Yook the free shuttle from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhiibtion Centre to the Asia World Expo. The location features loose coloured gemstones, loose diamonds, pearls, tools and equipment and packaging supplies. It also houses the Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair.
This venue is easy to navigate, consisting of two long side by side exhibition halls and two other halls in a different part of the building. All of the exhibition spaces are on the lower level of the building and the upper level held support services such as food, information and security.
As a total gem nerd, the Gemstone Pavilion is my favourite. Over 700 vendors from every corner of the world showing everything from rough stones to finished gemstones. I was especially thrilled to see several dealers from Brazil offering Paraiba Tourmalines from Mina da Batalha in the Federal Brazilian State of Paraiba. There is a big difference in appearance and price between the Mozambique Cuprian Tourmaline (which I refuse to call Paraiba) and the real stuff. True Paraiba Tourmaline is rare and spectacular.
I was happy to see a large selection of beads, one of the most profitable items a retail store can offer. To keep things interesting there are plenty of carvings, sculptures and other decorative items as well.
With 455 dealers, the Diamond Pavilion is indeed the largest showing of diamonds on the planet. If there is a particular diamond that you need…it can be found at this show. There seemed to be quite a bit of interest at the vendors specializing in lab grown diamonds. I think more people are catching on to this product line.
One of the busiest pavilions was Packaging, Tools & Equipment. Most of the jewellery display materials, jewellery boxes and packaging in the industry come from China so this section was well represented with an amazing variety of unique items. I was surprised to see more action in hand tools and gemmological equipment rather than a focus on Cad/Cam as seen in other shows. This tells me that the art of hand crafting jewellery is alive and well. I hope we never lose these traditional skills.
The molluscs of the world have been extremely busy. The Pearl Pavilion contained a staggering amount of pearls in every size, shape and colour. You could find inexpensive, yet very attractive and sellable freshwater pearls all the way to the extreme high end of well matched strands with prices well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I will admit that I did not fully explore the Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair. By the time I got to it, I was exhausted. It features several very important product lines that are essential in today’s tight economy. Most high-end customers still enjoy fashion jewellery.
Non-precious jewellery is tremendously popular, hitting price-points that virtually all consumers can handle. I did notice a good selection of piercing and body jewellery. This is a product category that is growing by leaps and bounds as Millennials, who are into piercing all parts of their bodys, is looking for unique was to express their individuality. There are also many good side-line products such as purses, belts and other fashionable non-jewellery items that can add variety and profits to a retail jeweller.
My only regret is that I didn’t have time to spend a few days exploring this venue. There is so much to see and it is well worth the time and effort to fully experience this part of the show.