The VicenzaOro show, organized by Fiera di Vicenza, took place from September 3 to 7, with the organizers expressing satisfaction with the footfall and buyer interest at the fair. The show, featuring a wide range of high-quality Italian jewelry, has been widely re-organized in the past year or so in a bid to make it more contemporary.
In that respect, the fair featured a new area called NOW (Not Ordinary Watches), with exhibitors showing innovative brand and designer watches made in Italy and Europe. The organizers said 1,300 brands from 35 different countries took part, with exhibitors attending from all of Italy’s gold districts.
The fair's main theme was 'The Golden Touch', with sub-themes including product excellence, national and international products, Corporate Social Responsibility, distribution, new trends in the industry and the marketplace, international aspects and communication.
Fiera di Vicenza announced plans for a merger with the Rimini Fair with a view to an eventual stock market flotation in Italy. The deal has yet to be formally approved, though expectations are that the new company will be launched in November 2016 following the signing of a memorandum of understanding a month ago, senior Vicenza Fair executives said. “Rimini is one of the best managed exhibition companies in Italy, and has very good financial results,” Vicenza Fair President Matteo Marzotto said.
Vicenza Fair Managing Director Corrado Facco announced preliminary plans to stage the VICENZAORO Dubai trade show in mid-November 2017, instead of its April date as has been the case in 2015 and 2016. He said there were expectations of improved Middle Eastern jewelry demand in the fall, following Ramadan.
Speaking on the state of the market, Facco said global gold jewelry demand dropped 28 percent on the year in the first half of 2016 to 720 tonnes. Although there was growth in demand in the United States, Britain and Germany, demand fell in India, Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates. Facco added that the value of Italian gold jewelry exports fell by 3.6 percent in the first three months of 2016 from the same quarter of 2015.
Ahead of the show, Fiera di Vicenza opened an exhibition called 'Il Gioiello e il Viaggio' (Jewelry and Travel). The temporary display, located in the Jewellery Museum in Vicenza’s Basilica Palladiana, featured jewelry created by designers under the age of 30. All the items were dedicated to an interpretation of travel, understood as inspiration – symbolic or real – as well as a narrative metaphor that could refer to an interior journey, to geography or event, to a production process.
There were 25 designers selected for the final round of judging by a panel of experts, with just five out of the 25 finalists being declared winners (three prize-winners and two special mentions).
The next competition: The Next Generation Jewellery Talent Contest will have as its theme: “Gioiello e Funzione - Jewellery with Function”. The function of the jewelry can be interpreted practically or symbolically. The competition will again be aimed at international designers under the age of 30 who can send in their interpretation of the subject, defining the context of function, which can vary from clothing to technology and include a variety of different purposes.
The inspiration may come from materials, shapes, workmanship, symbols or historical or geographical references, or even any element that would make a piece of jewelry functional.
A major highlight of the VicenzaOro show is the TRENDVISION Jewellery+Forecasting seminar given by Paola di Luca. The TRENDBOOK 2018+ was unveiled at the show. Now in its 15th edition, the reference guide for jewelry and international contemporary luxury forecasts and analyses the trends and style directions that will be influencing product development and consumer choices, 18 months ahead of the market.
Meanwhile, another major event was a panel to discuss marketing to millennials jointly held by the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and Fiera di Vicenza entitled 'Marketing to the Millennials: Meeting the Expectations of the Next Great Consumer Generation.' Speakers at the panel discussion were Jean-Marc Lieberherr, chief executive of the Diamond Producers Association; Costantino Papadimitriou, senior VP of brand strategy and innovation at Forevermark; Roberto Coin, owner of the jewelry brand that bears his name; and Ella Goldner, global strategy director at IPG Mediabrands, an advertising and marketing agency in London. The panel was moderated by Steven Benson, a jewelry industry journalist and CIBJO’s director of communications.
By our Israel correspondent Abraham Dayan
