Vicenza aims to be 'first' in emerging markets
January 18, 2008
Vicenza,
Italy—The Vicenza Fair's January show has received a makeover, beginning with a name change.
No longer called Vicenzaoro, the fair, which opened last Sunday and runs through Jan. 20, now goes by "First," a designation that's meant to spotlight the show as the industry buyers' first international appointment for jewelry and gold. The show's tagline, "The jewellery supremacy," is designed to set Italy's gold-jewelry sector on a pedestal for design.
No attendance figures were released, but as of Thursday, traffic at the show appeared steady in the face of negative factors such as the increasing prices of precious metals and a downturn in business with various countries including the
United States in 2007.
In a press release, Vicenza Fair officials said the Italian gold-jewelry sector remained on an uphill climb in 2007, as it continued to deal with global competition, but that it still maintains its place at the top of the list of jewelry-exporting countries.
Statistics from the Vicenza Fair Study Centre, reveal that Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Turkey and Australia are markets on the rise for Italian jewelry exports, while others declined in 2007, including the United States, due to economic woes brought on by the subprime-mortgage crisis.
Overall, the value of Italian gold-jewelry exports during the first nine months of 2007 was almost a quarter below the levels reached during the same period in 2000, the statistics said. Between January and September 2007, exports increased by 19 percent in terms of value, though sales volume was flat.
There was a 7.3 percent decline in exports to the United States and a 25.1 percent drop in exports to Japan, but a 65.6 percent increase in exports to the Middle East and a 50.7 percent increase in exports to Eastern Europe.
Still, 2007 exports were the driving force behind the sector since Italy's domestic jewelry market continues to decline.
The Vicenza Fair reported that the retail markets with the most interesting growth rates in 2007 were Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, the Ukraine and the Czech Republic.
Despite uncertainty in the global jewelry marketplace, there are still big opportunities for Italian designers and manufacturers in emerging markets, and in European markets that still maintain a strong interest in the "Made in Italy" brand, show officials said.
To make the market flourish, the Vicenza Fair stressed the importance of promoting jewelry as both unique and fashionable, and playing up its exclusivity status.
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