Diamond Guild Australia welcomed internationally renowned jewellery expert Katerina Perez to Sydney for two exclusive industry events, combining an intimate evening of conversation at Park Hyatt Sydney with a dedicated Instagram masterclass the following day.
Sydney’s jewellery industry gathered at the Park Hyatt Sydney on 12 August for An Evening with Katerina Perez, an opportunity to hear directly from one of the world’s most respected and influential voices in fine and high jewellery.
The event formed part of Perez’s first Australian appearance with Diamond Guild Australia and coincided with her role as a judge for the 9th Diamond Guild Australia Jewellery Awards. Perez joined Dr Brandon Gien and industry technical adviser Lester Brand on the judging panel, bringing an international perspective to one of Australia’s leading diamond jewellery design competitions.
An evening of jewellery, creativity and conversation
Against the backdrop of Sydney Harbour, guests enjoyed drinks and food before settling in for an intimate discussion exploring jewellery, creativity, international trends, storytelling and the rapidly changing role of social media within the industry.
Following the hospitality, Janelle O’Connell of Calleija Jewellers and Diamond Guild Australia thanked the event’s sponsors and supporters before introducing Laura Moore from the Jewellery Industry Network, who facilitated the evening’s conversation with Perez.
It was a fitting pairing. The Jewellery Industry Network has built its own reputation around education, resources and connection within the Australasian jewellery trade, while Perez has spent more than a decade demonstrating the power of storytelling to connect exceptional jewellery with a global audience.
Perez’s career has taken her from working with prestigious jewellery houses including Tiffany & Co., Chaumet, Asprey and Boghossian to becoming an internationally recognised jewellery journalist, author, curator, luxury consultant and digital content creator. Through KaterinaPerez.com and her highly influential social media platforms, she has championed exceptional craftsmanship, discovered emerging designers and helped introduce remarkable jewels and their makers to audiences around the world.
Her international experience provided the foundation for a wide-ranging conversation with Moore.
Having visited virtually every major jewellery fair around the world, Perez was asked to share the trends and broader movements she is currently seeing emerge internationally, as well as the creative directions she believes Australian jewellers should have on their radar.
The discussion then moved from jewellery itself to one of the industry’s most important business challenges – how jewellers communicate their work in an increasingly digital marketplace.
Moore asked Perez about the biggest misconceptions jewellery businesses have about social media and what the world’s most successful jewellery brands are doing differently when it comes to storytelling.
For jewellers producing beautiful work but struggling to communicate its value online, the conversation also addressed a particularly relevant question: where should they begin?
It is a challenge that extends well beyond simply posting attractive photographs. Jewellery is inherently visual, but successful digital storytelling must also communicate the craftsmanship, inspiration, rarity, personality and human skill behind a piece. Perez has built much of her international following by placing these stories alongside exceptional imagery and treating jewellery as an art form rather than simply an object of adornment.
The formal conversation concluded on a lighter note with a series of rapid-fire questions, giving guests another glimpse into Perez’s personal preferences and perspective on the jewellery world.
From inspiration to practical education
The conversation continued the following day, this time with a distinctly practical focus.
On 13 August, Diamond Guild Australia hosted an exclusive Instagram masterclass with Perez at The Gallery at Park Hyatt Sydney, designed specifically to help jewellery businesses strengthen their digital presence. Diamond Guild Australia promoted the event as Perez’s first Australian masterclass and an opportunity for the trade to learn strategies for effectively selling and communicating jewellery through Instagram.
Drawing on years of experience building an international jewellery audience, Perez shared her approach to creating Instagram accounts that are not only visually beautiful, but engaging, consistent and commercially relevant.
For jewellery businesses, that distinction is increasingly important. Instagram can function simultaneously as a shop window, portfolio, publishing platform and relationship-building tool, allowing independent designers and retailers to communicate directly with consumers well beyond the boundaries of their physical stores.
Perez’s own digital education work emphasises the importance of having a defined brand story, structured content strategy and clear understanding of how social media activity supports broader business objectives rather than posting without direction.
For Australian jewellers attending the Sydney masterclass, the opportunity was therefore about more than learning how to create an attractive Instagram feed. It was an opportunity to consider how the craftsmanship and expertise that already exist within their businesses can be translated into stories capable of attracting attention, building trust and creating stronger relationships with customers online.
Bringing a global perspective to Australian jewellery
Perez’s Sydney visit also represented something broader for the local trade.
Australia has no shortage of accomplished jewellers, designers, gem specialists and craftspeople. Yet in an increasingly international and digitally connected jewellery market, producing exceptional work is only part of the equation. Businesses must also know how to articulate what makes that work exceptional.
By bringing an international jewellery communicator of Perez’s standing to Australia, Diamond Guild Australia provided the local industry with access to both global perspective and practical knowledge.
The timing was particularly significant given Perez’s involvement with the 2026 Diamond Guild Australia Jewellery Awards. With more than 500,000 Instagram followers and experience judging and speaking at major international jewellery events, her participation gives Australian designers an opportunity for their work to be viewed through an international lens.
Across the two Sydney events, one message was particularly relevant to today’s jewellery industry: exceptional craftsmanship remains fundamental, but the ability to tell the story behind that craftsmanship has become an increasingly valuable skill.
From an evening discussing the future of jewellery to a masterclass examining the mechanics of communicating it online, Diamond Guild Australia’s program with Katerina Perez brought those two worlds together – celebrating the artistry of jewellery while helping Australian businesses consider how that artistry can be shared with audiences around the world.
Upcoming Events:
-Diamond Guild Australia 2026 Award pieces on display at the 2026 Jewellery Industry Fair in Sydney – October 10th & 11th.
-Diamond Guild Australia awards night – October 14th
