On Sunday, a good part of the American jewelry trade will be looking south, to Lafayette, Louisiana. Stuller, the manufacturer behind countless engagement ring mountings, findings and tools on the benches of independent jewelers, opens its doors for Bridge, its three-day conference on the business of selling fine jewelry. The Carat Post will be there, and this is what we expect to find.
At a glance
- Dates: September 27–29, 2026, with a second edition October 11–13.
- Where: Stuller’s global headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana.
- Who attends: Store owners, emerging professionals, designers and independent jewelers.
- Headline themes: AI and the jewelry buyer, custom design, repair as a profit center, and the trend cycle.
What is Stuller’s Bridge conference?
Bridge is Stuller’s education and networking event for jewelry professionals. Over three days, attendees move between business sessions, hands-on electives and a demo floor set inside the company’s working manufacturing facility, which gives the event something most trade shows cannot offer: a view of how the pieces are actually made.
What is on the Bridge 2026 schedule?
Sunday opens with a welcome reception and a keynote titled “The Power of Thinking Again,” followed by dinner.
Monday begins with an industry insights briefing. The two morning sessions set the tone for the week: “The AI Shift: How AI Is Changing Jewelry Buying” and “The Custom Catalyst: Trends, Technology and Opportunity.” The afternoon belongs to the demo floor, shopping and electives, including diamond grading, applying special finishes, a colored gemstone workshop called “Color My World,” and facility tours.
Tuesday starts with “The Jewelry Market: Shifts, Trends and Opportunities,” then two sessions that speak to the everyday economics of a store: “Beyond the Repair: Turning Service Into Profit and Loyalty” and “The Trend Cycle: Past, Present, Future.” The demo floor runs through stations on bench work, CAD and custom, gemology, the Gemological Institute of America, GemVision, hand sketching, photography, SEO, social media and visual merchandising.
Why it matters this year
The agenda reads like a map of the questions facing independent jewelers in 2026. How will clients shop when an AI assistant does the first round of research? How much of the business will become made-to-order? And can the repair counter, long treated as a courtesy, become a reason customers return? Stuller has been answering some of this in product: its Mountings 2026–2027 catalog added more than 400 new mounting styles, nearly 500 bridal options and new lab-grown diamond semi-set sections.
A brief history of Stuller
Matthew Stuller founded the company in Lafayette in 1970, and it has grown into one of the industry’s principal manufacturers and suppliers for jewelry professionals worldwide. Bridge itself returned in 2022 after a pause that began in 2019, and it now runs twice each fall.
The most interesting jewelry conversations of the season may happen beside a workbench, not a showcase.
What we will be watching
We will be listening for how Stuller sees AI reshaping the path to purchase, what the custom sessions reveal about demand for personal, one-of-one pieces, and how the lab-grown category is being positioned for the year ahead. Look for our full report from Lafayette after the conference.
Frequently asked questions
When is Stuller Bridge 2026?
The first edition runs September 27–29, 2026, and the second runs October 11–13, 2026.
Where is Bridge held?
At Stuller’s global headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Sources: Stuller, Bridge · Stuller, Events and Trainings · Stuller, Mountings 2026–2027 · Stuller, Bridge returns (2022) · Bridge 2026 event schedule
