Sydney Jewellery Fair surprises many

4.9 k views | Posted September 01, 2012 | By Dean Millard • Staff Journalist

The International Jewellery Fair opened yesterday in Sydney with a number of surprises including an unexpected positive mood among visitors and exhibitors.

There was a strong and sustained buzz around the Sydney Exhibition Centre yesterday, with a healthy number of retailers keeping many exhibitors at the JAA International Jewellery Fair busy for most of the day.

While there was perhaps not the huge surge of visitors flooding through the door in the opening hour as in previous years, by the end of the day many exhibitors were claiming to have had one of their most successful Sundays at the fair in quite a few years.

Retailers were entertained throughout the day by a revolving fashion parade, with many of the brands being displayed at the fair having their pieces paraded down the runway, helping to bring those pieces to life.

Gary Fitz-Roy, MD of Expertise Events

Expertise Events managing director Gary Fitz-Roy said even he was surprised by the feedback from exhibitors, saying it was in stark contrast to the general mood of the industry leading up to the event.

“The feedback from most of the exhibitors is that the retailers are buying, and I think that has surprised some people,” Fitz-Roy said. “Sunday is traditionally the day people wander around and review new ranges, but it seems today they were happy to buy.”

Fitz-Roy attributed much of the positive mood to the fact more exhibitors than in previous years had clearly prepared in advance for the event, which he said was an indication the industry was understanding the importance of marketing.

“We have had a lot of companies who have upgraded the look and feel of their stand and the quality and their product. The big change has been how much they have focused on advertising and marketing to retailers before the fair.

“The difference is exhibitors have worked out that they need to inspire retailers, who in turn inspire consumers,” he continued. “The suppliers who have not had a good [opening] day need to look in the mirror and ask what they can do differently to attract buyers, or walk around and check out what others are doing. It will be a combination of new product and engaging people, there is never a quiet moment at the fair if you are working your stand properly.”

Busy traders
One exhibitor who barely had time to be interviewed by Jeweller yesterday was Eastern Pearl managing director Tina Chen.

The Eastern Pearl stand was busy from the opening with customers being two and three deep throughout the day. Chen said her stand was typically very busy each year, but said this year the stand had been even busier, which she attributed to ensuring she had something new and fresh to show retailers every year.

“We have a lot of new product and every year we are changing something to attract the people,” Chen said. “We did a lot more made up stock this year than we have in the past, but we also had new lines. It seemed this year that everything across the board was selling well. The key is in the price, being average in price, not too high or low, being in that medium range.”

Chen was pleasantly surprised by sales activity saying they had prepared 200 sets of earrings for the opening day of the fair priced between $100 and $300, but by 3pm she had completely sold out, which she said was a great result.

Barely a break
Paul Shadiac Imports was another exhibitor extremely busy all day, barely having a spare space at its counter until late in the afternoon.

Managing director Paul Shadiac said Sundays at the Sydney fair were generally busy for his business, but yesterday there had been people lined up waiting to be seated almost all day. He added that many of the buyers were people who already knew the brand, but he felt the introduction of new ranges again this year had helped keep them enticed.

“Generally we launch a new range for the fair, and this year the new range is Charles Garnier, which is a silver range,” Shadiac said. “With the price of metals increasing all of the time it is out of reach of some people so we have decided to introduce another range, which has gone really well.”

Michael Witt Johansen of Bering Watches
New faces
There was a swath of new brands unleashed on the opening day, with BYMR (formerly Jarass) surprising visitors and other exhibitors by unveiling a fourth new watch brand for the year, Bering.

The Danish designed watch is a relative new brand having been on the market for just two years. BYMR managing director Nils Rasmussen who arranged for Bering founder Michael Witt Johansen to visit from Denmark specifically for the Sydney fair kept the Australian launch well under wraps.

Witt Johansen said that Bering was initially launched in Germany because of his existing business contacts and since then it has become one of the fastest growing watch brands on the market, now being sold in 25 countries around the world.

Bering is inspired by the stark beauty of the Arctic region and aside from the simple, crisp stylings of the watches another attraction of the brand is the strong environmental element to it, being packaged in a sturdy and recyclable glass container.

The brand also releases a limited edition range each year, with the proceeds from that range being donated to the protection of polar bears.

Mark Milton of Mark Milton Pepper Pink Jewellery
Australia: an important market
Mark Milton is another company head who travelled to Australia for the fair though this year his time in Sydney was affected by the clash of the UK’s leading jewellery fair. He arrived a couple of days before the opening but left on Sunday night to return to London.

Milton has attended the Sydney fair at least six times and he told Jeweller that the Australian and New Zealand market had become a vital part of the company’s business.

“The Australasian market is now over one third of our international sales," he explained.

Milton has watched the Australian market change over the last six years when it was originally a gold and jewellery market.

“I've noticed a more sophisticated approach to marketing and product since we first launched in Australia. Not only has there been a big shift towards branded product but there’s been a big change in material as well. The fair was pretty much a gold and diamond show when I first came and now there’s everything, steel, ceramics, brass, you name it,” Milton said.

He said the UK market has also experienced a major shift towards branded product also, but he believed the evolution was more advanced in Australia compared to the UK.

Ice-Watch's Ice-Match Technology
Ice-Match
Another stand that was busy all day was Ice-Watch, with its new promotional concept, Ice-Match proving a popular novelty with visitors.

When someone stands in front of a large screen the technology captures an image of the customer and produces a list of watches in the Ice-Watch range that would suit the colour scheme the person’s clothes and accessories.

Bolt International managing director Larry Porter said the technology had obviously intrigued visitors to the stand.

“People love it,” Porter said. “One of our aims is not just selling to people but making our stand a place they want to be.”

Porter said the traffic had been steady all day at the Ice-Watch stand, which he attributed to the combination of the popularity of the brand in general at the moment and a range of new product lines, including the Ice-Phone, a retro styled telephone handset for smartphones.

The Ice-Phone has an app for smartphones that allows the screen of the phone to also have a retro phone dial in a co-ordinating colour with the Ice-Phone, something that was proving popular with people targeting a younger market.

Olympic canoeist Jessica Fox, Silver Medalist
Silver Fox
Olympic canoeist Jessica Fox made an appearance at the fair to help promote York Jewellers.

The 18-year-old won a silver medal in the kayak K1 at London earlier this year, stunning the field after initially qualifying eighth fastest in the semi finals.

Fox said for an athlete in a sport that does not receive the level of financial backing as the likes of tennis or swimming to be sponsored by a company like York Jewellers made a significant difference to her ability to compete at an international level.

“Our sport is quite expensive, the travel and equipment are quite expensive, so for me to have this support is really important and appreciated,” Fox said. “Canoeing is not a very big sport, but it is a dynamic sport, it is exciting and being 18 and young I hope I can be a fresh face for the sport. I have had a lot of media attention since the Olympics.”