Last Sunday Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair wound up its 29th edition. This year, the show attracted particularly high expectations due to rising prices for diamonds and gold and because of economic instability in world markets. People were awaiting the Hong Kong event as a traffic light that could give a definite signal to the jewelry trade whether to move or stay on the stop line.
According to the organizers, there were 3,450 exhibitors at the event with a total foot traffic reaching almost 50,000 visitors, which is 32% up compared with the last year and happens to be a record. Of them, 30 percent were locals, 23 percent from Mainland China and 7 percent came from India. Interestingly enough, according to some of the Chinese media, readily cited by English-language sources (for instance, by diamondintelligence.com), "visitor traffic at the show was greater than expected with Chinese buyers surpassing Hong Kong buyers for the first time." Diamonds and diamond jewelry featured as pace-setters in the product range displayed at the exhibition (23%).
According to the National Jeweler, after weeks of concerns, loose diamond sales at the fair were better than expected, though below "normal" for the season.
The pre-show mood pessimism was deep enough but by the end of it traders felt that the show "was not that bad after all," as one described it, IDEX Online says. While expectations were too low, they are rooted in a somewhat realistic view. The global economy seems teetering and the outlook for luxury demand by consumers is therefore gloomy.
Nevertheless, as Rapaport reports, diamond and jewelry suppliers appeared satisfied at the close of the jewelry show on Sunday even as visitor traffic slowed and buying remained cautious during the final days of the event.
The Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) said that the September Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair, was a success for the Israeli Diamond Industry and more than met expectations. This year more than 125 Israeli companies exhibited at the show, the majority of them at the two Israel Diamond Pavilions organized by the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI), making the Israeli representation the largest at the show, IDI told Rough&Polished.
''The show fell at a time when the global economy has been weak and that was reflected in the show,'' said David Wiener, vice president of Harry Kotlar & Company, a Los Angeles-based jewelry wholesale, according to Rapaport. Wiener noted that Chinese retail buyers visiting the show appeared enthusiastic to learn about larger, high-quality stones, signaling growing interest to develop the big stone market in the region. By some comments, Chinese buyers were very interested in heart-cut goods.
Flora Wan, vice president of marketing at ENZO, a Chinese retail chain, noted that the local market for diamonds was focused on stones in the size range between 0.70 carats and 1.10 carats, while buyers maintained a focus on better clarities, VVS-VS, and color ranges of G to I.
Most loose diamond vendors agreed, but also noted that buyers in the region are starting to show more willingness to compromise on quality and are moving towards SI clarity stones for more affordable price points.
''The Far East is increasingly looking for lesser quality goods,'' said one New York-based diamond manufacturer, who requested anonymity.
Indian firms reported strong sales of 1-carat certified goods in the GH/VS-SI range. Israeli traders claimed that 1-carat rounds were not moving, www.idexonline.com says. This may reflect different pricing policies. The Israelis were sticking by their high prices, largely unwilling to budge. Indian traders, mainly mid- and smaller-size firms, were more flexible with their prices and therefore generated more sales. Large Indian firms were less inclined to lower prices.
Generally, the Hong Kong jewelry fair failed to give a "green light" to the industry: buyers remained cautious and basically bought the most necessary goods to replenish their inventories. But it definitely did not show the “red light” either, since it was marked by record attendance and generated though not the highest, but satisfactory sales and growing interest from Asian markets. Thus, the Hong Kong traffic lights went on somewhere in the middle: “The amber light is warning us – wait, the lights will let you pass,” as it was put by Russian poet Sergei Mikhalkov in one of his poems for children.
Dasha Platonova, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
