There are one hundred and seven different ways to wear jewellery, each one connected to the traditions of the territory which it comes from. But the one common denominator is high-quality craftsmanship. This will be the value added of Italian companies which will participate in the International Jewellery Show in Hong Kong from the 5^th to the 9^th of March, with the assistance of the Italian Trade Commission. The result will be a varied offering of great substance, ranging from traditional bell-like craftsmanship in coral and especially cameos - precious jewels made through the incision of a stratified stone (usually onyx) or a shell - to highly-intricate jewellery from Tuscany (in particular Arezzo) and Piedmont (the city of Valenza in Alessandria province), as well as jewellery focused on silver and gold chains from the district of Vicenza in the Veneto region.

The opportunity should not be missed, because a presence in Hong Kong will allow small and medium Italian companies to test the water in China, both by using classical distribution networks (therefore making use of specialist shops, importers and wholesalers with a licence to operate in China) and by exploiting the local market’s receptiveness. Hong Kong is in fact the global leader in the production and consumption of gold objects; and the gold sector continues to expand at a growing rate, supplying jewellery products not only to China but also to bordering Asian countries like Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. The showcase is therefore of prime importance for the Italian jewellery sector, which will try to consolidate its prominent international role (owing partly to the special emphasis that has always been placed on the far eastern market) in this trade fair, which has now reached its twenty-seventh edition. Japan will serve as the foundation and China as the prime objective (insofar as it is the market with the greatest “specific weight”), with other countries in the region considered as areas which are extremely interesting for developing new commercial strategies.

The numbers behind the International Jewellery Show really speak for themselves in showing that this is an essential event: 2360 exhibitors were in fact hosted in the last edition, of which 1299 were local, with 1061 coming from 46 different countries; and there were also 29,326 visitors (31,333 in 2008), of which 14,448 came from Hong Kong and 14,878 from the rest of the world, representing 124 countries. There is no shortage of options for putting oneself in the spotlight; in fact, the 107 Italian companies participating will not only have their eye on Hong Kong residents: it is in fact estimated that 50% of sales come from tourists, who are considered a significant source of income for the jewellery sector. And it will not only be them that the splendid and extremely distinctive Italian jewels will “wink at” from the stands of the International Jewellery Show.