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| Fleur d'amour by EJI of Hong Kong. |
HONG KONG—While the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair has grown to become the largest fine jewelry show in the world, it is not the place to introduce jewelry design trends. Baselworld in March and Las Vegas Jewelry Week in June serve as the trade shows where trends are established.
What the Hong Kong show has established is that it serves as the gateway to most of Asia, in particular the robust China and India markets. In addition to strong economies, countries in this region share an enthusiasm for jewelry. That’s why this industry trade show has grown so large.
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| Hokusai earrings by Garaude of Paris |
If there is a single trend that can be gleaned from the Hong Kong trade fair, it’s that luxury is playing a significant role in the jewelry industry in Asia. This is no surprise as the top luxury retailers have been opening up stores in China at an incredible pace. But at the trade show, traditional high-end jewelry designers from Hong Kong and around the world have followed suit, going after these new big spenders.
And the fair has gone through extraordinary means to accommodate these companies by hosting two well-designed spaces dedicated to makers of luxury jewelry. They are the Hong Kong Premiere Pavilion with approximately 30 exhibitors and the International Premiere Pavilion with more than 50 companies representing some of the top high-end jewelry brands from the rest of the world.
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| Legrand Jewellery (Mfg) Company |
One of the countries making the biggest splash in the luxury arena is Italy, with about 13 companies in the International Premier Pavilion, ranging from the artistic talents of Annamaria Cammilli Gioielli to the world-renowned luxury brand Roberto Coin. But it doesn’t end there. OroArezzo, the trade fair that represents gold jewelry manufacturers in the Tuscany region of Italy, had its own pavilion of companies, many of which make high-end, high-karat fine jewelry. If that’s not enough, in the lobby of the convention center, there’s a large exhibit called, Golden Hat_Titude, sponsored by OroArezzo, which combines glittering gold jewelry paired with a variety of hats on the heads of black mannequins.
India and China, two countries that lack the same tradition of luxury design as in Europe, are also well represented with companies like Bapalal Keshavlal of India and TTF Jewelry of China.
Hong Kong luxury jewelry makers showed that they are willing to compete with the rest of world for the new Asian luxury consumer. Among the standouts at the fair is Forward Jewellery, Eligence Jewellery International (EJI) and Legrand Jewellery. There are many more such companies making similar inroads in the luxury jewelry.
Asian consumers have the money and the appreciation of luxury jewelry. All that is left is for the region to become more influential in jewelry design. Then it will be the leader in the fine jewelry industry.