JUNE HONG KONG
JEWELLERY & GEM FAIR

SPRINGBOARD TO WORLD’S FASTEST GROWING MARKETS

It is no coincidence that three of the world’s most important jewelry and gemstone trade shows, including the largest, takes place in a territory with a population of little more than 7.3 million people. Hong Kong, the former British colony that today has autonomous status within the Peoples Republic of China, is the undisputed business capital of Asia and a gateway to many of the fastest growing luxury markets, with China being the most prominent among them.

The June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, whose 2017 edition will run from June 22 to June 25 in the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, at Wan Chai North on Hong Kong Island, is one of the two mega-jewelry shows organized each year in the city by UBM Asia, the region’s largest trade fair organizer. The second is the world’s largest show, the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, which takes place at the same location, as well as at the AsiaWorld-Expo, the massive exhibition center close to the city’s international airport.

Over the course of four days in June, some 25,000 professional buyers will visit the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. In 2016 some 36 percent were representatives of companies based in Hong Kong, and 58 percent representatives of companies from elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. Some 20 percent of the buyers were representatives of jewelry retailers and 19 percent of jewelry manufacturers, most operating in China and elsewhere in the Far East.

This year the June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its first edition, with about 2,200 exhibitors, hailing from 41 countries and regions, occupying more than 70,000 square meters of exhibition space.

It is last major show before the summer vacation, and it has a strong emphasis on jewelry components, in in particular diamonds and gemstones. “The June show is a well-established sourcing platform,” says Celine Lau, director of jewelry fairs at UBM Asia, speaking in an interview last year with  the South China Morning Post. “Visitors from around the world, as well as exhibitors select jewelry designs and loose materials for their new collections to be launched at the September fair, an important show for the global trade to stock up for the year-end shopping season.”