Headlines

Why Cartier and Other Big Luxury Brands Are Pulling Out of This Major Trade Show

Published

8 years ago

May 16, 2016

INSTORE Staff

They’re not taking kindly to a request that show organizers are making.

A group of household luxury names that includes Cartier will not be participating in the Biennale des Antiquaires trade show, to be held in Paris this September – “decisions that some observers say stem from organizational changes that were made to reduce the jewelers’ presence in the wake of antique dealers’ complaints,” The New York Times reports.

The article says that Cartier, which had the show’s largest stand in 2014, was the first jeweler to announce it will not participate in the upcoming fair. “Cartier has made the decision not to participate in the next Biennale des Antiquaires due to new technical measures adopted by its organizers,” a statement from the company said, referring specifically to “the request to drastically reduce the maximum surface area of the stand.” Other luxury brands followed suit, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Giampiero Bodino, Boucheron, Alexandre Reza and Graff Diamonds.

On April 13, the article adds, organizers released an initial list of 112 exhibitors that included antique dealers that sell jewelry, but no contemporary jewelers.

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”