Vicenzaoro Dubai: Middle East jewellery hub welcomes inaugural event

by charlene_voisin | July 1, 2015 9:00 am

By Jacquie De Almeida

[1]
Viviana Sacco grew up watching her father, Gerardo, in his ‘laboratory-workshop’ as he fashioned gold and silver jewellery.

Embracing fabrication techniques from the past, he created his designs in a style rooted in Magna-Grecian culture and the rural tradition of the Mediterranean.

Nearly 50 years later, the workshop is still at the heart of Gerardo Sacco, the Crotone, Italy-based company the goldsmith named after himself, and so is its dedication to handmade designs. Although jewellery can be produced in more cost-effective ways in various parts of the world, Viviana and her brothers—who took over from their father in 2001—are unwilling to compromise.

“We defend our mission until our dying day,” she says from the company’s booth at Vicenzaoro Dubai. “We have some silver products for the Italian market that are less expensive because of the material, but we produce them the same way we do our gold jewellery. This is how we’ve always done it and we won’t compromise. The heart of Italian jewellery manufacturing is the artisan.”

Taking ‘Made in Italy’ abroad

[2]

Italian manufacturers are struggling at the moment due to lack of government support and a sluggish domestic market; however, it’s the handmade craftsmanship of brands like Gerardo Sacco that consumers abroad find appealing, particularly in Dubai.

Elisabetta Molina Valerani of Garavelli, a 95-year-old manufacturer based in Valenza, Italy, agrees the artisan’s expertise in handcrafting a piece of jewellery is valued more and more in markets like Dubai. While brand value—and by extension, the millions spent on marketing—is part of the equation, retailers are seeking out handmade designs, as opposed to mass-produced pieces. At Vicenzaoro Dubai, discussions about price point tend to focus on the value craftsmanship brings to a piece.

“There is a demand for smaller niche products that can allow consumers to be more unique in their sense of style,” she says. “Artisanship is important for high-end and mid-market consumers.” Like Gerardo Sacco, the company prefers to stay true to its roots by keeping production small, allowing it to be flexible when it comes to customizing a design. Valerani says catering to clients in such a way makes them top of mind and serves them well among their elite clientele.

A ‘super show,’ a ‘super market’

[3]

Held April 23 to 26 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Vicenzaoro Dubai is being billed as a ‘super show’ serving one of the world’s biggest luxury markets for gold and diamond jewellery. According to show organizers, Dubai boasts a quarter of the world’s physical gold trade. Nationally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks alongside China, India, Russia, and the United States in the world’s top five international hubs for gold bullion and jewellery trade.

About 500 top brands from more than 25 countries exhibited at the inaugural event, which was divided into four clusters: Global Brands, Fine Jewellery and National Pavilions, Gemstones and Diamonds, and Packaging and Supply. Organized by DV Global Link, a joint venture between Fiera di Vicenza and the Dubai World Trade Centre, the show kicked off with a ribbon cutting by His Highness Sheikh Hasher Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, director general of the Dubai department of information.

Matteo Marzotto, president of Fiera di Vicenza, described Dubai as a natural market in which to introduce the ‘Made in Italy’ brand. “We have to be rooted in Italy with our jewellery-making know-how, but we have to extend our hands to other areas of the world, especially in Dubai,” Marzotto told the international press.

In the last decade, Dubai has become a significant diamond trading hub. According to the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), the emirate imported $590 million US in rough diamonds in 2003. Last year, that figure reached $5.8 billion US. Import value for polished diamonds in 2003 totalled $1.2 billion US and by 2011, it had grown to just over $14.8 billion US. More and more diamonds are moving through Dubai, which would appear attractive to unethical dealers in the industry intent on fraudulent activity. Following his presentation entitled, ‘Diamonds—Are they forever?’ Ziad Khaled of Gemological Institute of America (GIA) noted undisclosed synthetics had been detected at DDE. Stressing the difficulty of identifying lab-grown diamonds without advanced equipment, he warned the importance of dealing with trusted companies. “You have to know your sources and trust your supplier,” he said, adding DDE is equipped with a synthetic diamond detector. “However, you also have to keep in mind your supplier has to also trust their sources.”

Now trending

[4]

Trends spotted from Vicenzaoro Dubai’s aisles included enormous gemstone necklaces, purple pearls, flowers, Indian bridal neckpieces, and crochet-type designs.

Lies Vervaele, brand manager for the Middle East for Belgium brand, Hulchi Belluni, says consumer preference for jewellery in the region ranges from opulent statement neckpieces fit for royalty to daily-wear fashion-forward designs. Brand loyalty is quite strong in this part of the world, she notes. “What”¨ I love about the region is the connection between women, whether they are sisters or friends,” she adds. “They really talk about the jewellery brands they like and the word-of-mouth advertising is really good. You see this also with purses, makeup, sunglasses, shoes, and clothing.”

Eddie LeVian, chief executive officer (CEO) of Le Vian, says maintaining brand continuity is critical when creating a lifestyle brand. Design elements like the company’s trademarked names for diamonds, gemstones, and gold are included in its line of handbags, which it showcased at the fair. For now, the collection is being sold through jewellery retailers.

“Our distribution model for our handbag line is to bring luxury and jewellery together, meaning the jeweller will have the opportunity to have a collection that co-ordinates with jewellery to help keep the luxury customer in the store,” he said. “If a customer already trusts the retailer to spend thousands on jewellery, why do they think they can’t sell handbags?”

Suvankar Sen, executive director of India-based company, Senco Gold Ltd., brought dozens of intricate, handmade mesh gold wedding neckpieces to the show. He says consumers in this part of the world prefer 21-karat gold.

[5]

“Buyers in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka prefer 22-karat gold, but for the Middle East, they prefer 21-karat gold,” Sen says. “We’ve also tried to incorporate inspiration from nature and geometrical shapes into our jewellery, exactly as the TrendVision forecast.”

Once again, Paola De Luca presented her forecast for jewellery trends in 2016. TrendVision, the fair’s independent research centre, provides an 18-month look ahead at the hottest designs manufacturers should keep in mind when creating upcoming collections.

De Luca stressed the importance of strategy when it comes to forecasting trends. “It’s about understanding where we are going when we collect information,” she says. “The second important point is storytelling, which is not just communicated through advertising or merchandising. And last but not least, we need a design strategy. Business is generated through selling products and if we don’t know who we’re selling to, we can design and manufacture product, but we won’t sell it.”

Manoeuvring political instability

[6]

While a great deal of time and effort goes into conceiving, designing, and manufacturing jewellery, outside forces can upset even the best thought-out plans. Augusto Ungarelli, chief executive officer (CEO) of Vendorafa, says jewellery exporters are struggling with decreasing interest in luxury goods due to political instability in markets like Russia and the Middle East.

“Libya, Syria, and Jordan were very active in terms of buying jewellery,” he notes. “Right now, Jordan is under psychological pressure in terms of regional struggles and retailers aren’t bringing a positive attitude to doing business. Russia has been a significant luxury market in the last few years, but after the embargoes, buying immediately stopped.”

At the end of the four-day fair, Corrado Facco, vice-chair of DV Global Link and managing director of Fiera di Vicenza, said the show’s debut was in line with organizers’ expectations and “achieved very positive results.”

[7]

“Despite unfavourable economic circumstances and geopolitical contexts in notable major markets for the global jewellery industry, the success of the inaugural event has strengthened our resolve to continue expanding the show over the next few years, especially in tactical capacity areas, such as high-end consumption and luxury-product absorption,” Facco said.

“This super show is a strategic operation for both Fiera di Vicenza and the international jewellery industry—the Dubai event has the capacity to connect global suppliers with emerging customers in the Far East and Africa. We hope this first edition represents the prologue of a great success story, one where DV Global Link builds its standing as a global player and Vicenzaoro Dubai establishes a position as one of the world’s top five events for the international B2B jewellery and goldsmith sectors by 2020.”

Next year’s Vicenzaoro Dubai is set for April 14 to 17.

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/features/vicenzaoro-dubai-middle-east-jewellery-hub-welcomes-inaugural-event/

---