In a little more than a week, I, like many of you, will be touching down in Las Vegas for the annual bling-fest known as JCK Las Vegas. Armed with flat shoes, a reusable bottle of water, and notebooks for days, I’ll pound the carpets of Mandalay Bay Convention Center from May 30 through June 4. My schedule is packed with seminars, jewelry appointments, lunches, gala dinners, and the four to-dos outlined below. I hope to see you there (if you know what’s good for you!).
JCK Industry Trends Breakfast
Earlier this year, JCK conducted a wide-ranging survey of the jewelry industry. The results were enlightening, to say the least. On Friday, June 1, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the South Seas Ballroom, you’ll have an opportunity to hear what your peers in the trade think about everything from lab-grown diamonds to expectations for business in 2018 at the JCK Industry Trends Breakfast. The event will be keynoted by Signet CEO Gina Drosos. For more info, and to RSVP for Friday’s breakfast, visit lasvegas.jckonline.com/events.
Las Vegas Estate Jewelry & Watch Pavilion
The Bayside (lower) level of JCK is making way for a new estate jewelry and watch pavilion this year, and the timing couldn’t be better. The estate market is on fire. Between signed period pieces that fetch top dollar to unsigned but well-made jewels from one of the many eras of the 20th century, the goods on offer will help distinguish your cases from the copycat merchandise that characterizes most jewelry stores. The pavilion also offers you an opportunity to sell merchandise you may have purchased off the street and would like to unload to the right buyer. Consider this new area of JCK Las Vegas a one-stop shop for buying and selling.
Le Vian 2019 Red Carpet Revue
For the 19th year in a row, Le Vian will stage its Red Carpet Revue at JCK. The invitation-only event, which combines a trend forecast and fashion show with a special musical performance, takes place on Sunday, June 3, in the Lagoon Ballroom, with red carpet arrivals beginning at 4 p.m.
On Friday, CEO Eddie LeVian explained to me why the million-dollar event matters.
“This is a trend forecast that 5,000 stores in multiple countries are following and putting in their showcases,” he told me. “It’s done in collaboration with the editor of one of the top fashion magazines, Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, along with executive fashion and beauty editor Avril Graham and accessories director Amanda Weiner. In early April, they confidentially share with us their fall fashion forecast. In that process, we try to find where our two worlds come together.
“Basically, their forecast is a product of them visiting runways around the world and gathering the big message of what is the fashion,” LeVian added. “Our forecast is based on creating 40,000 new styles a year, running 3,000 pop-up shops a year, dressing 400 celebrities a year, and gathering all the sales data into understanding what the celebrity machine is gravitating to, and then tying that to the fashion trends, in order to come up with the sweet spot.”
Bottom line: The Le Vian 2019 Red Carpet Revue offers valuable insider info on the trends shaping the jewelry conversation. Score a ticket now!
JCK Rocks the Bowl
When JCK moved to Mandalay Bay in 2011, the show kicked off a “Rocks the Beach” concert series that, over the years, attracted some pretty great names (Adam Levine! Bruno Mars!). I loved mingling with showgoers on the Mandalay Bay Beach on those sultry Sunday nights in Vegas—except for one not-insignificant detail: the heat.
Last year, the show switched things up by replacing the concert series with a bowl-a-thon at the popular (and air-conditioned!) Brooklyn Bowl location down the Strip, at the LINQ. This year, JCK Rocks the Bowl returns on Sunday, June 3, from 8 p.m.–12 a.m. (You can pick up tickets on Friday or Sunday at the info counters on the show floor.) I’m crap at bowling, so you’ll find me at one of two places: the bar or the dance floor. See you there!
(Oh, don’t forget to check out the off-the-beaten path destinations we spotlighted in our March/April issue!)
Top: Vintage-inspired locket in 14k white gold with diamonds and baguette sapphires, price on request; My Story Fine Jewelry (LUX-2104)
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