The September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair is off the good start, according to nearly everyone I spoke with Thursday.
Considered to be the world’s largest jewelry trade fair, the show opened Wednesday for gems, diamonds, pearls and other jewelry making materials at the AsiaWorld-Expo. The fair’s second location will open Friday for finished jewelry, from the most basic to the most luxurious, at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The fair is also being held as Super Typhoon Mangkhut is bearing down on the city. It’s too early to tell whether Hong Kong will take a direct hit but so far experts say that the storm could be the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.
But for now it’s all business at the AsiaWorld Expo where the aisles and exhibiting booths are bustling.
“It was very busy yesterday and it remains busy today,” said Gary Roskin, executive director of the International Colored Gemstone Association.
This statement was echoed among the colored gem and diamond dealers I spoke with. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I’m very happy so far,” said an opal dealer. Yesterday, in particular was very busy.”
On Thursday, as the day wore on more buyers came streaming into the halls. From diamonds to colored gems to pearls booths were jammed with buyers.
At Erica Courtney’s booth, one representative said there’s been a lot of interest the first two days.
The fair’s overwhelmingly good feeling is coming amid a report by the De Beers Group stating that diamond jewelry demand reached a new record high of $82 billion, led by Millennial consumers, which accounted for two-thirds of global diamond jewelry sales in 2017.
The De Beers Diamond Insight Report also notes that Millennials, those people currently aged 21 to 39, represent 29 percent of the world’s population and are the current largest group of diamond consumers. They accounted for almost 60 percent of diamond jewelry demand in the US in 2017 and nearly 80 per cent in China.