The September Hong Kong Jewellery and Watch Fair has so far performed below traders’ expectations leaving many diamantaires and other exhibitors with mixed feelings.

 

With the economic situation decreasing severely throughout 2008, it was cruel fate that the show opened concurrently with the shock announcement from Lehman Brothers that they had gone into administration.

 

Stranded at the outer reaches of the exhibition pavilion at AWE, a Belgian exhibitor admitted that the booth had not had a single customer. “Compared to the June show, the situation is very bad,” he said. “There is a complete lack of foot traffic,” he said. Those who were making enquiries were asking for prices far below any margins the company can live with.

 

At the Asia-World Expo (AWE) location, which opened on September 15, traffic was almost non-existent. This center has the disadvantage of being far from the main show at the Hong Kong Conference and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), which opened on September 17.

 

Show organizers hope attendees will visit both centers, but with a 45 minute journey to contend with, now that the main show has opened, there is little reason and even less desire for buyers to leave the HKCEC.

 

First time exhibitor Isaac Davidowits was generally satisfied with the state of the show. His company, which specializes in manufacturing cushions and asschers, had mainly sold goods 1 carat and up, SI and up. Shape-wise, the greatest interest had been in pear shapes, emeralds and especially in rounds.

 

Davidowits said he certainly plans to be back next year when the diamond companies exhibiting at the show will be located at AWE.

 

Bhavani Hong Kong Ltd was located prominently in a large booth near the entrance, making the company very hard to miss. Manager Tushar Jhaveri said that he had been receiving a lot of enquiries, as well as some sales. “I wouldn’t say it’s good, but it’s going well,” he commented. “Because of our name, people come over. We also generally ask for appointments in advance, so we know who is coming, although we also have a lot of walk ins.” One surprising development, he said, was the large number of Australian buyers who had been coming in, leading to expectations of a strengthening market in that country.

 

Jhaveri said that he had noticed the most interest in certified goods from 0.30 to 0.90 carats, VVS to VS2 and D to J in colors. Diamonds of 1 carat had also been popular. The company, he said, had surpassed their sales targets. In addition, many people had reserved goods on the first day of the show and had actually come back to purchase them, much to his relief.

 

Unlike others who object to their positioning in AWE, Jhaveri is philosophical about it. “Because there’s not as much competition here, it is easy to unload goods at reasonable prices.” Regarding the situation next year, he is looking forward to all the diamond companies being concentrated together. “Competition is a good thing,” he said. “More companies mean more buyers and new clients.”

 

Over at the HKCEC, business is still in its early days and it is too early to judge. Traffic looks heavy, but many are already complaining that inquiries are not turning into sales. Hopes were high that diamantaires would be able to offload their larger goods at the show. A hope that, according to one insider, is looking increasingly bleak.

 

In addition, with a large contingent of Indian buyers present at the show, some are worried that the weakening rupee against the dollar will prevent buyers from making purchases that they could have, just about, stomached only a short time ago.

 

The Hong Kong Jewellery and Watch Fair continues until September 21.