Live from VicenzaOro First: Vendors Dish on What’s New, Selling

While VicenzaOro First does provide a peek at styles to
expect for the year ahead, this year’s fair didn’t feature a lot of
new jewelry. Like last year, many vendors said they were waiting until
Baselworld to unveil new collections. And some vendors had already
unveiled some new looks at the September fair, VicenzaOro Choice—a venue known to
attract mainly Italian shoppers; that’s where Roberto Coin had debuted his Nemo collection, inspired by Disney’s
animated fish film.

A bracelet from Roberto Coin’s Nemo collection

At Roberto Coin in Hall B1, which houses Italy’s most high-profile
brands, the extra-wide range of price points unveiled one year ago were
still in effect, and had not dropped further—perhaps an indication that
business is stabilizing. Coin showed a few additions to his Haute Couture
collection, including oversize gemstone cluster rings in green, orange, pink,
and blue hues, octopus-motif rings and bracelets, and a massive 66.80 cts. t.w.
rutilated quartz ring with diamonds for $13,000.

A 66.80 cts. t.w.
rutilated quartz ring with diamonds for $13,000

Octopus rings from Roberto Coin

New Roberto Coin gemstone rings from the Haute Couture collection

Design house AnnaMaria Cammilla, which unveiled price points
as low as $1,000 last year, met with buyers from Russia, Asia, and the Middle
East at this fair, but no Americans. The firm expects to see those clients as
an exhibitor at JCK Las Vegas this year, but hopes other Europeans make the
trip as well. “Russia and the Middle East spend the most,” said a spokesperson
at the booth.

Floral-motif jewels from AnnaMaria Cammilla

Close-up: floral ring form AnnaMaria Cammilla

Other vendors also anticipated American business to surface in
the months ahead: “Americans come to Basel and Vegas,” said Andrea Pinato,
a designer for Luca Carati. Pinato unveiled the Voila pendant, a convertible pendant
necklace in 18k gold and gemstones starting at $5,423. “Voila will evolve for
Basel,” he added.

The new Voila convertible pendant from Luca Carati

The Voila pendant from Luca Carati is available in yellow gold with pink sapphires or white gold with blue sapphires; it collapses from a long oval pendant to a compact floral-motif form

Firms like Giorgio Visconti, Staurino, and Garavelli remarked on the
continuing popularity of the black-and-white color scheme for Americans, while
pink gold—particularly with champagne diamonds—is growing in appeal to
Europeans. “We are seeing a strong comeback for rose gold,” said Staurino co-owner Stefano
Staurino, adding that it lends a “more romantic touch.” To appeal to those
buyers, Staurino offers an 18k gold alloy with a greater percentage of copper
and a new hand-chiseled finish (available in its Stardust collection) that
plays up rose tones. “We had a good Christmas, with better pieces selling,” said Elisabetta Molina, owner, Garavelli. In particular, big rings with large stones sold well in the $5,000 and up range. “Consumers are buying pieces with value,” she added.

Black and white jewels (popular among American shoppers) from Garavelli

New rings in rose gold from Staurino

Meanwhile, the color trend—in gemstones, enamel, and metals—continues. Leaderline within the Blue White Group once again showed treated
silver, this year in peach and yellow as well as blue, Garavelli showed
elongated cuts of turquoise and hematite in rings and earrings, and the Fifth
Season (from Roberto Coin) showed numerous enamel and gold styles with youthful
appeal.