The JUNWEX Petersburg 2012 jewelry show closed in St. Petersburg with many participants saying that the event produced better results this year compared to 2011. Rough&Polished asked Olga Mironova, who is heading the administration of the exhibition and media holding Restek JUNWEX, to comment on the outcome of this show.
How was the show?
I am pleased to announce that the exhibition maintained a very good level and registered a slight upward tendency in demand. Judging by the results of sales we can safely say that the market is alive.
Who were the visitors to the show this year and what was their key interest?
This time there were more wholesale customers and much more interested foreign buyers from India, Belgium and Italy, who want to get a strong foothold in the Russian market. They were primarily attracted by precious and semiprecious inserts for jewelry. Italian manufacturers have agreed to help develop technological operations at some of the Russian factories.
The consumer is more interested in quality products at best prices, but everything will depend on pricing policies which will be established by manufacturers.
What was displayed this time by Russian jewelry manufacturers?
The Russian jewelry industry is very large, but only a few companies can actually produce exclusive high-quality jewelry and gemstones. For example, at this show some Russian manufacturers put on display palladium jewelry which is not yet well-known around the world. Right now these are very small collections, but they have quite a competitive edge over gold pieces since they are twice cheaper compared to gold and have hypoallergenic properties. Currently, these goods are produced only by three Russian manufacturers - Krastsvetmet (Krasnoyarsk), Gringor (St. Petersburg) and Yuvelirny Dom Yekaterinburg.
And how do you assess the prospects for Russian diamond manufacturers?
There was a time when De Beers put enough money into the advertising campaign “A diamond is forever.” Unfortunately, Russian diamond miners are not concerned with advertising diamonds. Diamond manufacturers need strong support from the pace-setting miner. Diamonds should be conveyed to end consumers as a symbol of love meant for their special ones but the entire mass media are filled with advertisements of mobile phones. Our mining companies are not interested in the domestic market and are fully focused on the external market. Russian diamond manufacturers have no shared interests with Russia's diamond miners.
But the most important problem is to make our customs legislation comply with the international customs legislation giving a possibility for the ATA Carnet system of simplified import to operate in this country.
Despite the fact that Russia joined the WTO, taxes and customs duties have not changed and no one knows when all this will somehow accompany the development and growth of the jewelry industry.
What are your future plans?
We plan to bring together a group of Russian jewelers and manufacturers in order to adequately represent the Russian pavilion at the JCK Show in Las Vegas.
Veronica Novoselova, Rough&Polished, from St. Petersburg
