The 34th edition of the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair attracted 55,768 buyers from 147 countries and regions, the organisers said in a statement issued earlier this week. The seven day trade event had concluded on September 19. The show had 3,615 exhibitors from 55 countries and regions, the statement added.

The organisers, UBM Asia said that Hong Kong based visitors accounted for about 30% of the total while the remaining came from a wide variety of countries across the globe including mainland China. The number of visitors from many countries such as India, Belgium, UK, Australia, Myanmar and Japan rose as compared to a year earlier.

Celine Lau, Director of Jewellery Fairs, UBM Asia, noted that the traffic remained optimistic and centered on large carat diamonds, precious stones, South Sea pearls, fine finished jewellery, tools, packaging and equipment.  “We observed that the number of quality buyers remained steady at this edition; their presence is an encouraging sign that points to the jewellery industry’s continued development and significant growth,” she said.

One of the new developments in this edition of the show was the “Declaration Programme on Exhibits of Natural Diamond” whose participants had to make an explicit declaration that the stones they were selling were all natural diamonds. Members of the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, the Antwerp World Diamond Center, Belgium, and the Israel Diamond Institute were among those who participated in this initiative.

Wolfram Diener, senior vice president of UBM Asia, said, “We know there is a market for both natural and synthetic diamonds, and we want to be a platform for both. We are happy to have both at our show, but it is important that the buyers are well informed.”

Next year, the June Fair will celebrate its 30th anniversary while the September Fair will celebrate its 35th anniversary. “We are planning some new features that will further enhance buyer experience at our shows,” said Ms Lau.  “We will launch a new theme pavilion named CORE, which will house esteemed fine finished jewellery companies that have supported the Jewellery & Gem Fairs, and consider Hong Kong as the platform from which they grow their business.”