual designers like Walid Akkad, returning with a standalone exhibit, and US-represented Indian jewelry artist Neha Dani, showing her exquisite collection in Paris for the first time. 5 Octobre is also back, along with established Paris galleries like Karry Berreby and Negropontes, and the Beautiful Watch, a Monaco and France-based vintage luxury watch specialist.

The Monal earrings by Neha Dani; tanzanite, diamonds, blue and pink sapphires, on show at PAD Paris.

Second Pétale, the Paris-based online jewelry gallery run by Arina Pouzoullic, is at the show for the first time, representing contemporary designers including Marie Mas and MAD by Alex Dumas. Pouzoullic, who masterminded the Jewelry Talents of Today curation with Christie's, sees the fair as an opportunity for dialog with a multi-generational audience and is excited to be showing: "to premiere at PAD only after three years in the business is an important endorsement; the fair is a great stage from which to communicate my passion to international audiences and an important link between the Collector and the Art."

"People come to marvel at the unique, authentic, new and different. I believe that collectors don't just collect the object, but also the story of that object: PAD provides the arena and the context to tell that story to the public," says Pouzoullic, whose stand was one of the busiest on the opening night. "Moreover, within the context of grave world events, opportunities to connect with beauty have become rare. They are very important; I believe art can be a cultural lifebuoy."

Read on for eight pieces that made me stop for a closer look, at PAD Paris.

Pyramid ring, gold and diamonds, by Dries Criel for Bare, on show at PAS Paris.

The precision of Dries Criel's work comes from years of rigorous training as a dancer, nourished by his interest in architecture and art to create strikingly modern genderless jewelry handcrafted in Antwerp, Belgium. Inspired by Egyptology, the peaks and pleats of the Pyramid ring are accented with diamonds to create a sharp statement piece that feels gentle on the body.

A gold and ruby ring by Cassiers, from the Formula X collection, on show at PAD Paris.

The sculptural work of Hermien Cassiers is the result of this math fiend's precise mathematical formulas, which dictate the angles and shape of each chain link in her woven gold jewelry, making each one soft and flexible, almost spongey to the touch. Part of the Formula X collection, exclusively for Carpenter Workshop Gallery, the stones in this ruby ring are woven into the gold wire, held in place by an intricate system of tiny links.

Represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery

The Swinging Earrings reversible earrings by Marie Mas, in gold with quartz amethyst and topaz

Marie Cabirou has perfected her artistry around a kinetic jewelry concept that marries exceptional craftsmanship with an exploration of movement that has been a design obsession since she started her brand in 2015. The topazes, amethysts and quartz on the Swinging Earrings are set back to back as completely mobile teardrops, while dual foldable ear posts make them reversible, so the teardrops can also fall to show the contrasting underside. Freedom in jewelry form.

The Loriini bracelet by Neha Dani, in titanium with emeralds, diamonds, tsavorite garnet, pink and ... [+] blue sapphires, on show at PAD Paris.

Neha Dani's exquisitely crafted jewels are so meticulously thought-out, that each piece takes several months - sometimes years - to produce. The Indian-born jewelry designer's work is sculptural and colorful; her most recent pieces form the La Pluma collection, designed and produced during the coronavirus pandemic, are inspired by birds and the loss of freedom during lockdown, like the Loriini bracelet, above. "I would watch birds soaring high," says the designer, "and I began to think about aspirations and freedom and what the loss of that freedom means." A note of post-pandemic positivity at the first face-to-face PAD Fair since 2019, executed to breathtaking effect.

The Hokusai's Wave ring by MAD Joaillerie, in gold and silver with sapphires, emeralds and diamonds, ... [+] on show at PAD Paris.

After five years at the bench for one of the world's most illustrious jewelry artists, Alix Dumas has only been making her wearable art under her own name since 2020, but the pandemic hasn't been a barrier to success. She rarely sketches, preferring instead to sculpt directly in the materials themselves, and her meticulously crafted jewels have already been on show at Christie's and won her several awards. The Hokusai Wave ring captures the essence of the original artwork in graceful curves of sapphires and diamonds set into a latticework of silver that Dumas spent many hours hand-sawing. "It would be near-impossible to achieve such delicate negative space using wax casting," she told me.

An azurite malachite ring by 5 Octobre, 14k gold, an azurite malachite cabochon and diamonds, on ... [+] show at PAD Paris.

In Sophie Pfeffer's jewels, the focus is firmly on the stones, arranged in soft color combinations that invite easy elegance. In her signature multi-stone drop earrings cut and polished gems are carefully pierced for mounting, rather than set into metal, keeping the focus firmly on the stones themselves. She favours more unusual gems, like the simply mounted ring of azurite malachite cabochon surrounded by diamonds, above: "it looks like a landscape, or a painting," she said.

The Pencil Shavings earrings by Luz Camino, in gold with sapphires.

The first woman to qualify as a Master Jeweler in Spain, Luz Camino's creations are infused with the light and vibrancy of her home country. She used brightly colored stones to explore themes often rooted in nature and the grace of everyday object. Here, the delicate wooden whorls of pencils shavings are picked out in gold and sapphires: "the challenge was to create a piece that really looked fragile and resembled wood," she says, an idea that "suddenly came to me, as obvious and straightforward." Several of her pieces at PAD Paris, are on show in Europe for the first time.

Gold earrings showcasing Walid Akkad's love of the curves and ovals which make his jewelry so ... [+] comfortable.

Walid Akkad has made elegant, architectural jewelry his calling card, designed to accentuate the forms of the body rather than take over. This former Place Vendôme jeweler uses stones judiciously, to accent his signature clean curves, making comfort a priority by working with the body to create oval bangles, chains that drape over the collarbone and rings that slip easily onto fingers. These gold statement earrings make a chic statement in highly polished gold rimmed with diamonds.

PAD Paris runs until April 10, at the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris.