VICENZAORO Announces Highlights of Its September 2016 Show in Vicenza

(Press Release)
Vicenza, Italy – VICENZAORO announces that its five-day September 2016 show, which concluded Sept. 7, provided attendees with a strategic opportunity to monitor trends in the world market during a particularly complex period for the global business. As always, it was a valuable precursor for the end-of-the-year holiday period, when the highest number of sales is traditionally recorded.

With its September event, Fiera di Vicenza was again able to show the leading players of the high-end jewellery market the unique exhibition format of VICENZAORO The Boutique Show. It is a modern and elegant layout that provided clarity and simple navigation through the halls, with currently five communities of exhibitors (becoming six at the January fair), organized according to the markets each serves – ICON, LOOK, CREATION, EXPRESSION, and ESSENCE. Once again the innovative layout generated positive feedback for its ability to boost the number of relevant business meetings conducted by attendees, and for assisting buyers to accurately target the most appropriate exhibitors, with the help of digital tools, such as the VICENZAORO app.

Buyers and trade professionals from 115 different countries were exposed to the most on-trend collections of gold and jewellery, showcased by 1,300 brands from all of Italy’s gold districts (Vicenza, Valenza, Arezzo, Milan, Naples, and Caserta), as well as 35 other countries.

The international character of VICENZAORO September was underscored by the fact that 37% of the exhibitors came from outside of the coutry. At the same time, their local counterparts epitomised the very best of Made in Italy, in all product ranges, sealing VICENZAORO’s status as the only genuine jewellery trade show for national excellence. The importance of the event as a preferred sales platform was illustrated by the fact that the 2016 edition of the VICENZAORO show fully sold out all of its available exhibition space.

More than 19,000 visitors attended VICENZAORO September 2016, with some 40% of trade visitors coming from outside Italy. International attendance was about the same as during the September 2015 show, although there was a slight drop in national attendance.

Participation by North American, Central American and South American buyers was strong, while the participation of trade professionals from European Union countries was mixed. Attendance by buyers from Germany, France and Spain was slightly down, while attendance from Great Britain, Greece, Norway, Denmark and Holland increased.

There was positive growth in attendance by visitors from Central and Eastern Europe – especially Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kazakhstan – although there was definite downward trend with Russian traders, who fell both in terms of attendance and purchasing power.

The Gulf region and surrounding states saw a sharp fall in attendance, confirming trends in their domestic markets, which generally are not positive. But from the Middle East the growth in Israeli participants was notable.

Turkey is experiencing a difficult period with a significant fall in trade presence. The performance of China was good, while attendance from Hong Kong was down. Regarding other Asian buyers, attendance from India was stable, while there was growth in attendance from Thailand.

The results of the event should be seen in the context of the complex international gold and jewellery market. During the first six months of 2016, demand for gold in the jewellery industry fell by of 28%, compared to the same period in 2015. There have been falls turnover in certain key markets, including India (-54%), China (-26%), Russia (-25%) and the UAE (-18%). In contrast, turnover in the USA (+11%), UK (+4%) and Germany (+3%) increased.

Turnover by Italian the gold industry, which stood at 7.2 billion euro in 2015, grew by 9% during the period January-March 2016. However, against the backdrop of the fall in global demand, exports of Made in Italy jewellery fell by 3.6% during the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2015.

But in spite of the worrying situation, VICENZAORO September’s growth was steady, when compared to the event last autumn, confirming its leading position in the trade, and substantially bucking the general trend internationally.

Said Matteo Marzotto, President of Fiera di Vicenza: “VICENZAORO has again proven that it is a business platform that works for the whole national and international supply line, stimulating the market during a period that is not particularly rosy internationally. The added value of our event lies in its ability to provide useful and relevant services, content, information and in-depth research, which raise the awareness of all exhibitors and visitors about developments in the industry. By serving as platform for knowledge and expertise in the jewellery trade, VICENZAORO will remain recognised as leading world player. Fiera di Vicenza will continue to face global challenges efficiently and with strategic vision, offering trade fair products of undisputed excellence.”

New features at VICENZAORO September 2016, included NOW – Not Ordinary Watches, a new area dedicated to the world of watches. Set inside the ICON section, the community for Global Brands in the Jewellery trade, it showcased a selection of cutting-edge, designer watch brands, made in Italy and Europe.

During the opening press conference of VICENZAORO September 2016, the dates were announced for the next edition of VICENZAORO Dubai, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates, Nov. 15-18, 2017, with an innovative format that will be presented at VICENZAORO January 2017.

One of the most important events was the presentation of TRENDBOOK 2018+, a guide to trends in the jewellery, watch and diamond industries 18 months into the future, presented by TRENDVISION Jewellery+Forecasting, Fiera di Vicenza’s independent think tank. Now in its 15th edition, the publication presents style and product directions in international design, corresponding to the most current consumer profiles. It forecasts fashions that will influence the design, production and distribution of jewellery from 2018 onwards.

The official opening of VICENZAORO September featured an on-stage discussion, where the guest of honour was the Rt. Hon. Ivan Scalfarotto, Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. In focus was the role of the Italian trade fair system in supporting the internationalisation of business. Mr. Scalfarotto was joined by Matteo Marzotto, President of Fiera di Vicenza, and Lorenzo Cagnoni, President of Rimini Fiera, who also reported on merger talks between the two companies, which has been announced earlier.

This was followed by the awards ceremony of the NEXT JENERATION – JEWELLERY TALENT CONTEST 2016. Candidates had been asked to submit designs on the subject of “Jewellery and Journeys.” The contest, which is exclusively for young designers under the age of 30, is organized by Fiera di Vicenza together with the School of Design of the Polytechnic University of Milan, in collaboration with some of the world’s most important design schools. It is a strategic project, for it serves VICENZAORO by scouting the international scene and promoting the new Millennial designers, who will be dictating the trends over the coming years.

Simultaneously, the works of the 25 finalists in the Next Jeneration Jewellery Talent Contest 2016 were on display at an exhibition entitled “Il Gioiello e il Viaggio – Jewellery and Journeys,” at the Jewellery Museum in Vicenza, organized by Fiera di Vicenza and curated by Professor Alba Cappellieri, the head of School of Design of the Polytechnic University of Milan. It will remain open until January 2017. The jewellery pieces, created from the finalists’ designs were crafted by member companies of the Women Jewelry Association Italy.

This edition of VICENZAORO also placed under the spotlight new jewellery consumers, at a seminar organized by Fiera di Vicenza and CIBJO, the World Jewelllery Confederation, entitled: “Marketing to the Millennials. Meeting the Expectations of the Next Great Consumer Generation.”

Another important seminar held during the show was entitled “Transparent as a diamond. Elegance and business.” It was organized by Federpreziosi Confcommercio and IGI – the Italian Gemmological Institute, with the support of Fiera di Vicenza. It was dedicated to ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, subjects that are always at the core of Fiera di Vicenza’s business mission.