The three 2008 editions of Vicenzaoro —Winter, Spring and Autumn — will feature an “extreme makeover.” While all three in the past had basically the same structure, starting this year, each will be different, reflecting the various priorities, interests and needs that make up the international gold jewelry market. The changes include new names for each edition, new dates and a new focus.
“First” is the new name of the January edition of the fair, which was held January 13 to 20, 2008, in Vicenza. The name reflects the fact that the show is the first fair of the year, the first presentation of new gold jewelry collections and the first opportunity to lock in purchases. As in the past format, First will include a jewelry machinery and tools fair, the name of which has been changed to T-Gold.
The second fair, “Charm,” to be held from May 17 to 21, 2008, in Vicenza, will emphasize jewelry’s relationship with lifestyle, fashion and design.
The former “Vicenzaoro Autumn” show, traditionally a broad-based generalist fair, is now known as “Choice” and scheduled for September 6 to 10, 2008. It will be structured as a marketplace between retailer operators and manufacturers and will include sessions on industry issues, including consumer tastes and trends and how to market to them. A fourth — and new — fair, “About J,” will move outside Vicenza and be held in Milan at Superstudio, a trendy design/fashion location, from March 2 to 4, 2008. It will showcase the best of the worldwide gold jewelry production from 80 Italian and international manufacturers to more than 400 international buyers.
TRENDS
Starting off the new trio of Vicenzaoro fairs, First attracted 1,606 exhibitors in January — of which 1,234 were Italian and 372 came from other countries — as well as more than 10,000 Italian and 5,500 foreign visitors, a 25 percent attendance increase over 2007.
The principal trend seen was “colors,” both in metals and precious stones. Very cool at the moment are the warm shades, such as brown and gold, for dia-monds and pearls. The latter are present in Gianni Carità’s long platinum earrings with white diamonds. Brown is often matched with pink gold; a fashionable example is the Luna collection by Calgaro, characterized by jewels with half spheres in ebony, enriched by small diamonds, in which the spheres represent both moon phases and the female universe.
Combining champagne, cognac, white and black diamonds, the Fantasia collection by Roberto Coin features a set of semirigid collier and earrings made of circular elements, in which the black diamonds give cold contrast to the warm tones.
In the jewelry color rainbow, red is the most important color and is best expressed in rubies, tourmalines and quartz, almost always enhanced by white diamonds. Among these jewels, Stefan Hafner’s Marquise necklace stands out, with marquise-cut and drop-shaped rubies, which together form precious flowers, embellished by a waterfall of white diamonds.
Other colors making their mark in 2008 are pink and violet, which turn up in romantic and vintage-inspiration jewels. The Primavera necklace by Giovanni Ferraris in pink gold has a pink quartz heart and a diamond flower. The Vivaldi ring by PonteVecchio Gioielli is worked in red gold, with a mosaic of faceted stones, including diamonds.
White is welcomed back. It can be found in jewelry that is light in weight and light-looking in white gold and diamonds. This jewelry is mainly inspired by shapes of nature, which can become either abstract, with organic character, or extremely modern, with geometric shapes. In this category are jewels by Hulchi Belluni, created according to the study of feng shui harmony and thoroughly covered in diamonds.
A Cesare De Vecchi ring, included in the “Platinum Loves Pearls” collection, is another example of the combination of absolute white and organic geometry, with diamonds and white pearls. Damiani offers Madeira earrings with a row of identical hearts, studded with diamonds. White semiprecious stones, such as rock crystals combined with pearls by Calgaro, or adularia — moonstone — and white pearls, as combined by Pianegonda, are trendy as well. White enamel, in combination withdiamonds, also is popular, as expressed in the 1970s-inspired La Nouvelle Bague line that includes rigid bracelet, pendants and earrings. The same decade is represented by circle and oval geometric shapes that are very popular with several producers, including Nanis and Valente.
DIAMONDSRepresenting the diamond world, Moshe Namdar & Co. showed the latest offerings for retailers from the Leo Cut Collection, which consists of a display kit with a finished collection. The display contains a collier, solitaire rings and long earrings in white gold and clear lines, along with an unmounted diamond. The patented Leo Cut stones are always guaranteed with 66 facets and contain identification codes. In other diamond news, Diamond Avenue was exhibiting a cushion cut with smoothed angles.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2008. To subscribe click here.