The September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair jump-starts a period of bejeweled celebrations
When the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair is held Sept. 12–16 at AsiaWorld-Expo and Sept. 14–18 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Manoj Butani, director of Hong Kong–based Butani Jewellery Ltd., is planning to “go big.”
“It’s basically the show that kicks off the season,” he says. “We have to cover all our bases, not just with the big important pieces but the ready-to-wear as well as aspirational pieces.” In a slight departure from tradition, the company is expanding its line beyond diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds to include “a splash of color,” Butani adds. “We’ll be dabbling in semiprecious as well: purple sapphires, chrysoprase, quartz. Different colors that are softer on the eyes. The biggest element is we’re trying to be more creative.”
Payal Shah, director of L’Dezen, a diamond jewelry brand also based in Hong Kong, knows the drill. Every year, the former architecture student designs her booth to reflect a different theme to attract showgoers.
One year the designer created a hot-air balloon—“you could sit inside the balloon, and it was a meeting room.” Other themes have included a pop-art display and a European palace. “People look forward to it,” she says.
Shah is keeping this year’s booth theme under wraps, but she reveals that L’Dezen’s newest collections will be skewed to the year’s most popular styles. “What’s really trending now are casual chokers, casual hoops, and pieces that are thin and long,” she says. “Skinny is really in.”
Overall, Shah echoes Butani when citing the significance of the September show, which attracts buyers from all over the world eager to stock up on important jewels in time for the key events on the global calendar.
“The American holidays are coming up, as are the Indian holidays,” she says. “It’s also the start of wedding season, so we get a lot of brides and brides’ moms looking at big pieces. It’s the one time they’re least vulnerable to prices.”
Shoulder-duster earrings with 41.04 cts. t.w. sapphires and 1.93 cts. t.w. diamonds; $51,500; Butani; info@butani.com; www.butani.com