Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair Opens

Asia’s largest ever international jewelry fair opened today at the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), one of the two venues hosting the show. The other is the traditional Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), which opens tomorrow. This is the first year for the two-venue show and exhibitors opened their booths this morning with hopes and concern.

Together, the two venues cover 80,000 square meters of exhibition space and house over 5,000 exhibition booths and a record number of exhibitors, over 2,500 exhibitors from 47 countries. In addition, show organizers expect over 11,000 international buyers on top of local visitors.

The new AWE venue, which lies adjacent to Hong Kong’s international airport, was designed to accommodate growing demand for exhibition space. While the addition was welcome, some exhibitors are hedging their bets by opening booths at both venues.

Exhibitors have also expressed concern that visitors will mostly come to the AWE today, before abandoning it for the rest of the show and sticking to the long running HKCEC venue.

During the show, two pearl auctions will be held, as well as a number of seminars conducted by international industry organizations, including the Hong Kong Institute of Gemmology, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), GIA, and the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices.

The show ends September 23.