The House
Our philosophy
The rarest assets demand more than admiration: they demand certainty.
We bring discipline back to the decision through independence, method, and precision. Our work is deliberately selective. We engage where we can create real control: rigorous evaluation, defensible documentation, and guidance that is built for the long horizon. What we deliver is not simply an acquisition. It is a decision made safer — and a rare object held with confidence, today and for the legacy it may carry.
Because the defining question isn’t “How rare is it?” It’s “Can I trust it, fully?”
The name, our essence
The name Kaliris is formed from two Ancient Greek words, and it reflects both what we offer and how we operate:
καλός (kalós) — beautiful or noble — points to the extraordinary beauty of the stones we curate, and equally to the integrity that guides every engagement.
Ἶρις (Îris) — the embodiment of the rainbow — evokes the remarkable range of colour that makes each gemstone unique, and mirrors the individuality of the service we shape around each client.
Our mission
We help collectors, families, and institutions acquire, manage, and transmit truly rare gemstones with absolute confidence.
We combine uncompromising gemmological and market expertise with meticulous documentation and discreet, client-first guidance.
Our values, set in stone
Rarity
Trust
Integrity
Integrity is non-negotiable. We act in the client’s best interest, disclose conflicts, communicate with clarity, and choose accuracy over acceleration. We preserve reputation as carefully as value.
Discretion
Discretion is designed into how we operate. We protect privacy, limit exposure, and share information strictly on a need-to-know basis — ensuring every interaction remains entirely controlled and secure.
Our vision
To be the world’s most trusted steward of exceptional rarity — setting the standard for how the rarest gemstones are discovered, verified, curated, and passed on.
The founders
Danièle von Ballmoos
Danièle’s fascination with coloured stones began in childhood, though her career started elsewhere.
For more than twenty-five years she worked in private banking and asset management, in senior positions in financial institutions, and later as a partner at independent asset managers in New York and Zurich. Over that time she observed a growing interest in real, tangible assets as a means of preserving wealth across generations.
Gemstones drew her all along. Between roles and on her travels, she visited mines in Sri Lanka, spent long hours in the gem-trading offices of Bangkok and Jaipur. She handled hundreds of stones, from tourmalines and garnets to fine sapphires, and learned how rough is cut in India. Trading families became friends; her knowledge grew with each visit. In parallel, she started gemmological studies at GIA.
To Kaliris she brings a wealth manager’s sense for exceptional assets — and the relationships of a long career among those who seek and preserve them.
Federico Salvaggio
Federico’s path to Kaliris went through a long, deliberate preparation, pursued in parallel to his career.
After graduate business studies, he spent close to two decades in senior commercial roles across Europe in the fashion and luxury industry, working closely with many of the houses that define it. From there, he watched attention shift towards short-term trends, and real, lasting value grow rarer.
Gemstones, meanwhile, were pursued with rigour from the start, through formal study at GIA, international trade shows, and stones acquired one by one: the foundation of an ongoing programme of field training and gemmological education. Over the years he built a network of producers, gem dealers, and craftsmen grounded in trust. Relationships that remain central to how he works.
To Kaliris he brings an eye for luxury that lasts — and the partnerships with the makers and houses he has worked beside for years.