The mood at CJExpos‒Toronto, the second in the lineup of Canada’s jewellery trade shows, appeared positive on opening day. From the look of things, traffic in the aisles indicated a strong showing, although official numbers were not available at press time. Retailers also made the rounds for last-minute purchases at the Canadian Jewellery Group (CJG) show, CJExpos‒Edmonton, and Expo Prestige held later in August.
The Canadian show season kicked off just as Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index reported slightly more positive results at 57.5 for the week ending July 22. The survey indicated Canadians were more optimistic about personal finances, although job security fell to 63.8, the lowest it’s been since January 2014. The figures were somewhat more positive compared to early July, when the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The voting result sent gold on an upward trend to a two-year high. By late August, gold hovered around $1338 U.S. per ounce, a significant difference from January, when it reached a high of $1116.
Meanwhile, the diamond sector is feeling its own pressures. Rough diamond margins are still tight, while demand for polished remains weak. Hopes are high for initiatives like Diamond Producers Association’s (DPA’s) generic ad campaign—‘Real is Rare. Real is a Diamond’—to kick start consumer demand, particularly among millennials.
Isaac Mimar, CEO of MDL Diamond Merchants in Toronto, said the market is oversaturated with polished diamonds.
“Everybody is holding too much stock,” Mimar explained from his booth at the CJG show. “The recent consensus is 20 to 25 per cent excess polish has been in the market for the past year or so. Generic campaigns have been lacking for the last decade and I believe that has had a big effect. People have become complacent and are forgetting the intrinsic value of a diamond. It’s a good initiative and it should have some positive effects, but there are other issues at play in the diamond trade.”
