Signs of Changing Times

Ah, glorious Hong Kong. As I sit here in my hotel room overlooking the harbor, I see lights, lights and more lights. It reminds me of pearls. This is the city of pearls, several times each year.

So where should I start as the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair winds to a close?

Tahitian prices seemed poised to rise with floor prices at both Wan and Poe Rava Nui higher than previously offered. Wan decided to take a different approach, posting reserves on all offered lots. His proclamation was clear - he is not giving his pearls away. The high reserves did have an effect, with less than half the lots selling.

The news is mixed at Asia World Expo, the new home for all pearl purveyors at the fair. As usual, the expo was crowded, buyer numbers were high, and there was excitement in the air - until the Exhibition Centre in the city stole most with promises of more and more, opening for business on Wednesday.

While some exhibitors felt the sting of the humdrum economy, others were happily moving product to eager buyers looking for those downturn deals. Japanese dealers were particularly busy pushing discounted akoya. A promising note for the akoya: The price slide seems to have stopped, and prices are starting to inch north for the first time in years. The movement is small, but any movement in that direction must elate struggling producers.

Tahitian pearls were everywhere. The yearlong tax elimination was clearly evident with strands lining nearly every booth. Quality goods, however, were sparse. Thousands of strands of rubbish, like the clearly coated and treated strands from Shanghai Pearl, were more prolific than ever before. FP certainly rid itself of the shit house grade this year.

Freshwater pearls were still as popular as ever. Monday, buyers crowded the booths, grabbing the best as quickly as they could. News from China is that the price slide of freshwater is also coming to a halt, with slight movement in the opposite direction for the first time in more than two years.

Could this be a sign of changing times?

Signs of the Times

Many of us were greeted by the JCK announcement recently that they were abandoning the ship at The Sands and moving their show to Mandalay bay in 2011, per a JCK online announcement.

JCK Las Vegas will move to Mandalay Bay in 2011 as part of a retailer-focused reinvention that includes additional programming and education as well as increased opportunities for networking and socializing.

JCK Events, the show's organizer, also announced that the American Gem Trade Association, Hong Kong Jewelry Manufacturers Association, LUXURY, Plumb Club, Prestige Promenade, Swiss Watch, and Vicenza Oro Italian Pavilion were among the first to sign up for 2011. Other leading companies also have endorsed the move.

Dave Bonaparte, group vice president for JCK Events, called the move "a pure example of customer-focused decision making," and noted that the JCK Show team conducted extensive customer research before making the final decision. The research included sending more than 80 of the largest exhibiting companies and organizations-representing more than 500 domestic and international customers-to visit Mandalay Bay and share their opinions.

"More than 90 percent expressed support for the move," Bonaparte said. He also noted that Mandalay Bay was able to accommodate The JCK Show's existing date pattern.

JCK Events cited a number of advantages to the Mandalay Bay venue, including a state-of-the-art convention facility; an easier move in/move out process; a range of hotel properties and prices; moderately priced hotel options next door, linked to Mandalay Bay by tram and walkway; and 22 restaurants, bars, and clubs, for networking and after-hours business.

In 2010, JCK Las Vegas will begin a reinvention as a retailer-focused event, Bonaparte said. "We will continue to seek ways to reduce cost, organize the floor plan better for ease of navigation and efficient buying. And we will continue to invest in more programming and education and opportunities for networking and socializing-all important to the retail customers, based on our research."

JCK Las Vegas 2010 will take place June 4-7, at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

This flak-merde (“retailer-focused reinvention" and “a pure example of customer-focused decision-making”)must be typical PR BS for “we are in deep yogurt and must reduce our costs, as our flagship magazine is going down the proverbial chute at an alarming rate.” If you don’t ascribe to this, take a look at the rag and compare it to what it once was. Most of the rats at the top seem to have left the sinking ship.

And not only JCK. There isn’t a jewelry magazine extant that is doing well. Especially in covering the pearl niche of the industry.

So it’s no big surprise that JCK Las Vegas is floundering. It is too crowded, too expensive, and simply a waste of money for too many exhibitors.

Mandalay Bay must have given away the farm to get these bozos to pack up and leave.

Bafoon