Antwerp Facets Special Report

By most counts the week-long Baselworld World Watch and Jewellery Show will end on a high note on Thursday. According to show organisers the number of visitor are up, and so evidently are pending orders. All this indicates that the recovery of the luxury product market is well underway. But relatively few diamond-specific companies will be joining in on the celebrations. The once dominant Swiss show is no longer a must-attend for most diamond and gemstone exhibitors. Indeed, there is currently no such event on the entire European continent.

It is not that Europe is lacking for jewellery trade shows. There currently are upward of 50 such events during the course of the calendar year, with most serving regional or national markets. Baselworld is the premier leaguer, but shows such as VicenzaOro First (Italy), VicencenzaOro Charm (Italy), VicenzaOro First (Italy), Bijorhca (France), Macef (Italy), Inhorghenta (Germany), International Jewellery London (UK) and Iberjoya (Spain) attract international as well as local exhibitors. But none have managed to capture the imagination of the diamond sector in the same way that the JCK Show in Las Vegas and the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Show in September have done.

The issues surrounding Baselworld are long-standing and well-known. Navigating the many halls, with their approximately 2,000 booths and more than 100,000 visitors, can be vastly time-consuming. But, from a loose diamonds exhibitor’s point of view, a crucial aspect is being located away from what is considered to be the centre of action, which is Hall A where the major watch brands are located.

And there’s the rub. For, at the end of the day, Baselworld is predominantly about watches. Indeed, many feel that it is the Baselword organisers’ reliance on the revenues generated by the powerful timepiece industry that is what enable it to withstand entreaties by representatives of the diamond and gemstone industries to lower the prices demanded from exhibitors.

There are other factors as well. Baselworld is a relatively long event, requiring staff to be away from their regular work and offices for a lengthy period. Also Basel is not a major city, meaning that transportation can be cumbersome, and securing hotel space can be very challenging. Indeed, many people attending the event stay at hotels in Zurich about 80 kilometres away, while others stay across the border in France and Germany, often an hour or more outside the city.

Belgian sightholder IGC Group’s director for rough goods, Dirk De Nys, said the company attended the Baselworld show for three years, but stopped exhibiting three years ago. “Everyone is so fair-conscious these days,” he said. “Not to be there made you look absent. But even though Switzerland is one of our main markets, we found it to be expensive, and that it did not pay off in terms of getting new customers or even to raise our profile.

“You could not even get people you wanted to see very easily at the fair. It’s all about location and where you are placed. The big watch corporations are in the main hall which is the centre of attention, but the new hall where they put suppliers and diamond firms has made it less easy. But you must have good traffic as an exhibitor. If it is expensive, but you have a good location, then it is reasonable. But if you are paying a lot and not getting traffic then there is very little value to it,” De Nys added.

As for other jewellery shows in Europe, De Nys said the company exhibited at Vicenza’s September show, but stopped doing so a few years ago. “It fell just before the Hong Kong show which was problematic, and the quality of visitors and buyers was not what we wanted.”

DTC sightholder Rosy Blue continues to exhibit at Baselworld, said Raj Mehta, vice president of Rosy Blue NV. "Whether Baselworld is right for a diamond company depends on its profile and business model,” he explained. “We like to be at all the major shows in order to meet people and see new trends and understand where the market is going. The Basel fair is what the title says: ‘The watch and jewellery show’ and it is made for that sector, however the show is very long and therefore the [visitor] footprint looks low on average for the loose diamond sector.”

As for a new European show, Mehta said it would depend on where the show was located and its format. “But we should all keep in mind that more shows mean more expenses and we already have enough trade shows to go to. We don’t exhibit at the Vicenza fair as it’s a very jewellery focused fair.”

Vicenza would seem to be a candidate to challenge Baselworld’s hegemony, but that is an unlikely scenario, even from the perspective of Fiera di Vicenza, the show’s organisers. They recently announced a long-term redevelopment programme, the aim of which is to reposition the Vicenzaoro shows as trendsetting events, rather than competing head on with Baselworld for exhibitors and visitors. “We will reconfirm ourselves as a point of reference for the world,” Fiera di Vicenza stated in its presentation announcing the plan.

The Vicenza shows do attract loose diamond suppliers, but in modest numbers. “It is overwhelmingly a fair for the Italian market, and secondly a fair for the European market when the situation in Europe is rather slow,” said one veteran Belgian diamond company head. “It also concentrates too much on jewellery and they tie you down to attending three shows which is excessive.”

But if not Vicenza, are there other European shows that could attract diamond firms to exhibit. For the moment at least, there do not appear to be any leading candidates, particularly since the market is relatively weak as a result of the still-difficult economic situation. “There are shows in Spain, France and Britain, but those economies are weak, especially the Spanish economy.” In addition, it could be that the European shows are of more interest to the retail trade since diamond jewellery manufacturing in Europe has declined. That compares with the situation in Hong Kong where shows are known for carrying out business with diamond companies selling goods to manufacturers from across Asia.

Bert-Jan Schatz, general manager of Benelux Diamonds, said the Vicenza show was a good one for the company and it had been attending it for many years. “We have had an office in Italy for 30 years, so the show is important to us. However, Italy, and Spain are not in a good economic position now.” Regarding Baselworld, Schatz was more ambivalent. "The advantage of the show is that you see people from all over the world. A lot of retailers come to the show because of the watch industry. But they have a lot of appointments, and as a diamond firm you are second choice for them. It's difficult to get them to the booth. It’s not certain that they will be able to get to you. I was expecting to meet a particular customer at the show, and I saw one of his assistants, but he did not have time to meet me.

If the truth be told, the performance of the European markets have been underwhelming for many years already, meaning that many in the diamond sector are not inclined to overextend themselves, as some clearly feel is the case in Basel, or invest in second league or new shows elsewhere on the continent.

De Nys believes that, in general, there is a less of a need for trade shows now. “People have become more mobile in the last 20 years and are used to flying all over the globe for business. In addition, with the Internet and databases, you can easily find information about all the markets and find potential customers. I don’t believe there is a need for a new show in Europe, but small shows, such as the Antwerp Trade Fair, could be the way to go. For Antwerp companies, the event is good because it is on our doorstep and brings in visitors from across Europe.”

Chaim Pluczenik, the chairman and CEO of Pluczenik Diamond Company, agrees that the Antwerp Trade Fair could provide a trade show for the diamond industry. This year, the second edition of the fair featured around 60 Antwerp diamond firms exhibiting diamonds and diamond jewellery to jewellery manufacturers, designers and retailers from all over Europe. Around 300 representatives of about 200 companies took part in the-invitation-only event. “There is a need for a fair in Europe, to be held in Belgium-Paris and which should be an international fair where customers worldwide will participate. It should be the diamond and jewellery show,” Pluczenik said.

As for the Antwerp Trade Fair, Schatz said it made good use of the trading halls of the bourses that took part, but there were improvements that needed be made.

Organisers of the Baselworld or Vicenza show were unable to provide a response.