The September Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair, organized by CMP Asia, did provide a window to much of what the biggies of the industry have to say- Asia is the growing market for diamonds and jewellery in the world. The increasing number of exhibitors, the expansion of the venue to two centres did testify Hong Kong to be the key market within Asia’s growth. %%But the Show also reflected a mirror-image of the financial crunch in the global jewellery market which has squeezed liquidity out of buyers. The response was one of caution and a wait and watch attitude. Buyers were reluctant to purchase despite diamond prices being lowered by 5-7 per cent, at the event. With crude dipping, banks falling in bankruptcy, Bank of America taking over Merrill Lynch and the US$ strengthening against INR, Indian buyers preferred to stay away from purchase. The volatility in the US$ and gold prices weakened the purchase enthusiasm. Although some of the diamond suppliers opined that in the wake of a volatile gold market, diamonds especially bigger diamonds were going to attract investments in the future. %%It is better to hear all this in September than November-December when the actual retail sales take place. As human memory is short, the news now won’t effect the sales in the coming Christmas season.%%The HK Show was held between 15-19 September at the AsiaWorld-Expo and from 17 to 21, September at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. With the constraints in financial markets, all eyes were on how Asia lives upto its strength of a growing diamond market.

%%{{Diamond Buying Bleak:}}%%The Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair 2008, kicked off at the Asia World Expo, although with a bleak response to diamond buying. Diamonds seemed to be ousted in the price run this time. Buyers were shying from purchasing, as the economic backdrop seems unfavourable with crude dipping, banks falling into bankruptcy, Bank of America taking over Merilynchh and the US dollar strengthening against INR, as it now values at Rs. 46.93. %%The first two days of the Show did not reflect much enthusiasm, even though sellers had lowered diamond prices by 5-7 per cent. Indian buyers were skeptical to purchase as payments for Indian buyers will be tough, owing to the dollar rising almost to Rs.47 and expected to touch Rs.48. %%However, the Show was also taken to Wanchai at CEC, from 17 to 21, September hopefully for better trade there.%%{{Review of 2008 Fair :}}%%The September Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair-2008 ran successfully from 15 to 21 September. Because of the slowdown in the global economy it was expected that the number of visitors over the seven days of the fair would drop. However, there was only a small decrease of just 1.69 per cent. A total of 37,276 visitors from 133 countries and regions attended the Fair. Buyers from Hong Kong and the United States were the major groups where decreases were seen, with drops of 7 per cent and 9 per cent respectively. However, the overall number of visitors from overseas increased by 2 per cent. In addition, increases were recorded in visitors from growing jewellery markets such as Middle-East, Russian Federation and South America, as well as from traditional jewellery trading countries.%%Country % increase Belgium 17 Brazil 25 Canada 11 China 28 France 2 India 12 Israel 52 Italy 10 Russian Federation 11 Switzerland 15 Turkey 2 %%{{Breakdown of Overseas, Domestic and Regional Visitors :}} Number of visitors from outside Hong Kong 23,188 (62%) Number of Hong Kong-based visitors 14,088 (38%) Total number of visitors 37,276 (100%) %%The September Fair was affected only slightly by the downturn in the global economy, proving that the Fair plays a significant role in the jewellery industry worldwide.%%The leading status of the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair is further confirmed with the increase in overseas buyers in 2008, gearing up for new arrangements in 2009.%%“CMP Asia is the leading exhibition organizer in Asia, with a well-established foundation in the jewellery market,” said Celine Lau, Director of Jewellery Fairs, CMP Asia. “As a responsible and professional organiser, we have to set our sights on long-term development on behalf of our valued exhibitors and visitors.%%We are confident that buyers worldwide will be well informed about the new arrangement and will appreciate what we are doing to facilitate their product sourcing, which, in turn, will be beneficial to all our exhibitors too.”%%CMP Asia will apply a system of controlled expansion of the size and the number of exhibitors at the show to keep a right balance with the number of visitors. This means that priority will be given to existing exhibitors for expansion of their booth space and only selected new companies will be in the opportunity to join the Fair in 2009. %%Hong Kong Premier Pavilion is tailor-made for Hong Kong’s leading jewellery suppliers. The glamour and splendour of branded jewellery, the quintessence of craftsmanship and the excitement of exquisite designs will be presented in a deluxe surroundings there by 40 premier Hong Kong exhibitors.%%International Premier Pavilion will attract new top jewellery companies to join the September Fair. At least 40 companies from around the world will assemble at this pavilion, presenting jewellery of superb designs and distinguished craftsmanship and fully conveying their respective cultural styles and characteristics. The pavilion will have different booths in special designand some of them will have a maximum size of 120 m2.

have a maximum size of 120 m2.%%{{Spot Interviews at HK Fair :}}%%{{Michelle L. Brister}}(Director of Marketing ) Charles & Colvard Ltd. %%The Show was good for us . lot of our Asian customers came by appointments. This is the first time our product is in fore-front and not the company. You could all see our advertising in the Show for Moissanite.%%As far as the growing markets are concerned for Moissanite we can easily think of India / UK / Turkey / China / UAE. We had interesting walk ins from India and clients wanted to buy finished jewellery from our distributors. We have two distributors in India and we want our distributors to be profitable, so we introduced the buyers to them here. We give trainings to our distributors to achieve better sales in the market. In India we have a market of US$ 500 thousand. India was up by 30 % last year. We now also hope to see business in Russia and South Africa. The market keeps improving for us.

%%{{Katsuya Nakanishi}}(Director - Kunita Co. Ltd.) UCHIHARA GROUP.%%“This is our first year at the Hong Kong Show and we are lucky to get a booth in the Grand hall. Our brand SA-BIRTH is two years old now. We came here to promote it. The show is ok for us.%%Overall the world economy including Japan is slow. We are among the largest jewellery groups in Japan. Last year our business did not go down. We sold SA-BIRTH brand jewellery worth US$ 10million and this year our target is US$ 50 million for this brand. It is manufactured in Japan and also 100% sold in Japan. I think this year would be more tough for the industry.

%%{{Sanjay Shah }}– J.B. Brothers%%The present lull in the world economy did not completely dampen participation at the recently held Hong Kong Watch and Jewellery Show. Exhibitors displayed their services with keen enthusiasm. Buyers were hopeful, paying close attention to the smaller diamond supplies and the new technologies and services offered at the Show. JB Brothers won favourable response for its online diamonds purchase initiative. For us, the economy may not have favoured easy purchase this year but the tables are likely to turn in the next two to three years.

%%{{Nalin Shah}}- KM Group %%We deal in all kinds of goods, and the HK Show was satisfactory. It is a promising market, all buying of regional countries takes place in this show. We are really hopeful for much better business in future. Also, once shifting takes place, the Show at Asia World Expo will improve a lot.

%%{{Ajay Jakhotia }}- Kunming Trading Company%%We deal in Fancy Color Diamonds. These goods are much in demand. The global slow down has not affected the demand for such rare goods, nor did the prices decline. %%

%%{{Ashish P. Gandhi}}- BHC Diamonds %%We deal mostly in Brown, TTLB, Black small goods. The Show was satisfactory but as you can view the global scenario, it was below our expectations. Buyers are reluctant to buy goods. We hope to get better response next time.

%%{{CMP Gets Visitors Response Researched for Categorization}}%%CMP Asia appointed Business Strategies Group Limited (BSG), an independent market research company, to conduct interviews with visitors during the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair 2008 in order to obtain opinions about their product-sourcing habits at trade fairs. A total of 413 trade buyers were interviewed. Most of the interviewees endorsed the view that given this competitive situation, the only way the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair can become the number one jewellery fair in the world is by including new elements that make the Fair unrivalled and an event that buyers cannot afford to miss. This has become even more important now we experience an economic slowdown. Therefore, we firmly believe that implementation of clear and precise Product Sectorization is the right direction in 2009.” Visiting the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair will become more attractive for overseas and local buyers if more suppliers/products are present and that these buyers will then spend more time at the Fair.

%%{{2009 HK Fair Dates :}}%%AsiaWorld-Expo Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre 21-25 September, 2009 23 - 27 September, 2009 Diamonds, Pearls, Gemstones and Technology, Packaging & Related Services 100% Fine Finished Jewellery.