Gold Expressions Premieres at Fortunoff

The World Gold Council (WGC), jewelry importer Bel-Oro International, and the world’s second largest gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti, recently sponsored the official world premiere of Gold Expressions: Italian Passion by Design at Fortunoff in New York. The debut marked the first official consumer launch of the Gold Expressions collection in the U.S. market.

Gold Expressions: Italian Passion by Design (GE), a research-based product development initiative, now in its third year, was created in 2004 by WGC and Vicenza Fair to stimulate demand for Italian gold jewelry in major international markets.

The 2006 collection, which is exclusively distributed by Bel-Oro International to the U.S. market, comprises over 800 pieces of gold jewelry from 48 Italian manufacturers. Nine of these 48 designer lines made their retail debut in branded Gold Expressions ‘boutique’ displays at Fortunoff on Fifth Avenue, in White Plains, and Westbury, NY. The lines will also be shown in other Fortunoff stores. The product launch was so successful that product is already being re-ordered just two weeks after the initial launch.

According to John Calnon, WGC managing director, U.S., “The Gold Expressions branded showcases, together with the grouping of product in coordinated designer collections, creates a strong visual impact at point-of-sale, combining the American consumer’s passion for Italy with her natural love of gold jewelry.”

The boutiques displayed new designs from Dall ‘Avo, Dragoni, Essenza, Invernizzi Gioielli, Jessica, Klamore, Maria De Toni, Oma 27AR, and Oro VI. Each of these nine Italian designers is credited at counter in a uniquely Italian ‘boutique’ environment. Italian themed point-of-sale materials like the bust of a Roman statue, mosaic tile flooring and terra cotta color themes reinforce the strong American cachet of “made in Italy” and strengthen the consumer’s association with the quality and skill of the Italian goldsmith’s heritage.

The Gold Expressions jewelry also addresses a number of specific purchase motivations – gold as a gift of love, affection or friendship and gold to express a woman’s individuality. The product comes with its own branded GE packaging and romance cards that provide an insight into the history and craftsmanship of each Italian designer.

Dennis Ulrich, President and CEO of Bel-Oro explains, “The quality of Italian product, whether it’s jewelry, shoes, leather goods or high end sport cars has always held great esteem in the American mind. We are confident that by offering the very best of new Italian gold designs in a distinctively Italian retail environment, we can generate greater consumer excitement for gold and ultimately enhance the Fortunoff gold business, as well as our own.”

Future marketing plans for the Gold Expressions boutique at Fortunoff include a huge fall promotion with Hearst Magazine Group, as well as potential celebrity placements and consumer advertising.