Industry Outlook with David Brough: January

01 Feb 2024

By David Brough

VICENZA, Italy – Vicenzaoro January (January 19-23, 2024), celebrating its 70th anniversary, reported record attendance, up 3 per cent from January 2023.

Vicenzaoro, already among the world’s top three jewellery trade shows, will undergo major reconstruction works following the latest edition that were expected to add around 20 percent of selling space, Exhibition Director Marco Carniello said.

In a briefing for journalists during the show, Carniello said the rebuild, starting in a few weeks’ time, would create a big modern, functional, contemporary space over two floors, with a surface area of 22,000 square metres.

“This will provide us with a much bigger fairground, so we will have more space for the exhibitors,” he said.

Carniello spoke of a positive backdrop for Italian gold and silver jewellery exports, with a sharp increase in value since before the pandemic, supported by a rising gold price in recent years.

Vicenzaoro, staged twice a year in January and September in the goldsmithing hub of Vicenza in northeast Italy, is a major conduit for Italian gold and silver jewellery exports.

Some leading brands had chosen Italy as a centre to expand their jewellery manufacturing operations in the key goldsmithing areas, such as Valenza, thereby boosting the value of exports.

Successful branding strategies by jewellery manufacturers have also contributed to boosting the value of exports.

The latest edition kicked off with strong footfall from visitors from around the world, presaging a busy order flow with many booths packed with buyers.

A larger-than-usual press, influencer and blogger contingent attended the fair to celebrate the 70th-anniversary edition and raise the visibility of the event.

Bright prospects for Indian wedding season

Crammed booths at the January 4-7, 2024, IIJS Signature show in Mumbai signalled resilient prospects for the Indian wedding season, Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day.

IIJS Signature, taking place jointly in the Nesco and Jio complex venues, was the first major international jewellery trade show of 2024.

The event was seen as an important barometer for the health of the domestic Indian jewellery market.

Organisers expected more than 30,000 visitors from 800 Indian cities and 60 countries.

Jewellers said the wedding season in India so far had been steady to slow, impacted by the high gold price.

Indian tastes for wedding jewellery are typically pieces in 22-carat gold, set with diamonds weighing less than one carat with higher colours and clarities.

At the inauguration ceremony for IIJS Signature at the Nesco complex on January 5, Paul Rowley, Executive Vice-President of De Beers, in a keynote speech, expressed cautious optimism for the outlook for global diamond demand after the downturn in 2023.

He said the industry needed to unite in order to tackle the challenges in the implementation of the G7 ban on Russian-origin diamond imports.

“It is vital that the industry speaks as one,” he said.

“Even at the bottom of the cycle, the diamond remains one of the most cherished objects on earth,” he added.

“Let’s move with a spirit of optimism and collaboration.”

At the inauguration of the show at the Jio complex on January 4, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal spoke of India’s potential as a host location for weddings, which he said would support the domestic jewellery, textiles and hospitality industries.

Indian weddings presently absorb some 60 per cent of total Indian jewellery production, jewellers estimated.

Trade Minister Goyal also spoke of India’s potential to export jewellery design as well as product.

India has an extraordinary future as a gems and jewellery supplier and market.

Many industry analysts see India becoming the world’s number 1 jewellery market within a decade, up from possibly the number 2 spot now. India is presently the world’s number 2 gold importer.

The Indian economy is currently the fastest-growing large economy and is the fifth largest economy in the world, eyeing the number three position within a few years.

One of the engines of this growth is the powerful gems and jewellery sector, now representing more than 75 billion U.S. dollars in exports annually, and on track to hit a “magic” 100 billion dollars target in a few years.

Source: David Brough (Jewellery Outlook)