Written by Paula Grineri - Thursday, January 2, 2020
Twice a year, the entire international jewellery production chain, with all the Italian manufacturing districts, is gathering at Vicenzaoro. Producers, brands, buyers, journalists, opinion leaders and trend setters from all over the world come to Vicenza to present and discover new collections in advance and to be inspired by the new year’s trends.
Organized by the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), the next edition will take place from 17th to 22nd January 2020. Business, innovation, training and sustainability are the focus of the Show. While trade fairs including in the jewellery sector are changing, Vicenzaoro strengthens its position by proposing new meetings every year with a phygital format. To know more about these transformations, we met the Group Brand Director Jewellery & Fashion, Marco Carniello.
Well, sustainability is one of the big words that has been expanding around the sector for the last years and it’s something we believe in because it’s healthy for the sector. We have been pushing this theme as a topic to be discussed in Vicenzaoro because the fair aims to be the cultural hub of the industry. For us, everything that’s important for the sector should be discussed here. We started in 2016 and now we’re pushing harder. Fashion started much before jewelry to treat this theme. Now sustainability is becoming a strategic issue in jewellery: of course, it is much more complex in our context because of sourcing area and material. But now, everybody understands that it’s important to deal with sustainability because consumers expectations are very high in this matter.
Creativity is the other part of the soul of Vicenzaoro. We really want to set the trends and and the mood for the whole year.
The Design Room is a unique and exclusive appointment with experimentation and creativity
to discover new international market trends and find exclusive and original items. Knowing how to translate one’s own vision of reality into something tangible: this is the art of The Design Room exhibitors, performed through personal aesthetics, researched gem combinations, curious minimal geometries and expressions of strength and elegance.
The protagonists this year are:
Exactly. Paola’s talk is one of the events placing us as the show you visit to understand what the next trends will be. We usually say that we unveil the best of today and we want to lead the tomorrow. Therefore, we carefully select the brands that are among our exhibitors.
Moreover, the consolidate brands understand the importance to present all their novelties here and not in other shows answering our visitor’s expectations for inspiration. Every year a book is edited :
[laugh] Well I think we are dealing with 2 different concepts. In my mind, Baselworld has never been really the show of trends. Baselworld traditionally represents big brands and companies from the watches industry whereas we would like to be the fulcrum of the jewelry industry. Jewelry is a little bit less about big brands but it’s more about trends, inspiration, products, gold and gemstones. Our visitor’s expectations are different.
We are offering an inspirational environment as a system and not as single brands– which is our strength.
This is an entire community that is working together and is contributing to our way to inspire the whole sector: journalists, buyers, also the manufacturers.
I mean, a fair is a platform of different markets. In general, what we see is there’s the top buyers or the huge buyers, with the big purchasing power, who are able to travel 15 hours from one side to the other side of the world. But the 80-90% of the buyers, they stay in the continent, let’s say 6-hour flights max. So, I don’t think there will be any competition for instance between us and Hong Kong or Las Vegas. We just, you know, own different markets…
Exactly. I think we need to be the reference of all buyers even the smallest in Europe. In addition, we really want to get the biggest ones from all the countries because in Vicenzaoro we showcase the nicest selection and inspire them. But even more important, they come here because they do business in Vicenza. And I think the trade fair is a market that is consolidating, but it won’t disappear. The most important is finding the right way to have physical and digital interactions. Fairs are becoming phygital !
This is not possible in Business to Business markets. We still believe in the need of physical interactions between the stakeholders but we want to make it nicer as an experience. The visitor journey must be smooth and easy. Now even the cities are participating to the whole customer experience organizing special events and concerts.
Well I think we will keep doing what we’re doing. Definitely, our ambition is really to become the reference for the jewellery sector, a show which is the fulcrum of trends in the world and the reference for all stakeholders. That’s why we also include the digital talk and the gem talks and other conferences to support the whole industry in its evolution. So I would really like that anybody from the world would come here to see where is going on in the jewellery business?
And what is NEW this year is the VO VINTAGE! We alrealdy love it!
Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) is launching VO VINTAGE entirely dedicated to the collector’s segment with some of the most sought-after, unique and rare pieces from the world of vintage timepieces and jewellery. During Vicenzaoro January 2020, at the Vicenza Exhibition Centre, VO VINTAGE – from Saturday 18th to Monday 20th January – will be running alongside the original trade show format with a programme further enlivened by the most esteemed and well-known experts on the international scene. The public of traders and enthusiasts will be able to personally meet three key players in the history of the vintage watch world: Giulio Papi, Sandro Fratini and
Giulio Papi is by far one of the greatest living master watchmakers and head of the high-range division of the famous manufacturer, Audemars Piguet. Over the years he has created watches that have left their mark on the history of contemporary watch-making. As the guest star at the opening day of VO VINTAGE, he will be giving an exclusive interview on the theme of the true significance of high-range watch-making over time (Saturday 18/01 at 3 pm, Hall 8.1, Canova Room). Saturday 18th January will also feature the opening talk show entitled “Amid passion and investment. The sense of the modern watch market” (Hall 7.1 –Tiziano Room), which will officially open the VO VINTAGE event at 11 am.
Sunday, 19th January will be the turn of a keynote address by Stefano Mazzariol, one of the world’s top experts on Rolex Daytona. Antique dealer, trader, appraiser and vintage watch consultant with more than thirty years’ experience, he is the author of two authentic “bibles” for enthusiasts: “Rolex Daytona from birth to legend” and “Ultimate Rolex Daytona”. Starting at 11 am (Hall 8.1, Canova Room), he will be providing the audience of collectors and enthusiasts with an outline of the philosophy behind the idea of collecting high-range mechanical watches and explaining how, over the decades, collectors have changed their approach.
Also on Sunday, at 3 pm, Vincent Calabrese, the independent master watchmaker, member of AHCI – Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, will be illustrating the real difference between the two rotating escapement systems, the Karrusel and Tourbillon, while also pointing out the advantages and defects.
The VO VINTAGE event will be brought to a close with the guru par excellence of the vintage watch world, Sandro Fratini, who, with his legendary collection of two thousand watches worth an estimated 1 billion Euros, has been the world’s greatest collector for years. On Monday, 20th January at 11 am (Hall 8.1, Canova Hall), Fratini will speak of his own experience with anecdotes and interesting facts during an interview entitled “In search of the Holy Grail of collecting”.
Wish you a wonderful jewellery fair, don’t miss also the