Hong Kong International Jewellery Show opens.Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 36th HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show opened today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The five-day show (28 Feb to 4 March) has attracted 2,615 exhibitors from 38 countries and regions, among which Jordan, Latvia and Liechtenstein are taking part for the first time. Also new this year are pavilions from Mexico and Indonesia, bringing a new dimension to the event. The show presents a diverse array of finished jewellery, from the rarest and most luxurious to the exclusive collections of internationally renowned brands, as well as works from emerging designers, amber jewellery and wedding jewellery.
Meanwhile, the sixth HKTDC Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show, focusing on jewellery raw materials, opened on Tuesday (26 Feb) at AsiaWorld-Expo and runs until Saturday (2 March). Together, the two shows have attracted a record of more than 4,600 exhibitors from 48 countries and regions and continue to form the world’s largest jewellery marketplace.
Exhibitors from around the world; Japan as first-time partner country
HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau said: “By bringing together exhibitors from all corners of the world and showcasing the finest jewellery and jewellery raw materials, the two HKTDC shows serve not only as a one-stop promotion and sourcing platform for the industry, but also make Hong Kong a top jewellery trading and sourcing hub for buyers globally.” He added: “In the midst of the current economic instability, these jewellery trade shows help brace the industry for the challenges ahead.”
This year, with support from the Japan External Trade Organisation and the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong, the HKTDC has collaborated with the Japan Pearl Exporters’ Association and the Japan Pearl Promotion Society to invite Japan as the shows’ partner country for the first time, highlighting the country’s top-quality jewellery. Mr Chau pointed out that Japanese jewellery items, and the country’s pearl products in particular, have long been coveted in the market.
The Japan Pearl Exporters’ Association and the Japan Pearl Promotion Society have set up a Japan Pearl Jewellery Pavilion and Japan Pearl Pavilion at the Jewellery Show and Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show, respectively. About 130 exhibitors in the two pavilions are promoting Japan’s cultured pearls and pearl jewellery to buyers from around the world. Other than regular fine pearl jewellery, exhibitors also present the rare Tsushima Blue and Tsushima Green pearls, bringing new business opportunities to the trade.
New Avenue of Jewellery Creators presents Greater Bay Area creativity
A number of new themed zones have been added to the Jewellery Show this year, including the Avenue of Jewellery Creators set up by the Asia Pacific Creator Association to introduce jewellery designers from Hong Kong and Mainland China, with a particular focus on presenting culture, art and creativity from across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Pavilions from emerging markets such as Mexico and Indonesia are making their debut appearance to feature jewellery with a distinctive local flavour.
Among the new exhibitor groups in 2019 are Donghai, a county in Jiangsu province in the mainland famous for its crystal products, and Dongguan, a Guangdong city known for its fine silver jewellery. And the Hong Kong Jewellery & Jade Manufacturers Association and Italian Exhibition Group SpA are collaborating to present the “T-GOLD+METS” Pavilion, featuring professional jewellery and watchmaking machinery along with jewellery-making equipment, technology and supplies from international exhibitors. Other group pavilions are from France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and more.
Convergence of famous brands at Hall of Fame
Various themed zones have been set up to meet the sourcing needs of buyers, with the Hall of Fame continuing to attract some of the world’s most famous jewellery brands. Lao Feng Xiang (Booth No: CEC 3B-D06), a well-known brand in the mainland, brings to the show one of its latest gold necklace collections, The Feather of Phoenix − Ling Yu, which uses an innovative colour filament drawing technique and combines Chinese art and culture with exquisite craftsmanship. Other participating brands include Italy’s Giorgio Visconti (Booth No: CEC 3B-D14) and Japan’s Kuwayama (Booth No: CEC 3B-E08), as well as new participants such as Hong Kong’s Asia Star (Booth No: CEC 3B-F10), Japan’s Kawamura (Booth No: CEC 3B-E13), Russia’s Kabarovsky (Booth No: CEC 3B-E11) and the UK’s JT Jewellery Theatre (Booth No: CEC 3B-D18).
IT Solutions for Jewellery zone helps business expansion
Riding on the positive response to its debut last year, the IT Solutions for Jewellery zone returns in 2019 to show how the latest technologies can help jewellery companies increase their operational efficiency to stand out from the crowd. For example, the smart display shelves developed by Hong Kong’s Megasoft Limited (Booth No: CEC 5B-D24) use smart sensors to collect customer preference data to facilitate sales and bolster security. The jewellery chip technology developed by another Hong Kong company, Wenwen Technology (Booth No: CEC 5B-E35), can turn luxury jewellery into tools for communication, messaging or even emergency alerts. Wenwen’s waterproof smart chips can be embedded into high-density ceramics and gemstones, or set onto jewellery pieces such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Various other exhibitors introduce the latest management technologies for the industry, including solutions for jewellery designing, production and e-commerce, and Internet of Things (IoT) equipment suitable for use by jewellery companies.
Hall of Extraordinary spotlights jewellery masterpieces
The Hall of Extraordinary returns to the show, showcasing masterpieces from some 100 companies and continuing to be a crowd-pleaser. On display are a collection of striking, valuable and rare jewellery pieces. Paraiba tourmalines, considered the “king of tourmalines”, have been very much sought after in recent years. Dehres (Booth No: CEC GH-B02), an internationally renowned jewellery brand, is attracting attention with an exquisite ring adorned with a nine-carat Mozambique paraiba tourmaline stone with a deep blue hue. Jadmily Jewelry Corporation Limited, a Hong Kong company (Booth No: CEC GH-BO5), presents a jade necklace valued at HK$64 million. The oval centre stone of the necklace is a jadeite cabochon, weighing more than 50g, that was extracted from a top-tier ancient mine in Myanmar. Unique Brilliant Limited, another Hong Kong exhibitor (Booth No: CEC GH-C32), presents a 24.13-carat oval-cut padparadscha sapphire ring valued at more than HK$7 million.
Collector-grade showpieces at Chow Tai Fook’s “ARTRIUM”
Gemstones can be used to embellish personal jewellery as well as for fashioning into eye-catching showpieces. This year, the show is delighted to receive support from Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group in displaying a unique piece of treasure at the “ARTRIUM” in the Hall 3E entrance. The item, named Fantasia, features pure gold studded around a piece of petrified wood to create a unicorn, with the horn on the forehead made from a fire opal weighing 106.94 carats. This spectacular piece demonstrates the spirited, graceful form of the mythical creature, adding a new element of creativity to the show.
Uncovering creativity through design competitions
Continuing its rich tradition of fostering creativity in the local jewellery industry, the HKTDC has once again joined hands with four local jewellery industry associations to organise the 20th Hong Kong Jewellery Design Competition. Under the theme “Be Connected, Be United”, the competition called for entrants to demonstrate the idea of being connected and being united in their jewellery designs. There were close to 200 entries this year, with the winners being announced on 19 February. Also taking place this year is the biennial International Jewellery Design Excellence Award, an event often referred to as the “Oscars of the jewellery industry”, with the winners of the “Champion of the Champions” and other awards being announced at a prize presentation ceremony this evening. The winning designs from both competitions are exhibited in the Hall 1D concourse of the HKCEC during the show period so that global buyers can see the boundless creativity of local designers.
Vision-broadening forums and seminars
Every year the Jewellery Show features a broad range of activities and events aimed at providing more information to industry players at the same time as offering an opportunity for participants to network and exchange ideas. One key event is this evening’s Jewellery Gala Dinner, themed “Dionysus” after the Greek god of wine, with a menu designed by Edward Voon, Executive Chef of French restaurant LE PAN. The event will also be graced by actresses Carat Cheung and Toby Chan.
In view of the rising purchasing power of mainland consumers, and the increasingly frequent cooperation between the Hong Kong and mainland jewellery sectors, the National Gemstone Testing Centre and the Gems & Jewellery Trade Association of China ran a forum this afternoon titled “A Dialogue on Global Jewellery Industry and Standardisation − Openness and Integration for Mutual Success” to explore the future direction of cooperation between industry players from the two territories. Other forums and seminars are lined up during the show period to enable information sharing and discussion within the industry. Tomorrow (1 March) will see a jewellery industry forum, with a representative from Tencent explaining how artificial intelligence and big data can be used to increase sales. Other seminar topics include the latest developments in the internationalisation of the Fei Cui standard, laboratory observations of sapphires from Mogok, Myanmar and the gemology and market analysis of Myanmar rubies.
