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September 2020 (39)
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We knew that there was a virus spreading out there when the latest issue of the Baltic Jewellery News was released at the opening of “Amber Trip”, but we were not aware of the impact it would have on our daily lives and livelihoods yet. “Amber Trip” started out in a very good and optimistic fashion with a good number of visitors despite of some news of cancelled fairs in Europe. The threat of closing was in the air during the second day and we started hearing reports from other countries about borders being closed. Finally, it was inevitable that the corona crisis would eventually reach us in a very concrete way. The fair had to be closed and many of the exhibitors saw their commercial aspirations for the rest of the spring vanish into uncertainty about the future. Totally unexpectedly we had to deal with new challenges of how to conduct our everyday business in a time where fairs and exhibitions were closed and people were confined to their homes. How have we been able to deal with this? There are as many stories as there are companies and there are differences in how each nation has been able to support their entrepreneurs to overcome this period of isolation. We have also seen an overwhelming wave of innovative ideas to overcome the isolation. Digital events and marketing have taken a giant step during this time and I am confident that, as bad as it seems, it will bring something new as we go back to what we today call “the new normal”. From the historical point of view jewellery has always had its place in every time and culture. Peoples’ need of jewellery has survived wars and crises and I think and hope that we are taking a step towards a new era in the jewellery business during this crisis.
Henrik KIHLMAN
www.balticjewellerynews.com
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
This year has definitely taken us all by surprise and turned just about everything we are accustomed to upside down for an indefinite time to come.
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Dear Readers,
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September 2020 (39)
GOLD DEMAND TRENDS SECOND QUARTER 2020
IT’S GOOD TO SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES
MISSION: TO EXPORT NORWEGIAN JEWELLERY
AMBER TRIP COMMUNITY INITIATIVES KEEP ON GETTING STRONGER
HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS LOVE FOR DIAMONDS
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ART AND VIRTUAL REALITY. HOW INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES CAN SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE EXHIBITION
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Baltic Jewellery News / September 2020 (39) Manufakturu st. 16-7, LT-11342, Vilnius, Lithuania; tel. +370 687 72 175; e-mail: magazine@balticjewellerynews.com Editor / Henrik Kihlman Designer / SAVITAI, Translators / VERTIMU GURU, CIRCULATION 2000 Distribution in the whole Baltic Sea Region. Copyright: Contents of “Baltic Jewellery News” are copyright. ISSN 2335-2132 Reproduction of material in part or in whole is not permitted in any form without the written authorization of the publisher. The editorial office is not responsible for the content of advertisements and for the accuracy of the facts presented by the authors.
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CONTENT /
MINING 6
Polish amber from the Lublin area
24 26 30 36 38 40 42 46 48 50 56 60 62 69 72 76 78 82
HISTORY 84 85
Priceless – medieval brooch was acquired by V&A He was known for his love for diamonds
PERSONALITY 86
Michał Kosior is the amber personality of the year 2019
MARKET REVIEW 88 89 90 91
The Worldwide Price for Raw Amber – from Russia The Worldwide Price for Raw Amber – from Ukraine The Worldwide Gold Price The Worldwide Silver Price
MAJOR JEWELLERY TRADE FAIRS 93
Major jewellery trade fairs August 2020 – March 2021
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The impact of COVID – perspective of assay offices Gold mid-year outlook 2020 recovery paths and impact on performance and their impact on gold Gold demand trends second quarter 2020 Art and virtual reality. How innovation and new technologies can shape the future of the exhibition Covid-19 a new factor we never could have imagined St. Petersburg jewelers catch the wind of change Amber, changing lives of modern people Jubinale – brave step to get jewellery world back on its feet Amberif 2020 It’s good to seize opportunities Integration is the only solution for the amber industry – an interview with Adam Pstrągowski Mission: to export Norwegian jewellery Ethics in jewellery matters Amber Trip community initiatives keep on getting stronger May in Legnica without silver Amberif design award with the theme of ultimate beauty Selected Latvian jewelry of 2019 Petri Pulliainen master of hard materials The winners of the Amber Trip art jewellery contest “Ecosight” 2020 Announcement of the Amber Trip art jewellery contest theme Congratulations to Vita Pukstaite-Bruze, the winner of the grand prix of the Amber Trip art competition! We = I
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS
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“Our adventure with amber in the Lublin area began in 2014. The geological survey report was produced after more than 80 boreholes, both core drill holes and large-diameter (1.5m) ones, were made. We have developed a 3D model of the deposit with innovative survey methods using, for example, an analysis of multispectral satellite images with original mathematical algorithms,” says geologist Jan Paluch, Deputy President of Stellarium. “In order to minimise the environmental impact of the mining, we used a special waterstop barrier in the mine design. This is how we do our mining dry, without disturbing the aquifer system outside the excavation area.”
The
mine was launched by Stellarium, which was the first company in Poland to obtain a licence for open-cast extraction of succinite. The mining takes place in the north-eastern part of the Górka Lubartowska amber deposit, which was initially explored in 2004.
The company obtained its mining licence in May 2018. The construction of the waterstop barrier and sand mining began in early 2019. Within 5 years, Poland’s first amber and glauconite open-cast mine was built from scratch using innovative technologies in the surveying, mining and processing of raw materials.
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After years-long surveys of the deposit, compiling the documentation and required permits, and a huge investment in the construction of the mine, the first kilograms of Polish amber from the Lublin area were sold at the Jubinale trade show in June.
POLISH AMBER FROM THE LUBLIN AREA By Michał Kosior www.balticjewellerynews.com
Amber (succinite) from the Stellarium deposit has been evaluated as a high quality raw material. Both the small amount of its weathered crust and its warm orange-yellow colours place it
among the most commercially valuable varieties. The deposit on which the mine operates has a layered structure. In the upper part, there is quartz sand, with its seams reaching a depth of about 15m. Below is a ca. 7m-thick layer of Eocene glauconite sediment with amber.
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the company’s history and expansion plans.
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“We hope that our mine will keep producing high-quality amber for many years to come, which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the stabilisation of amber prices in Poland, while amber artists get stable access to legally sourced raw amber from a Polish mine,” Deputy President Jan Paluch presents
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MINING / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
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THE IMPACT OF COVID – PERSPECTIVE OF ASSAY OFFICES
By Odilija GUNTORIUTE As the first wave of COVID-19 has passed in Europe, retailers expect to get back on their feet. Shopping centres in England count the increase in the number of customers. If we compare the numbers on the 8th of June to the 15th of June, we would see an increase of 42%. However, this is not as satisfying because the numbers were much higher last year. A comparison of the number of customers to the last year’s figures shows a 34% decrease.*
It
seems that good weather helps but not as much as businessmen would want to. There are several reasons why customers do not rush back to physical stores. Not all restrictions have been relaxed. According to some surveys, some customers fear that other customers would not keep up with the required safety measures. Others do not want to wait in long queues. Diane Wehrle, the Insights Director at Springboard: “...nevertheless the rise is significant”*. It seems that good summer weather helps shops to attract more customers and the
future seems more promising as more restrictions would be relaxed. However, retailers have more chances online. According to ParcelHero, non-essential online shopping is “no longer a sin”**. COVID-19 had an impact on customers’ behaviour and it is expected that this change will have long-lasting effects. Some brands claim that they would not participate in any trade exhibitions this year. Many trade fair organisers cancel their events. Others are brave and try to move forward even under these circumstances.
College of Jewellers, Goldsmiths, Watchmakers and Gemmologists, a corporation under public law, professional in nature, having a democratic structure and its own
legal personality, created by the Government of Catalonia. Our Assay Office was closed in order to protect the health of our staff when the quarantine started in Spain (on the 13th of March). In addition to this, as the quarantine ultimately resulted in a very long period of time with all retailers closed and people confined to their homes, almost all jewellery industries gradually ceased their production, making the demand for hallmarking almost non-existent. Which part of Assay Office work can be done on computer and online? Which activities can be done only in the Assay Office?
Baltic Jewellery News interviewed
Joan Ignasi Moreu,
the Director General of the Spanish C2 Assay Office to get more insights about the situation.
How Assay Office provided its services after the quarantine started? The Spanish C2 Assay Office is the one managed by the Official
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Eulen Hermes, which establishes that the propensity of the Spaniards to fill their piggy banks will continue in the de-escalation up to an increase of 25 percent, and will reach the end of the year with a rise of 20 percent, until reaching the 400,000 million Euros.”. SOURCE: https://www.finanzas. com/economia-politica/ los-ahorradores-llenansus-huchas-por-miedo-a-lacrisis_20058687_102.html household savings rate stood at 11.2% of their disposable income in the first quarter of 2020, 2.8 points higher than the previous quarter, due to the sharp decrease in consumption due to the impact of the pandemic of the coronavirus. [NOTE: this is only in the first quarter, when the quarantine had just started for 15 days…] This rate is calculated after eliminating seasonal and calendar effects and it is the highest for a first quarter, when the trend of decreasing savings had prevailed since 2003, according to data published this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). Looking at all the quarters of the series, it is the highest rate since the third quarter of 2009. According to the quarterly non-financial accounts of the institutional sectors, the evolution of savings is the result of the 5.2% drop in final consumption expenditure of households compared to the same quarter last year, to 172,515 million, the largest decrease since the series started”. SOURCE: https://www.expansion. com/economia/2020/06/30/5efaf3 a1e5fdea81178b45e2.html
So I would say that (of course speaking of the average and general terms) they are not spending more, and for sure non-essential goods receive the lowest priority. The fear of the worsening economic situation has forced most households to focus on the basic spending (food, health, water, electricity, etc.) and postpone non-essential purchases. Thank you for the interview. *Jewellery Focus **chargedretail.co.uk
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explaining e-commerce, marketing through social media, etc. There are predictions that the restrictions could be resumed. Does your Assay Office have any longterm plans for changes in your activities? Given the nature of our activities, we have very few options (in fact no options identified at the moment) in case of a new quarantine and confinement, if we are forced to close our facilities. So, we have implemented the normal set of preventive measures (servicing only those customers who made appointments in advance, distancing measures, individual masks, etc.), but there are no specific plans for changing the procedures for the time being. At the same time, the flexibility for such changes is low since the procedures are very restricted and limited by the Spanish legislations. Scott Walter, the CEO of the Edinburgh Assay Office, commented to Focus Jewellery that: “With a large part of the population at home on a full pay or 80% of a full pay, none of their normal travel costs and no way of spending on entertainment and travel, online retail was always going to do well.” Did customers in your country also bought even unnecessary items online during the quarantine? Our view is slightly different. Even though many people were at home, a significant percentage among them was people, who lost their jobs. There are much more people defined in Spain as “ERTE” (Temporary Employment Reduction Expedient), with 70% of basic salary, who are very concerned because it is not clear if their businesses would be able to reopen. Spain relies on Tourism significantly (approx. 15% of GDP), and this is the sector more heavily damaged by the pandemic. Macroeconomics figures show this: | “Fear of a deep crisis that degenerates into record unemployment figures has led Spaniards to take action and increase their savings to face unforeseen events. And it is in the period of confinement when they have got down to work making the savings rate in Spain during this period increase by 35 percent. This is reflected in a report prepared by
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
Unfortunately, it is a basic fact that the hallmarking in general is an activity that requires presential work. Analysis requires chemical testing, so we have to handle samples. Obviously this applies to hallmark itself, because we have to touch each piece of jewellery specifically. In our case, only two activities can be performed online: the management of documentation for the yearly revision of the quality standard and the procedures (accreditation under ISO 17025); and the information regarding hallmarking and precious metal laws. Sales online became a necessity for jewellers worldwide rather than an available option. Did jewellers from your country actively push their activities to the online platform? Some of them have increased their activity. But the online sales still make a very small share of the market; additionally, the percentage of penetration and preparation for the online channel is relatively weak in our industry. Do you feel the impact of COVID on your activities? Do you see any decrease in the need for hallmarking services? The demand for hallmarking services has decreased to almost zero during the quarantine period. The industry had no opportunities for moving their products as the retailers were completely closed for two months; it is true that there have been certain online sales or export, but they were marginal. In addition to this, many manufacturing companies had to cease operations, because the pandemic broke their supply chain, thus stopping orders and supplies at the customs, in the countries of origin, etc. There was a lot of noise and information how to move your business to the online platform floating around. What kind of support can jewellers seek from your Government? Are there any special programs? Certain subsidies have been available for developing a web page and e-commerce for artisans and on the art-craft level of production as well as retailers in Catalonia (even in previous years). It is definitely helpful, but it is just a minor part. In addition to this, there have been some sessions (both presential and online) aimed at
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
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Interview with
Milena Raonić,
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Bureau of Metrology, Montenegro.
How Assay Office provided its services after the quarantine started? The National Coordination Body of Montenegro declared the quarantine on the 18th of March in 2020, which was followed by a period of adjustment to the new circumstances. Transactions with users were delayed and the number of submitted requests awaiting realisation was determined. Requests received via e-mail during the quarantine were realised if they could have been handled remotely, while the realisation of requests, which included assaying procedures in the laboratory, were temporary delayed. Which part of Assay Office work can be done on computer and online? Which activities can be done only in the Assay Office? Since 15 April 2020, the IT Sector of the Bureau of Metrology has enabled online functioning for all necessary access to databases for the procedures of: |
identification of the mark of the manufacturers/importers of precious metal articles,
confiscation of the mark of the manufacturers/importers of precious metal articles, issuing images of national hallmarks, and issuing expert opinions, which could be easily performed from home.
However, the most important and the most common procedure of assaying and hallmarking precious metal objects requires access to the official premises of the Bureau of Metrology. Sales online became a necessity for jewellers worldwide rather than an available option. Did jewellers from your country actively push their activities to the online platform? I would agree with you that online shopping has become a necessity. The most successful goldsmiths in Montenegro had well-developed online stores even before the situation caused by the coronavirus arose and turned it into the only way to perform their activities during the quarantine period. Meanwhile, many goldsmiths, who did not have a well-developed online store and were not active on social media, resorted to this type of communication with consumers. Do you feel the impact of COVID on your activities? Do you see any decrease in the need for hallmarking services? The impact of COVID on the activities carried out by the Bureau of Metrology is extremely negative. To prove this statement, I will give you a brief comparative analysis of the work results, examination of gold and silver articles, for the 1st and the 2nd quarters in 2019 and 2020. There was a lot of noise and information how to move your business to the online platform floating around. What kind of support can jewellers seek from your Government? Are there any special programs?
The Economic Task Force of the Government of Montenegro has established a package of economic measures aimed at supporting the economy, employees, and socially vulnerable citizens. The proposed measures involved subsidies for the months of April and May in 2020 for all halted activities in the amount of 70% of the minimum wage and 100% of taxes and benefits for each registered employee, who received a minimum wage and worked in a sector that had to be closed amid the prevention measures, which was the case for goldsmiths. The same package of measures was provided for a number of other subsidies, but none of them implied the development or improvement of online business. There are predictions that the restrictions could be resumed. Does your Assay Office have any longterm plans for changes in your activities? Changes in the implementation of the Bureau’s activities have been introduced in order to ensure compliance with the measures aimed at combating the spread of the COVID-19 infection. All activities are carried out with the following measures in place: |
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All employees must wear protective masks (of a medical grade or cloth ones) and hands must be washed or disinfected after each contact with work equipment, money or following a physical contact with customers; Only 1 person can be present in a 10 m2 area, i.e., at the Bureau’s counter; A physical distance of at least 2 meters between persons is mandatory; Employees, who are in direct contact with customers (or third parties), must wear protective visors and keep a physical distance of at least 2 meters;
Au
Ag
Quarter I
Quarter II
Quarter I
Quarter II
2019
42007 g
54584 g
33558 g
129091 g
2020
21659 g
23404 g
24802 g
43703 g
‹ approx. 52 %
‹ approx. 43 %
‹ approx. 74%
‹ approx. 34 %
The impact of COVID -19
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Disinfection of hands when entering and leaving the premises of the Bureau is MANDATORY; If gloves are used, they must be disinfected regularly; Employees should avoid direct contact whenever possible; It is necessary to disinfect all work surfaces, equipment, all work equipment, floors and toilets by using the recommended disinfectants; Door handles and handrails as well as all surfaces touched by customers should be wiped by using the recommended disinfectants; Employees should ventilate their offices upon arrival and before leaving work; If employees have any symptoms of inflammation of the respiratory organs (fever, cough, shortness of breath, etc.), they must not come to work and contact the immediate
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supervisor and the competent health institutions instead; In case of suspicion that an employee has symptoms of the infectious disease COVID-19, the immediate supervisor is obliged to remove the employee from the Bureau’s premises, with a recommendation to immediately call the Call Centre; The customers must wear protective masks (of a medical grade or cloth ones), otherwise they cannot enter the Bureau’s premises; In case of suspicion that a customer has symptoms of the infectious disease COVID-19, the porter is obliged to remove that customer from the premises of the Bureau, with a recommendation to immediately call the Call Centre.
Scott Walter, the CEO of the Edinburgh Assay Office, commented
SILVAMEX Andrzej Szczypior ul. Kielnieńska 60 80-299 Gdańsk, Poland Tel. (48) 58 5209700 Fax (48) 58 5209701 Mobile. (48) 501 236895
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to Focus Jewellery that: “With a large part of the population at home on a full pay or 80% of a full pay, none of their normal travel costs and no way of spending on entertainment and travel, online retail was always going to do well.” Did customers in your country also bought even unnecessary items online during the quarantine? The population of Montenegro is approximately 600 thousand people, while according to the Statistical Office of Montenegro (MONSTAT), the average (gross) salary in December 2019 was 781 Euros, and the average salary after taxes and without benefits (net) was 520 Euros. In this regard, I would conclude by claiming that an average Montenegrin would not spend money on the purchase of precious metal articles, which puts our goldsmiths in a very difficult position.
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
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GOLD MID-YEAR OUTLOOK 2020 RECOVERY PATHS AND IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE AND THEIR IMPACT ON GOLD The Investors have embraced gold in 2020 as a key portfolio hedging strategy. Looking ahead, expectations for a faster recovery (V-shaped) from COVID-19 are shifting towards slower recovery (U-shaped), or potential setbacks from additional waves of infections (W-shaped). Regardless of the recovery type, the pandemic will likely have a lasting effect on asset allocation. It will also continue to reinforce the role of gold as a strategic asset. And we believe that the combination of high risk, low opportunity cost and positive price momentum looks set to support gold investment and offset weakness in consumption from an economic contraction. GOLD OUTPERFORMED IN H1 AS EQUITIES RECOVERED Gold had a remarkable performance in the first half of 2020, increasing by 16.8% in US-dollar terms and significantly outperforming all other major asset classes (Chart 1). By the end of June, the LBMA Gold Price PM was trading close to US$1,770/oz, a level not seen since 2012, and reaching record or near-record highs in all other major currencies (Table 1). Though equity markets around the world rebounded sharply from their Q1 lows, the high level of uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the ultra-low interest rate environment supported strong flight-to-quality flows. Like money market and high-quality bond funds, gold benefited from investors’ need to reduce risk, with the recognition of gold as a hedge further underscored by the record inflows seen in gold-backed ETFs. ECONOMIC RECOVERY MAY COME IN VARIOUS SHAPES The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating effect on the global economy. The IMF is currently projecting a 4.9% contraction in global growth in 2020, with high levels of unemployment and wealth destruction. There is a growing consensus that a swift V-shaped recovery is morphing into a slower U-shape recovery or, more likely, the possibility that a recovery in H2 is short lived as recurring waves of infections set the global economy back, resulting in W-shaped recovery.
For investors, this is not only keeping uncertainty levels high, but may also have a long-lasting impact on their portfolio performance. Against this backdrop, we believe that gold can be a valuable asset: it can help investors diversify risks and may positively contribute to improving risk-adjusted returns.
CHART 1: GOLD OUTPERFORMED ALL MAJOR ASSETS IN H1 Y-t-d performance of major global assets* Gold NASDAQ US Treasuries US Corporates Global Treasuries US cash US HY S&P 500 EM stocks EAFE stocks Commodities Oil -60%
-40%
-20%
0%
20% YTD return
* As of 30 June 2020. Returns based on the LBMA Gold Price PM, Nasdaq Composite, Bloomberg Barclays US Treasury Index and Global Treasury Index ex US, ICE BAML US 3-month T-bill Index, Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate and High Yield Indices, MSCI EM Index, Bloomberg Commodity TR Index, MSCI EAFE Index, S&P 500 Indices, and Bloomberg Oil TR Index. Source: Bloomberg, ICE Benchmark Administration, World Gold Council
COVID-19 IS UPENDING ASSET ALLOCATION In response to the pandemic, central banks around the world have aggressively cut rates and/or expanded asset purchasing programmes to stabilise and stimulate their economies. However, these actions are leading to several unintended consequences on asset performance: • soaring equity market valuations are not always backed by fundamentals, increasing the chance of pullbacks • corporate bond prices are also increasing, pushing investors further down the credit-quality curve. • short-term and high-quality bonds have limited – if any – upside, reducing their effectiveness as hedges.
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TABLE 1: THE GOLD PRICE IS NEAR OR ABOVE RECORD HIGH ACROSS KEY CURRENCIES Gold price and y-t-d return in key currencies*
Y-t-d return
USD (oz)
EUR (oz)
JPY (g)
GBP (oz)
CAD (oz)
CHF (oz)
INR (10g)
RMB (g)
TRY (oz)
RUB (g)
ZAR (g)
AUD (oz)
16.7%
16.7%
15.9%
25.1%
22.6%
14.2%
23.5%
18.5%
34.5%
33.9%
45.0%
19.2% 2,568
Current price
1,768
1,574
6,133
1,431
2,408
1,675
42,921
402
12,120
4,051
988
Record high†
1,895
1,604
6,538
1,444
2,443
1,688
43,069
403
12,178
4,184
1,060
2,741
Date†
9/5/11
5/15/20
1/21/80
6/29/20
4/16/20
5/19/20
6/22/20
6/29/20
5/7/20
4/22/20
4/23/20
4/16/20
CHART 3: CURRENT YIELDS AND THE STEEPNESS OF THE BOND CURVE ARE GOOD INDICATORS OF FUTURE RETURNS* Observedreturn
18% 16% 14%
CHART 2: VALUATIONS ARE NEAR DOT-COM BUBBLE LEVELS*
12%
Price/earnings ratio
8%
28
6%
26
4%
24
2%
22
0%
20
0%
10%
Expected CAGR of US Agg by 2029 based on model*
5%
18 16
14
* 10-year US Treasury data from January 1920 to June 2020; Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate (US Agg) data from January 1992 and June 2020 due to availability. Expected hypothetical returns are based on a log-linear regression using monthly data for the US Agg. The explanatory variables are yield to maturity (y-t-m) of the US Agg and the steepness of curve (based on the difference in yields between the 7-10 year and 1-3 year US Agg sub-indices), while the response variable is the observed compounded return m years forward, where m represents the corresponding maturity of the US Agg at the time where the y-t-m is measured. The model’s R-squared is 82% and has a standard error of ~0.6%. Source: Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, Federal Reserve, World Gold Council
12 10 5/01/1990 6/01/1995 7/01/2000 8/01/2005 9/01/2010 10/01/2015
* As of 30 June 2020. Based on S&P 500 price to earnings ratio. Source: Bloomberg, World Gold Council
And while many investors are looking to take advantage of the positive price trend, there is growing concern that such frothy valuations may result in a significant pullback, especially if the economy experiences a setback from a second wave of infections. Gold’s effectiveness as a hedge may help mitigate risks associated with equity volatility.
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10yr US Treasury
10% 15% Modelled return based on YTM and curve US Aggregate
US Agg forecas
STAGFLATION, DISINFLATION, DEFLATION? While it is fairly evident that lower interest rates and asset purchasing programs are impacting asset price valuations, it is less clear what effect expansionary monetary and fiscal policies will have on inflation. Some believe that quantitative easing and increasing debt levels are inherently inflationary and
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EQUITIES ARE GETTING (VERY) EXPENSIVE AND COULD SEE SHARP PULLBACKS Global equities were on a virtually uninterrupted oneway trend for more than a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that, resulting in a significant pullback, with all major equity indices dropping by more than 30% during the first quarter. However, equities have recovered sharply since – especially tech stocks. But stock prices do not appear fully supported by company fundamentals or the overall state of the economy. This has often been referred to as the Wall Street vs. Main Street divide. In the US, for example, price-to-earnings ratios have jumped to levels not seen since the dot-com bubble in the span of a few months (Chart 2).
BONDS MAY OFFER ONLY LIMITED PROTECTION The low rate environment has also pushed investors to increase the level of risk in their portfolios via buying longerterm bonds, lower-quality bonds, or simply replacing bonds with even riskier assets, such as stocks or alternative investments. Going forward, we do not believe investors will achieve the same bond returns they have seen over the past few decades. Our analysis suggests that investors may see an average compounded annual return of less than 2% (±1%) in US bonds over the next decade (Chart 3). This could prove particularly challenging for pension funds, as many are still required to deliver annual returns between 7% and 9%. Lower rates increase pressure on the ability to match their liabilities and limit the effectiveness of bonds in reducing risk. In this context, investors may consider gold as a viable substitute for part of their bond exposure.
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In addition, widespread fiscal stimuli and ballooning government debt levels are raising concerns about a longterm run up of inflation, or significant erosion of the value of fiat currencies. Deflation, however, is seen by some as the more likely risk in the near term. As these dynamics heighten risk and lead to the possibility of ever lower returns than expected, we believe that gold can play an increasingly relevant role in investor portfolios.
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* As of 30 June 2020. Based on the LBMA Gold Price PM in local currencies: US dollar (USD), euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), Pound sterling (GBP), Canadian dollar (CAD), Swiss franc (CHF), Indian rupee (INR), Chinese yuan (RMB), Turkish lira (TRY), Russian ruble (RUB), South African rand (ZAR), and Australian dollar (AUD). † Prices and dates in bold correspond to record highs occurring during H1 2020. Source: Bloomberg, ICE Benchmark Administration, World Gold Council
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
that, sooner or later, consumer prices will spiral out of control even if economic growth remains subdued (ie, stagflation). Others, however, point out that previous– albeit not as aggressive – quantitative easing measures have not resulted in rampant inflation (at least not yet). An additional camp points to the Japanese experience and predicts that deflation may happen first. In fact, there are some indications that this is starting to happen already. For example, while the price of necessities spiked during the lockdown in China, consumer price inflation has fallen from 5.2% in February to 2.5% in June. And some economists predict outright deflation by the end of the year. Gold has historically protected investors against extreme inflation. In years when inflation was higher than 3% gold’s price increased 15% on average. Notably too, research by Oxford Economics shows that gold should do well in periods of deflation. Such periods are characterised by low interest rates and high financial stress, all of which tend to foster demand for gold.
GOLD INVESTMENT WILL LIKELY OFFSET WEAK CONSUMPTION Gold’s behaviour can be explained by four broad sets of drivers: • Economic expansion: periods of growth are very supportive of jewellery, technology and long-term savings • Risk and uncertainty: market downturns often boost investment demand for gold as a safe haven • Opportunity cost: interest rates and relative currency strength influence investor attitudes towards gold • Momentum: capital flows, positioning and price trends can ignite or dampen gold's performance. Strategic
Tactical
Economic expansion
Risk and uncertainty
Opportunity cost
Momentum
long-term returns
hedging and diversification
relative attractiveness
amplifies trends
In the current global economic environment, three of the four drivers are supportive of investment demand for gold, namely: • high risk and uncertainty • low opportunity cost • positive price momentum. Conversely, an economic contraction will likely result in lower demand for gold in the form of jewellery, technology
or long-term savings. This is particularly evident in key gold markets such as China or India. Historically, investment demand during periods of financial stress has offset weakness in consumer demand and we believe that 2020 will be no exception. However, gold’s performance may depend on the speed and shape of the recovery, which investors can analyse using QaurumSM.
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
GOLD DEMAND TRENDS SECOND QUARTER 2020 JEWELLERY
FIRST HALF JEWELLERY DEMAND WAS HAMMERED BY MARKET LOCKDOWNS AND GOLD PRICES REACHING RECORD HIGHS IN VARIOUS CURRENCIES
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Global jewellery demand almost halved in H1, falling 46% y-o-y to a new low for our series of 572t Q2 demand reached a record quarterly low of 251t (-53% y-o-y) as consumers across the globe felt the impact of market lockdown and the resultant economic slowdown China – the earliest market to emerge from lockdown – was alone in witnessing a q-o-q recovery from extreme Q1 weakness.
Tonnes
Q2'19
World total
529.6
Q2'20
India
168.6
44.0 ▼
-74%
China, P.R.:Mainland
136.0
90.9 ▼
-33%
251.5 ▼
YoY -53%
Q2 saw a continuation of the hostile global environment for gold jewellery demand. Lockdown restrictions shuttered many markets, and consumers faced the challenging consequences of economic downturn at a time when gold prices were moving from strength to strength, making affordability an issue for many. Gold jewellery demand for H1 of 572t is around half the 10-year average of 1,106t. Jewellery demand measured in value terms was similarly weak, despite the strength in gold prices over the period; the H1 value of US$30.1 billion (bn) is the lowest since 2009 – a time when the US dollar gold price was roughly 50% of recent levels.
GLOBAL JEWELLERY VOLUMES CRASHED TO RECORD H1 LOW, WITH VALUE WAS ON A PAR WITH 2008 Tonnes
1600
80
1400
70
1200
60
1000
50
800
40
600
30
400
20
200
10
0
H1'00
■ Jewellery
H1'04
H1'08
H1'12
H1'16
0
H1'16
— Jewellery Value (US$bn, rhs)
Sources: ICE Benchmark Administration, Metals Focus, Refinitiv GFMS, World Gold Council
China and India were the biggest contributors to the decline in H1 demand: their size relative to the rest of the gold jewellery market means weakness in these two countries has an overwhelming impact on global demand.
CHINA
China’s Q2 jewellery demand was down 33% y-o-y at 90.9t. This took H1 to 152.2t – a 52% decline y-o-y and its lowest since H1 2007, due to COVID-19’s lasting impact on consumer wallets. There was, however, a sizable q-o-q rebound in China’s jewellery demand in Q2. With the virus being well contained, the market re-opened in March and the resultant economic upturn helped relieve some pressure on consumer incomes. Nevertheless, demand in H1 remained extremely muted. Most retailers attributed the continued weakness to a combination of high and rising gold prices, falling disposable incomes and an increased preference for lighter-weight gold jewellery products. The RMB gold price increased by more than 9% during the quarter, reaching a historic high of RMB403/g in May. Meanwhile, unemployment was up in 31 of China’s main cities, while an index of confidence in consumer future incomes hovered around multi-year lows. And according to the Bureau of Statistics, consumers’ recreational expenditure dropped by 36% in H1.1 Lightweight, innovative and intricately designed hard24K gold products continued to grab consumers’ attention in Q2. Several factors explain the growth of lighter-weight jewellery. Firstly, the taste of younger consumers continues to shift away from chunky pure gold pieces to lighterweighted products with trendy designs at more affordable prices. Second, as consumers’ limit their expenditure on non-necessities in general amid the challenging economic circumstances, lighter-weight pieces are more budget friendly, especially when local gold prices are surging. And third, retailers are keen to promote these products, given their more attractive margins relative to traditional 24k gold products. According to our trade partners in the industry, wedding demand could be key to a recovery in China’s gold jewellery market in H2. Many Chinese couples have postponed their wedding plans to the second half of 2020 after the strict restrictions imposed on large gatherings in H1. Combined with the fact that October and December are traditionally peak months for weddings, a surge in ceremonies in the second half is widely expected by most jewellers, which should contribute to a more positive in the second half of the year.
INDIA
Indian jewellery demand plunged in Q2 due to nationwide lockdown, lost festival demand and the higher gold price. Indian jewellery demand fell 74% y-o-y to 44t – the lowest quarterly total in our series by some margin. H1 demand was down 60% to an all-time low for our series of 117.8t. The strict lockdown imposed in late March ran through until mid-May, encompassing the all-important gold buying festival of Akshaya Tritiya – one of the most auspicious
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EVOLUTION OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC REFLECTED IN Y-O-Y JEWELLERY DEMAND COMPARISONS Y-o-y % chg
10 0 -10 -20 -30 -40
1.3t, as market lockdown eradicated tourist purchases, while domestic demand was quashed by high gold prices, job losses and the weak economic environment. Demand in Iran continued to deteriorate as the rial lost further ground against the dollar and the pandemic added to the sanction-hit country’s economic challenges. A 66% y-o-y fall in Q2 demand fed through to a 40% H1 decline, to 10.2t.
OTHER ASIA
The impact of COVID-19 and the consequent market lockdowns – together with surging gold prices – resulted in sweeping losses across the smaller East Asian markets. Indonesia and Thailand suffered the largest losses in Q2 and H1 as both markets grappled with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on top of already slowing economies. Demand in Japan – although weak – was less severely impacted than the rest of the region. A 40% y-o-y fall in Q2 to 2.5t took H1 demand down 27% to 5.6t. Quasi-investment demand for heavy gold chains benefited from the rising gold price.
-50 -70
Q1'19 Q2'19 Q3'19 Q4'19 Q5'19 Q6'19
■ Developed countries and regions
■ China
■ Rest of world
Sources: Metals Focus, World Gold Council Note: Developed countries comprises all of Europe, US, Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan Province of China, and all of Oceania
MIDDLE EAST AND TURKEY
Gold jewellery demand in Turkey plummeted 69% in Q2, down to just 3t – the lowest quarter in our series. Jewellery retailers in lockdown, combined with record high local gold prices, put a virtual stop to demand in April and May. June’s reopening saw the release of some pent-up demand, but the rebound was short-lived as gold prices climbed again. Severe losses across Middle Eastern markets resulted in a 69% drop in Q2 demand for the region, down to 13.6t. The UAE suffered the most drastic y-o-y decline, down 86% to
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UNIVERSAL DOUBLE-DIGIT LOSSES IN H1 JEWELLERY DEMAND AS COVID-19 SWEEPS THE BOARD Y-o-y % chg
0 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80
Brazill United States S Kprea Mexico Germany Kuwait Spain Farance Japan Canada Taiwan Egypt United Kingdom Other Middle East Malaysia Russia Italy Pakistan Vietnam Turkey Iran Saudi Arabia Sri Lanka UAE Singapore Mainland China Thailand India Indonesia Hong Kong
-60
■ Asia
■ Middle East
■ Europe & Americas
■ Other
Sources: Metals Focus, World Gold Council 1. According to the Bureau of Statistics, such expenditure includes spending on education, cultural and recreational activities: www.stats. gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202007/t20200716_1776358.html
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Gold jewellery demand in the US broke down from its gradual uptrend over recent years, falling a hefty 34% y-o-y to 19.1t, the lowest quarter in our series. H1 demand was down 21% to an eight-year low of 41.9t. Store closures due to COVID-19 lockdowns were the clear reason for the decline, which was all the more severe for the fact that lockdown encompassed Easter and Mother’s Day, both of which traditionally see a marked increase in footfall to jewellery stores. Demand collapsed in April and May, before recovering in June as stores began to open up. The bounce back was also partly attributable to consumers spending government stimulus cheques on discretionary goods. Similar to the shift seen in other markets, online retailing stepped in to compensate in part for the collapse in bricks and mortar sales. Gold jewellery demand in Europe also fell to a new alltime low: Q2 was down 42% y-o-y at just 8.2t. This took the H1 total to 19t, down 29% y-o-y. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in both markets, Italy and the UK posted the most significant declines: both saw y-o-y falls of 45% in Q2.
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days for buying gold in India. This year, however, the country-wide lockdown meant that physical store sales were not possible, and only those retailers with an online presence were able to cater to demand. Sales were trivial in comparison with the previous year. As restrictions eased mid-quarter, activity started to recover in select regions. June saw a further improvement, with the release of some pent-up demand. However, a lack of weddings and auspicious days in the month, along with recurring lockdowns in certain regions and the high and rising gold price, prevented a meaningful recovery in demand. Discretionary spending on gold jewellery shrank due to concerns around economic growth, future income and higher gold prices. India’s GDP growth has been on a downward trajectory since Q1 2019 and this was accentuated by the outbreak of COVID-19. Economic slowdown, job losses and restrictions on store operations meant consumers became more cautious in opening their wallets to buy gold. According to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) survey, the Consumer Confidence Index fell to a historic low of 63.7 in May from 85.6 in March, and the one-year ahead confidence index also recorded a sharp fall. Discretionary spending on gold jewellery was further quashed by local domestic gold prices – the average domestic price for Q2 was Rs46,381/10gm – 44% higher y-o-y. Jewellers are adopting online channels to boost sales. The pandemic has disrupted the bricks and mortar business model of Indian gold retailers and has become a catalyst for retailers to adopt online channels to boost sales. While sales via digital channels are still nascent, jewellery retailers are increasingly implementing an omni-channel strategy integrating both offline and online channels to boost sales.
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ART AND VIRTUAL REALITY. HOW INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES CAN SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE EXHIBITION The content is credited to ©klimt02.net, web: klimt02.net, Copyright (Carolin Denter)
Virtual exhibitions are not dreams of the future anymore, and this is not only due to the fact that museums, galleries and cultural institutions are closed because of the current situation, but above all due to the fact that technology has made great progress in recent years.
In
the past, virtual exhibitions were regarded as complementary counterparts to physical exhibitions. They overcome local and also temporal limitations.
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They allow visitors from all over the world to access art, culture and archives 365 days a year. Well presented, virtual exhibitions can offer a real alternative to physical exhibitions, especially when the art world lacks any other alternatives. If you think beyond the possibility of showing photos of rooms and objects, as for example in the Klimt02 #VirtualExhibitions, many different possibilities open up. The virtual exhibitions could include for example learning, content beyond the physical exhibits, active participation and contributions from visitors through
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Google Arts & Culture offers a tool to filter artworks worldwide by different topics and tags, such as color.
By applying tags or hashtags, artwork and online-exclusive shows on Google Arts & Culture, Artsy,
leaving the continent to attend an exhibition opening on the other side of the world.
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Artnet, and museums can be filtered by collections, areas of interest, or colors, but also more extravagantly, by climate zones or higher-level contexts such as political influences or historical figures. Through the so-called editor's picks, or the highlighted recommendations, which are usually a selection of easy to digest artwork or special highlights of the recent month, almost everyone can find access to art, even those who in real life would rarely or never go to a museum: An online exhibition is free and easy to access, and not subject to rules or taboos. Virtual exhibitions can also be a useful alternative to the physical exhibition in the future, and we are not only talking about exhibitions in galleries or museums. Who says that fairs or events cannot be held in an alternative, virtual reality, as shown by the virtual exhibition rooms from Art Basel? The apps Artland or Vortic, for example, offer gallerists to create fully virtual exhibitions and includes not only the tools but also a sales platform and marketing tools. If you look at virtual exhibitions from an ecological point of view, it would have positive effects on the environment, there would be less travel, fewer mass events, fewer weekend trips of art enthusiasts
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forums and uploads, or even online shopping, as in the initiative Jewels on Sale by Klimt02 Gallery Members. Due to the strong shift in interest towards virtual reality in recent years, most platforms and tools for creating an online exhibition are already well advanced in terms of presentation and handling. With minimal technological knowledge, anyone can work online in the most effective and efficient way. Exhibitions can be individually adapted to the needs of different user groups and then be communicated directly through several virtual channels such as blogs, websites, newsletters or social media. Google Arts & Culture, for example, has been working for years to digitize the art world. On their website, you can find not only virtual exhibitions, but also virtual tours of cultural spaces, 360-degree views, and digitized works of art such as Monet's Water Lily Pond in HD resolution, through the zoom you can get as close to the painting and the brushstrokes of the artist as possible, something that would not possible in the museum. In larger institutions it is common already since years, to create 3D scans of objects so that the virtual visitor can enjoy a perfect 3D rendered object from the comfort of his home.
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From an economic point of view, the tourism sector would suffer enormously. Hotels, restaurants and shops in cities with an exquisite cultural programme would miss parts of their income, generated by the creative industry. It could be the end of the global art world as we know it, and it could also offer new directions and ways to go. For those who depend on, or appreciate a global exchange, the technology currently offers only limited help: there are virtual meetings, social media, various online platforms. But in the end, we need more than that, and there are solutions offered: The so-called Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality shall remedy this situation. Virtual Reality (VR) has already entered the art world. Some artists are working on virtual art, while they are moving within a border area through media such as film, sound or photography. Museums are, due to internal over-aged structures and exhibitions patterns partly not ready to present virtual art. Often it lacks knowledge about presentation. Khora Contemporary is one example of a frontrunner gallery, specialized in virtual reality art. The gallery offers to be the bridge between artists and collectors, museums and galleries to establish as a more common artform in the future. Generally, virtual works of art are less popular to collectors than works of art with a physical body, as it is difficult to archive and present those works at a collection, not to talk about the fact that those artworks can be not as easily protected as for example a painting. Another question is the fast development of technological devices. Digital Artworks made some years ago, can already look old and obsolete today. And how do collectors maintenance this digital art? Another point is that virtual art can be shared and distributed online, making editions almost impossible. The main point regarding virtual art is to talk with the artists. What role does he play when it comes to maintenance, what role does the collector or the museum play and finally what offers virtual reality art what is unique to this medium?
Virtual Exhibitions don't need necessarily to be shown online. Installation view of New Media (Virtual Reality), Khora Contemporary Launch presented by Faurschou Foundation and Fondazione Cini, Venice, 2017. Courtesy of Khora Contemporary.
Different approaches to Virtual Exhibitions, in some cases the room is an art piece which invites to develop digital features through VR. Installation view of Claudia Hart, “The Flower Matrix,” Transfer VR Commission at Wallplay in Chelsea, 2018. Courtesy of Transfer.
The development of computers and other technical devices in the past three to five years, such as “visualization goggles, stereoscopic glasses and screens, digital painting and sculpture, generators of threedimensional sound, position sensors, tactile and power feed-back systems and others transformed the artworks into an entire virtual universe and allow the viewers to get in and edit them. A good example for one of
these advanced tools is the Google Tilt Brush, a brush which allows Artists to paint in 3 Dimensions. In return, this causes a high level of immersion, and psychological impact as the observers were transferred directly into Virtual Reality art. The deep level of immersion and personal involvement, as well as the use of specific technical tools, are the main characteristics of Virtual Reality art.
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Pokemon Go uses Augmented Reality for its game, where users can catch Pokemons in different real locations.
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a smartphone. Geo-located virtual sculptures can interact seamlessly with the world around them. In a surprising way, they can appear embedded in the urban landscape. New forms of viewer participation will turn spectators into active co-producers. Social distancing will not be an issue. Although many of these ideas and approaches seem abstract to us at the moment, the future will bring changes
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An interesting approach to the development of purely virtual exhibitions is offered by the platform Artnet.de, which raises the question of whether a virtual exhibition could take place simultaneously on several continents, bringing together artists and the public in a variety of places to work together on experiences that respect local contributions. In other words: could these technologies change the structure of the art world and enable new forms of global exchange for a future in which we will be less interested in jumping on a plane? Augmented reality (AR) on the other hand, is a newer approach and tries to open up new paths to a fully digital future. The Augmented reality is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computergenerated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory and became famous through various Game Apps such as Pokemon Go for mobile devices. With AR, new forms of public art will emerge, available to anyone with
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Endodrome by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, 58 th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia “May You Live in Interesting Times” curated by Ralph Rugoff
and we will learn to adapt. New technologies have often promised to uproot artistic conventions, but rarely do the promised revolutions actually arrive. We should not see ourselves as victims, but as innovative engineers who can shape their own future. Also, our society learns now again, how important the art and culture sector is. Many people have become aware lately that artists do not pursue a hobby, but a profession. The German journalist Andreas Jüttner wrote that art is often associated with leisure time, which leads to the misconception that art is a luxury good. That this is not the case, is shown by facts and figures from a report of the German Government, released regarding Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. in 2018. The GDP of the creative industries with an annual output of 100.5 billion is only exceeded by the automotive industry with 166.7 billion, making it one of the most dynamic branches of the global economy. Artists, cultural organisations, museums, galleries and others from the sector are all important parts of a functioning global cultural landscape and a part of this sector will learn to function again and adapt to the new reality. For now, the challenge is to put virtual reality at the service of something more complex.
By Henrik KIHLMAN There is no question that COVID-19 took us all by surprise. We were living in a period of relative economic growth looking at the future with confidence when suddenly the bomb exploded. The word COVID-19 started dominating the headlines in the news media. In the beginning it was something that appeared to be happening far away, not a matter of concern for us, Europeans. A virus that did not concern us and thus we did not need to prepare for it. But all it took was just a few months for the fire to spread when we came to realize that this would have a huge impact on just about everything. In February the business still went on “as usual”. In March we started getting reports of events being cancelled. There were just a few of them at first, but soon enough just about all fairs and other big events informed that they were cancelled or postponed. This triggered a whole new reality for the economy and business life all over the world.
This
moment was very tangible during “Amber Trip” in Vilnius in March when the fair management had to make the difficult decision to close the fair after only two working days. It was definitely the responsible decision to make, and, of course, there was no other alternative but to follow the instructions of the Government. It was that moment when many exhibitors experienced an abrupt stop of their businesses as everything planned for the rest of the year went up in smoke overnight. The initial shock of everything stopping was overwhelming. For one there was the challenge of simply figuring out how to get home as borders with all neighbouring
Photo from JUBINALE 2020
COVID-19 A NEW FACTOR WE NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED
countries kept closing one after the other. How would our businesses survive the demanded 14-day quarantine when we get home? How would they survive a longer closedown altogether? However, the notion that the whole world shares this experience created a sense of unity and a fighting spirit. There was no atmosphere of giving up. On the contrary, we have seen a wave of new innovations, ways of working and doing business emerging in a short span of time. The mankind is good at compensating in general. If we lose one of our senses, we seem to be able to compensate it with another one. This is what we see happening in
Photo from JUBINALE 2020
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / FINNISH JEWELLERY REPORT
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the business world right now. It goes without saying that there are as many stories as there are companies, and the help and support small businesses can receive from their countries’ respective governments vary from a country to country. What we have in common seems to be ingenuity and access to technology. In an amazingly short period of time offices, schools, small businesses, fairs and sales events have created new ways of conducting their work and duties online. We have taken a giant leap towards a totally new way of working through this time of global shutdown. The new situation has clearly shown the vulnerability of globalization. Manufacturing and supply chains have been concentrated in the Far East and, as these areas have been closed, we realized that we needed to reconsider how we could ensure our ability to have access to raw materials and the services of subcontractors during an unexpected crisis. This may lead to geographical restructuring in the future. The industry of Jewellery represents ancient values and essentially it is conducted on a physical person to person basis. The current situation has changed these perimeters forcing us to rethink many aspects of conducting business. We saw traditional trade fairs move to the digital space in a short span of time. It was a new concept that apparently has been quite successful considering the short notice for planning such events. Small business jewellers have started offering concierge services fetching and delivering their products to their consumers’ homes safely. Communication works well over the internet thus allowing people, who do not feel safe going outside, to conduct business as usual. Now we can see that web shops have created many other digital aids and solutions we could not have imagined seeing the daylight in our business. Entrepreneurs have taken steps to improve their digital skills and apply them in new ways to be able to stay in business during these exceptional times. We see workshops and studios come to life by posting pictures and interesting contents on Instagram. Sharing and interaction is the new and growing way of communicating with your customers. COVID-19 has hit us hard. The turnover of the markets has dropped drastically and many businesses have faced bankruptcy. Although the states have allocated huge amounts of monetary for support, this is not enough to compensate for the damage done in just a few months. Slowly but surely the wheels are starting to roll again. But it will take a long time before we are back to “normal”, whatever that will mean in the future. Looking at statistics indicates that we are moving in the right direction, as far as the number of COVID-19 cases is concerned, but we do not know what would happen if there is the second wave of the virus in the fall. This complicates planning for the future. The one thing that this epidemic has taught us is that nothing is certain and that we need to think ahead and anticipate the impossible. I truly believe that this process has started and something new will bloom from all of this sadness. What and when remains yet to be seen.
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THE WORLD´S FINEST COLOURS INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR FOR GEMSTONES, JEWELLERY AND GEMSTONE OBJECTS
02. Okt. - 05. Okt.
2020 G EMS TO N ES
JEWELLERY
DESIGN
INTERGEM.DE
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / RUSSIAN JEWELLERY REPORT
ST. PETERSBURG JEWELERS CATCH THE WIND OF CHANGE By Olga NIKONOV The pandemic has not only hugely changed our lives, but also forced the economy to operate in a completely new reality. We decided to interview St. Petersburg jewelers, from the CEO of Russia's largest jewelry factory to the owner of a small private company, to find out how their businesses have survived the quarantine period, and what plans they have for the future.
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A little spoiler: despite the heterogeneity of opinions, jewelers are unanimous in one thing: the crisis's consequences will impact the business only in fall. Whatever they will be, the industry needs to change.
Sergey Dokuchaev, CEO of the Russkiye Samotsvety Imperial Jewelry Factory: – In June, RBC-Petersburg conducted a study. According to it, the efficiency of entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg decreased by 40% due to restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. These estimates may differ for different business sectors, and it is difficult to assess the real losses of specific enterprises. But it is indisputable that the country's business and economy have suffered real damage. The company Russkiye Samotsvety, in accordance with the Russian Federation Presidential Decree and
the resolutions of the St. Petersburg Government, suspended its work in April. The company ceased the production, the chain of our branded stores was closed, and shipping to our partners was stopped. Under these conditions, in accordance with the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor, standards for the safety of the company's operations were developed. Some employees from commercial department, accounting, and other vital departments, started working remotely. We understood that in the conditions of imposed restrictions, when an enterprise loses flexibility and management mechanisms such as pricing and the management of accounts receivable, and the business relations with partners are on pause, it is necessary to use new ways to communicate. Therefore, we introduced new forms of remote interaction – video meetings, communication via modern messengers, and online consulting. We rapidly reacted to the current situation and kept in touch with our regional partners so that we could assess the scale of losses and discuss possible ways out of the crisis. In accordance with the Russian Federation Presidential Decree, the
jewelry industry was not included in the list of industries most affected by the coronavirus epidemic, so we had to make all the decisions in the existing conditions at the local level relying only on ourselves. A number of anti-crisis measures were developed for strict budgeting and rationing of all expenses, developing relations with partners, stimulating sales, and preparing proposals for a possible discount system and benefits for working with debtors. During this crisis, we faced a new challenge. Demand for our products has reduced. The main reason for this is a decrease in the purchasing power of the population. But even in these conditions, we tried not to lose touch with our customers and partners, offering them to make purchases on preorders and through online orders. It was possible thanks to the online platform which partially compensated for losses from closing retail outlets. Gradually, the situation is changing for the better, because since June 9 those brand stores which have a separate entrance could be opened, and the sales have began to show positive dynamics. We understand that a certain category of products such as wedding rings, diamond jewelry, or silverware, has formed a deferred demand, and
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they will remain in demand. But in the current conditions we struggle to keep the mass-market customers. Therefore, our technology services are currently focused on developing measures to reduce the cost of production by modernizing technological processes, possibly reducing the weight of the most popular mass-market products, and developing new models in the massdemand segment. All our work is aimed at diversifying the sales channels and finding new areas for marketing. To help us with this, we invite professional jewelers and creative specialists in custom design.
Oleg Podgursky, President of the Silver Club, St. Petersburg, Owner and CEO of the STRANNIK Studio: – I dare to express an opinion contrary to the common point of view. It's not the crisis we should blame for the current problems but the jewellers. The crisis has only exposed the issues that many chose to ignore. The fact is that the industry bringing almost 250 billion rubles annually to the Russian budget remains invisible for the public. Ask any person to name at least three Russian jewelry manufacturers, and you will not get an answer. This is because most companies don't do anything to get closer to their customers – the gap between them is huge. It is no wonder that the industry is not included the list of the most affected by the epidemic. It is difficult to help companies if you do not know in what way they contribute the society.
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Jewelry by Natalya Tarasova (Nevsky-T company, Saint Petersburg, Silver Club)
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The jewelry industry has long ceased to expand. Now we need to deal with issues of improving quality and building new marketing strategies. Today all jewelry stores look exactly the same – in every window you will see the sparkling wave of jewelry, and the assortment is quite similar. But we can and should create thematic collections, come up with informational and emotional descriptions of products. At one of my seminars, I conducted a funny but revealing experiment. I divided a group into 3 teams, each of which was asked to estimate the cost of the jewelry piece in the photo. The results of the survey were staggering: it was the same product in all three photos, but the groups estimated it quite differently. The price offered by the first team was 100 times less than the price offered by the third team! Do you know why? To the first team, the product was described as a mass market piece, to the second, it was the product of a famous European jewelry house, and to the third team, it was an auction lot from the jewelry collection of some royalty. As you can see, there are many reserves for increasing sales. The crisis only became a catalyst that triggered the inevitable mechanisms of change. Only those who are ready to change will survive the “epidemic” of stagnation that has hit our industry. The members of the Silver Club took this path long before the crisis. It is not that the time of forced production downtime and store closures affected us less negatively than the rest, but I believe that the anti-crisis strategies we have come up with will help us get out of stagnation faster.
Alexander Gorynya, Chairman of the Council of the Association of Jewelers of the NorthWest Russia, co-owner of the Gringor jewelry company, CEO of the Kongo company, St. Petersburg: – According to the results of 3 months of self-isolation, the industry showed
Brig “Russia”, the main symbol of the Scarlet Sails holiday (silver, gold, smalt) The Scarlet Sails celebration for school graduates in St. Petersburg has been held annually since 1968. The pinnacle event is the passage of the sailboat with scarlet sails symbolizing the hopes of youth. This year the celebration has been held online for the first time due to the pandemic. The graduates were not able to take part in the festivalities on the Palace Square and on the banks of the Neva river. The Gringor company has released a jewelry model of the brig “Russia”. Epidemics come and go, but the memory of bright events should remain.
a drop in sales by more than 75%. By the strictness of quarantine measures, St. Petersburg is particularly different from other Russian cities. For example, in the Russia Far East, in Kaliningrad and other regions, jewelry stores opened much earlier. But our governor decided to ban non-food trade, and the ban on the sale of jewelry was in effect even when small retail outlets were allowed to open. The Union of Jewelers requested to exclude jewelry retail from the ban lists, but the St. Petersburg's government ignored their request. It is worth mentioning, though, that there are no queues in jewelry stores, and it is possible to organize safe retail.
As for production, it just stopped. The government support measures may help some companies to stay afloat, but the risks for the whole jewelry industry are still too high. Some industries have switched to working remotely with no effort, but the production of goods cannot be done remotely by definition, and it is impossible to launch enterprises before retail starts working. Online retail does not really help here. Only so-called “catchweight” products can be successfully sold online, such as inexpensive jewelry made of silver, chains, and jewelry mass market goods. Fine jewelry with precious stones made manually, on the other hand, is very hard to sell through the Internet. A buyer will certainly want to see, touch and try on an expensive purchase. The crisis, like any time of change, will bring not only losses, but also major changes. If we remember that there is always something positive in any situation, then, perhaps, we can thank the crisis for weeding-out the market. Recently, there has been clearly an overproduction of jewelry, and the today's market is provided with goods for 3 more years, and according to pessimistic forecasts, for 7 more years. So the crisis caused by the epidemic will play an equalizing role to a certain extent. Weak players will leave the market, and production volumes will find balance with the level of consumption. The good example is our small company Gringor. We did not have to fire anyone, we kept the whole team because it is important to keep specialists, although the downtime still negatively affects the psychological climate in the company.
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I believe that the major consequences of the current crisis will begin to fully manifest themselves only in fall, but the situation is so unstable that it is rather irresponsible to make any predictions. One thing I can say for sure: we've survived more than one crisis throughout 21 years of our company's existence. We will undoubtedly survive this one, we're used to it.
Oleg Ivanov, CEO of Oleg Ivanov Jewelry House, owner of the jewelry brand PIETRA
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– We have a small team of only 7 people, so we had to spend a little less than a month on self-isolation before we were given permission to resume work. So it turned into something like an unscheduled vacation. Actually, I am even glad that there is so much free time to spend with my family and children. We also managed to educate ourselves and find insipration for the new jewelry collections. Fortunately, there have been so many interesting resources in the field of design, architecture, and applied arts during the pandemic. Now I have a lot of interesting plans waiting to be turned to life. At the moment we are working on private orders and preparing products for the showcase, which we plan to present at the next exhibitions. We did not notice any extraordinary decline in sales as the end of spring and summer is always a period of down time. I believe we will see what the real state of affairs is only in September when business and exhibition will resume their work. Then we can sum up the crisis and make plans for the future.
Products of the Oleg Ivanov Jewelry House
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AMBER, CHANGING LIVES OF MODERN PEOPLE Sociologist, Ph. D. in Economics S. TRIFONOVA interview with Chairman of CST of Amber Council. Kaliningrad, Sergey PETROV
Sergey, amber is more than 50 million years old. For how long have the humanity been using this god-given mineral? (Chairman of CSTI of Amber Council. Kaliningrad. Sergey Petrov: The anomalous amber deposit in the Baltic Sea was formed in the conditions of planetary catastrophes. It preserved the information and energy of the ancient worlds, the Paradise, and the origin of life. Your question is tricky. For the whole history of mankind no one has succeeded in disclosing the source of information about life on Earth, known to us as the Baltic amber. There are no analogues to amber, this “living mineral” hugely benefiting the human body. Since ancient times, amber, or alatyr-kamyen, as they called it in Ancient Rus, meaning “the father of all stones”, is known as an object of worship, a talisman, an ornament. However, medieval alchemists saw much more in amber than jewelers. They have been conducting experiments, studying its possible benefits for the human health, trying to reveal the secrets of the mysterious fossil. The most common known use of amber as a healing substance is wearing untreated, unpolished bead necklace. It is believed that this decoration can treat the thyroid gland.
Amber is a product for health and better living! Q: Sergey, in your opinion, in what way amber is different from, say, diamonds or jasper? How is it unique? Unique means “one-of-akind”, “special”. Only at the Baltic sea coastline one can find a unique deposit of succinite, amber with distinctive morphology, and associated resources such as salts, glauconites and mineral water.
Sergey PETROV and Giedrius Guntorius, CEO of Amber Trip. Amicable meeting on Amber Forum in Kaliningrad in 2018.
(S. Savkevich) The new market for “the gifts of the Earth's Paradise period” is still developing, and is not subject to synthesis or duplication of a wide range of discovered unique properties of natural Baltic amber. There are no analogues to amber, this “living mineral” hugely benefiting the human body. Amber is a product for health and better living! Uniqueness. No one except the members of our technological cluster of the CSTI of Amber possesses such complex technologies of processing and using amber! | Our specialists of the amber cluster of CSTI of Amber have developed wellness techniques. Also, thanks to the available technologies, they can offer an immersion into the new world of the Earth's Paradise period! | Today most of the well-known branded amber products on the market are imitations or falsifications of products with insufficient elaboration and quality. Or it can be that they are just outdated copies of our work without a clear repeatability and without development, preparation and allocation of special groups of amber.
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The amber wellness techniques we developed are aimed at bringing sustainable benefits for health. The most elaborate needs are satisfied through all forms of perception – form, color, smell, sound, and radiation of heat and healing energy of amber. Amber is good for health, strength and energy, and it is a treatment for incurable diseases. This is an element of the new biostatic medicine and cosmetology.
Amber reference reserve collections of S.S. Savkevich school of thought.
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We do not produce the entire package of invented products in for mass market at the moment. The reason for this is that the consumer market is not ready, the producer's rights are poorly protected, and regulatory laws against fakes and falsifications do not exist. The package of technologies allows the market evolve over the next 50-100 years. So far, we are forced to artificially restrain the production of innovative products to ensure the safety of traditional amber crafts in the Baltic region.
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Q: Why is amber valuable today, in the context of the pandemic, and in the future ? There are two traditional approaches to medicine. The European medicine school is about 500 years old, and the Oriental school is more than 2,000 years old. They have different approaches and methods. Since Roman times, amber has been used for its physical properties. The Oriental medicine of the time of Omar Khayyam used the field properties of amber microparticles and operated the
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Exhibition of innovative products of CRTI cluster partners (S.S. Savkevich school museum. Kulikovo. Kaliningrad Region.)
Microscope, where the paleobiology fund collection of inclusions was picked up. Amber educational courses for CRTI cluster future partners (Kaliningrad).
Today most of the wellknown branded amber products on the market
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are imitations or falsifications of products with insufficient elaboration and quality. energy-informational terms. For 50 years, thanks to research in the Savkevich's Russian scientific school, a number of specialists in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia have been using practical methods to find the most “active” varieties of succinite. Today, in fact, you can see amber oils and a lot of amber fakes of different levels in almost every European shop. To promote the amber market and achieve maximum effect from succinites, the amber technological cluster has developed a separate project called “Living Amber”. According to this project, six organizations specializing in amber treatment that have completed a full course of training are entitled to provide health services using amber cluster technologies. Prices for products and services can not be
lowered and implemented without appropriate restrictions on the implementation of the quality and safety requirements of the developed standards (ISO 2200, ISO 9901) Sales of the amber cluster products can only be carried out through certified distributors who have passed a special training program. Those who passed the qualification exam on the use of innovative amber products receive the corresponding certificate. The modern consumer knows amber only as a jewelry gemstone, but this industry occupies only 0.15% of the world consumption market. Our proposed technology packages can lead to a burst in producing and selling consumer goods under a new amber brand. These goods already exist, but they are quite expensive and not mass-produced
at the moment. Let's take, for example, “living flowers” covered with “breathable” membrane coatings, torsion heaters for fishermen and hunters, or agents for automobile oils. Very soon large-scale geometrical objects will be developed such as sculptures, protective films for greenhouses, or landscape elements. With the development of technology, there is an increase in interest in personal things that are “there for you” such as mobile phones, cars, weapons, purse, amulets, etc. Our amber technologies will satisfy the most demanding clients. A steering wheel from amber, car siding, you name it! They've already created a necklace similar to the one which Queen Anne had, with an amber butterfly! You can already buy scented products with pheromones, incenses with odors of the flowers and plants of the Paradise period, from the partners of the amber technological cluster! Combining modern technologies with the experience of the past allows us to increase the share of amber use in the mass market. For example, amber can be used in souvenirs, key chains with names, car brands, personal photos, medals, etc. For fashion designers, it is a great opportunity to use technologyrelated products (usually hand-crafted products are not attractive-looking). We are already using the amber fibers in textile production. Above that, amber has a lot to offer to design because there are 126 varieties of it! Everybody is used to the shine of brilliants and crystals – how about amber's rich palette and natural shades? At conclusion I would like to say that amber is a carrier of “the Earth's information memory”, it has witnessed the life of Adam and Eve and has survived Earth's mega-catastrophes. If a tiny flash drive crystal can store only one library of data, then why can't amber store “the information flows of the entire universe”? July, 2020. Kaliningrad
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Reconstruction of an ancient amber-bearing forest. (from "Dipping into XXI century of amber knowledge" education program. Kaliningrad.
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AIM DISPLAY POLISH MANUFACTURER OF DISPLAYS, ETUI, BUSTS AND TRAYS FOR EXPOSITION, SALES AND STORAGE OF JEWELLERY PL
ul. Taborowa 24, 02-699 Warszawa, Poland, T/F: +48 226449815
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JUBINALE – BRAVE STEP TO GET JEWELLERY WORLD BACK ON ITS FEET
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Interview by Blanka PIONKOWSKA
After a long break in the trade fairs in the world of jewelry caused by the COVID-19 virus, the PB Group team have decided to organize the 13th edition of JUBINALE Jewellery and Watches trade fair. It was very brave but at the same time desired decision by jewellery industry. I spoke to the team of the Organizers – Beata Kołodziejska, Ewa Orzechowska and Andrzej Sadowski – about what problems had to be faced and what was the outcome of this exhibition. Was organizing a trade fair during a pandemic a big challenge? Yes, it was not a simple task – admits Andrzej Sadowski, director of JUBINALE. Especially because we had less than a month to prepare and react to new restrictions and recommendations regarding the fair but we succeeded. Together with the EXPO Kraków team, we have developed and implemented sanitary regulations, which took into account the guidelines of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers and the Chief Sanitary Inspector. The most important were: an order to wear masks in the market facilities, limiting the number of visitors to 1 person
per 4m2, measuring the temperature of each participant at the entrance to the facility and mandatory hand disinfection. In addition, each exhibitor received a disinfectant liquid and a disposable glove package to be able to make them available to buyers before commencing business talks at the stand, and the 5-meter communication routes provided the opportunity to maintain social distance. What did you fear the most as an organizer with many years of experience? Despite the experience in organizing jewellery trade fairs it was a completely new challenge for us. No one organized trade fairs in such conditions – we were pioneers. We were very keen on ensuring the safety of trade fair visitors and this was our main concern, notes Ewa Orzechowska, project manager. At the same time, we knew how much work we had put into ensuring all precautions and we were convinced that as long as trade fair participants follow the rules, safety would be maintained. Our fears were also related to the guests turnout because despite marketing activities undertaken, numerous inquiries and registration in the e.jubinale system we did not know what to expect – adds Ewa. Already during
conversations with Exhibitors, various moods could be felt in the planning process, and how the industry is divided into companies that are not afraid to act and those who prefer to wait out hard times. Ultimately, the number of guests who visited the fair surprised us positively. Although the attendance was lower than usual, it was still proportional to the number of Exhibitors. The largest number of buyers came to the market on the first day. What caused that despite such a short time for preparation you undertook the trade fair organization? We have been supporting the jewellery industry with various activities for over 20 years. We can say that this is our company's mission. So it was natural that we wanted to continue supporting the industry in such hard times, thus also taking financial and health risks – after all, we didn't know what awaited us – says Beata Kołodziejska, the project manager. Dozens of companies very much supported us in organizing it in June, wanting to return to normal as soon as possible. We just wanted to give an opportunity to companies that are ready to cooperate so that they can meet in safe conditions and take face to face trading activities before the holiday season.
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What were the impressions of the companies participating in the fair? During the talks with Exhibitors the vast majority expressed their satisfaction with the decision to
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The organization of the first trade fair in Poland after loosening the restrictions was a very brave step – did you encounter any difficulties as an organizer, which was difficult to apply? It wasn't a simple task indeed. As I mentioned, no one before us has organized trade fair in such conditions, so we didn't have the opportunity to be inspired by someone else's achievements. At the same time,
other trade fair centers watched our activities. There was one priority – safety! That is why we spent many hours on logistics planning of the fair in terms of protecting participants and applying the recommendations of the Chief Sanitary Inspector – says Andrzej Sadowski. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone on behalf of our entire team for cooperation and understanding for
the restrictions introduced, as well as for the fact that each participant contributed to the fact that JUBINALE was organized for everyone in a safe and pleasant atmosphere.
I also thank the entire PB Group team, which has worked hard for joint success,
resulted
which in a difficult but satisfactory edition
JUBINALE 2020.
What conclusions come to mind after the fair? It was a very interesting experience for both our team and companies cooperating with us. A challenge that required great flexibility and understanding of the multidimensional problems of companies – says Beata Kołodziejska. The organization of JUBINALE this year, despite many dilemmas and uncertainties, was the right decision. JUBINALE gave companies hope to return to normality, and directly contributed to the possibility of selling and buying goods. Every personal thank you from Exhibitors confirmed us that it is worth fighting to the end, even in difficult and challenging times. What are your plans for the future? Normal activities! Unless legal prohibitions arise we plan to return to normal operation. The publication PB Katalog 2021 is ahead of us, followed by Jubinale CHRISTMAS organization, and then by preparations for the 14th edition of JUBINALE, Andrzej Sadowski explains. Ewa Orzechowska: We believe that it will be happier than 13th edition and Krakow fairgrounds will shine with the former splendor of jewelry! Thank you very much for the interview. I also congratulate you on your personal courage and wish you all the best with your further plans!
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Have only local Exhibitors and Merchants visited at the fair? Despite the situation, visitors to JUBINALE came not only from all over Poland but also from Slovakia, Lithuania, Italy, the Czech Republic, China, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey – says Ewa Orzechowska. It was the result of our many years of work and contacts with the international trade fair industry. In addition, we prepared a full package of information for exhibitors and guests on crossing EU borders. So although on a much smaller scale, the fair was still held in an international group. Mr. Andrzej Sadowski also pointed the fact that so far usually several people from one company visited the fair. This year the number of people from one company was very limited. In most cases, it was only one person, thanks to which the buyers consciously minimized mutual risk and limited the number of people in the hall, while they were very decisive and competent in making jewelry purchases.
participate in this year's JUBINALE. The companies were aware of the risk they were taking but the possibility of selling the product directly in professional market conditions was also important – admits Beata Kołodziejska. Few people were surprised that the fair was organized on a much smaller scale. Everyone expected major changes and accepted them with great understanding and openness. However, some exhibitors offering amber and jewellery with amber could have felt unsatisfied – there is currently a large supply of amber, and the demand has decreased a lot, if only due to difficulties in traveling for Chinese citizens and significantly reduced tourist traffic, which contributes to lower sales in stores in Europe and the world.
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How do you assess the effectiveness of the event during a pandemic? Was it needed by the industry? I think so – especially for those who were stocked up, could offer new products and wanted to work as before – admits Beata Kołodziejska. This year, gold and silver jewelry experienced exceptional interest which indicates that the industry had a significant need to supplement this range. We have often heard the statement that it was fantastic to be able to go out into the industry again. I would like to add that we were surprised by the thanks and words of appreciation for our work and courage. It was only then that we realized that by taking personal risks, we contributed to bringing the jewelry industry closer again and attempting to take a normal course of action. We were the first B2B fair in Poland after the restrictions were taken down!
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Jewellery by ENZO
This year’s pandemic has affected many trade exhibition events around the world. Major global trade shows have been either postponed or cancelled altogether. Two weeks before the scheduled date of Amberif this March, after long consultations with representatives of the exhibitors, an in-depth analysis of business trends and declarations of participation from international exhibitors and buyers, the Management Board of the MTG SA Gdańsk International Fair Co. decided to postpone Amberif dates to 26-29 August 2020. Many factors contributed to this decision, not only the difficulty in travelling between Europe and Asia—a key customer for amber products, but also the fact that many key buyers and exhibitors had growing doubts, alongside safety concerns. The restart of the economy, the relaunch of air travel, greater traveller confidence and a market recovery have given us all an opportunity to meet at Amberif in August!
A
mberif is Poland’s largest jewellery trade show and the world’s largest and most important amber-related event. It is here that you can find such an ample selection of amber jewellery in terms of design, variety and quality. In 2020, we want to emphasise our position of a global leader in a special way by introducing a new layout in the hall dedicated to manufacturers of amber jewellery: from unique items, limited collections, to outdoor jewellery inspired by current trends in jewellery fashion. The exhibitor-dedicated AMBERIF SELECTION Most Design Innovative Product Award is another one of the changes. The Award has been part of Amberif since 1995 but this time will have a new format: it will not only honour
the best entries but also involve a strong and consistent promotion of the winners through advertising campaigns for both Amberif and the industry in Poland and worldwide. More than half of Amberif’s exhibitors are manufacturers of original silver and gold jewellery, gemstone jewellery and fashion accessories. There are also leading importers and representatives of manufacturers from Italy, Turkey and the Far East. The Design Gallery, with its unique design zone and art jewellery from nearly 70 Polish and European jewellery artists, is Amberif’s pièce de résistance. Amberif is also the largest showcase of equipment, tools, findings, raw materials and materials for jewellery production from leading European manufacturers. This specialised trade show is an annual opportunity for influential meetings of experts from many areas of business, science and art, a venue for conferences, symposia and cultural side events. Amberif has always had an extensive programme of exhibitions, seminars, lectures, meetings and training sessions which, during this year’s edition of the show, will be adapted to the elevated standards of hygiene and safety. Amberif is a trade-only event, dedicated to individuals and companies associated with the jewellery and amber industry, trade in and production of jewellery and goldsmith products, marketing and services related to the jewellery industry and functional art.
Join us for AMBERIF, the 27th International Fair of Amber and Jewellery in Gdańsk, Poland, 26-29 August 2020. It’s good to be here! Find out more at: www.amberif.pl
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IT’S GOOD TO SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES
An interview with Aleksandra Harasiuk, the IAA Office Director
By Anna SADO A new director at the helm of the International Amber Association puts new wind in the sails of not only the organisation but also its members. Which ports would you like to call at and what new lands to discover? In December 2019, you took over the duties of the office director at the International Amber Association. As an organisation with almost 400 members, operating for almost 25 years, how big of a professional challenge is it? Definitely a major one! At first, when I was offered this post to succeed the outgoing director, I was wondering whether my skills and interest in amber promotion would be sufficient in an association where expert knowledge is sought after. It is quite a responsibility to work for
the industry when one gets to know the story of how the association came to be and sees the records of the activities of such luminaries as Mr. Wiesław Gierłowski or Professor Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz. On the other hand, this year I have celebrated the 25th anniversary of my professional career: the lifetime of my experience and the relationships built not only in Poland and not only in business seemed to me a very useful complement to the contribution from amber scientists, artists and manufacturers to the growth of this organisation. I have practised building relationships with people and global institutions for quite a long time so it was with humility towards amber expertise but also with managerial, commercial and marketing skills that I started work here at the turn of the year, which became a symbolic new chapter. After taking over my responsibilities, I developed an action plan for 2020.
What actions did you manage to put in place before the outbreak? In January, we managed to seize the opportunity and build an awareness of promoting amber as the Pomerania region’s asset. In February, I had the opportunity to accompany our businesses at the Bride Show in Dubai and meet a representative of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and the manager of the Foreign Trade Office in Dubai for a discussion on how to work together, which we planned to continue at Amberif in March. In April, we were planning a meeting with the wellness sector from the Baltic countries; next, together with one of the most famous fashion brands in Poland, we were to hold meetings with Polish women in various cities. The epidemic made us realize that these plans would have to be postponed until 2021. The epidemic certainly surprised us all and forced us to look at the
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Do you think that the trade in amber products will shift from international trade fairs and old town streets
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I have the impression that, despite being an international organisation, the Association focuses on activities dedicated to its Polish members. Although you can’t see all our activities, which today focus on writing applications and other documents, we expect to participate in an international project under which we will research innovations in jewellery fakes. The world waits for no-one and more and more new methods to make fakes emerge in the jewellery industry. Participation in this project is the next step for the amber industry, which even today should prepare to work as if it were making a Hollywood blockbuster. Worldwide, the knowledge gained and put into practice will become more and more important, while the system for generating it will increasingly resemble the production of Hollywood movies: a group of international experts will gather together and present the results of
International cooperation and local involvement—can they be reconciled? Let’s look at the plans of the largest fashion houses where, after the epidemic and as a result of all kinds of actions by environmental activists, managers have announced that they will give up seasonal shows and new collections. Climate protection is at the heart of this decision but there is also a change in fashion consumer trends. The younger generation buy less and are even now paying attention to manufacturing conditions and the quality of materials. It’s good to seize the opportunities offered by an Internet presence today—to learn to talk to our business partners. They are waiting for our companies, our artists and designers to get in touch with consumers. A broker or a gallery owner is unable to build a brand for a manufacturer. This is why the Association and all our activities will be dedicated to knowledge sharing: how to achieve this, how to learn to present your products better, how to educate buyers for whom amber jewellery can be a treasured possession. We also plan to return to amber education and we can do it across borders: online or at meetings that we hold, lectures and trade fairs. Locally, our dream is to stimulate the creativity of young artists and build intergenerational products. We want the industry to tap into the local trend and inspire designer creativity in a world of global McDonald’s and Gucci. It is not true that amber is just grandma’s trinket. Just as it is not true that luxury loves only diamonds. Let’s see amber as an inspiring way to tell the story of the Baltic Sea Region. And it doesn’t matter if the amber artist works in Gdańsk, Kaliningrad or Rivne. What’s important is to believe that we hold the Gold of the Baltic in our hand, and that it is worthy of both attention and desire.
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the team’s work after their project is finished. Building all kinds of partnerships is no longer extravagant, it’s our new daily life. That is why celebrating the international character of the Association is our new reality. We want to engage more members from abroad and we wish for everyone to find something for themselves.
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in many European cities to the Internet? Let’s remember that you can not only sell online but also build relationships, establish contacts, participate in industry events and do branding. The industry has many advantages that are worth remembering. First of all, a wellphotographed or filmed piece is our first advantage over service businesses that cannot be showcased without a description. Secondly, the pandemic has brought about an explosion in online shopping: even the most resistant luxury brands with 0% sales in stores have been able to count on online revenue. The CEOs of companies such as Bulgari or one of the Polish jewellery brands declared that from this year on they were increasing their budgets for online sales, regardless of the situation after the pandemic—they would even do it at the cost of reducing service in brick-and-mortar stores. The key is to understand the enormous potential of this channel and acquire the skills to build your competitive edge. With many experts in this area, we are already creating a helpful guide for our industry; it will include know-how about good photography, copyright, branding and social media. The content will also be used by museum and art gallery staff.
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world from a completely different perspective. I must admit that it did not surprise me that much. Working for a project supporting Pomerania’s exporters, in November 2019 I initiated The Art of Export conference. The highlight was a lecture by professional trend analyst Zuzanna Skalska, who— looking outward from the very heart of design in Eindhoven—already saw the approach of “the new normal” and, in fact, VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) times. Considering the geopolitical tensions, climate change and cultural changes taking place around us, it was impossible not to notice that we were inevitably heading for a threshold beyond which a lot would change in both business and society. Our speaker talked about the human perspective, abundance, a return to Homo Faber and Homo Deus, heralding a more engaged, much calmer approach to point out that it would not do for the industry to subordinate labour and raw materials at such a pace. She also cautioned that the point of the overheating of expectations would come soon. So when we heard in March that we would not be able to move freely for a while and that the world economy went into immediate lockdown, I knew we had just arrived at the proclaimed threshold. Which does not change the fact that the situation was completely new and we had to find ourselves in it. With my colleague Małgorzata Siudak, we tried to find the answer to the question “What next?” that many of our members were asking themselves. We tried to get their attention and engage as best we could. In cooperation with two other institutions, we filed a request with Poland’s Assay Office to streamline the assay work, we also held two webinars on online sales, our appraisers continued their work for customers at the IAA laboratory. The time spent away from the office was used to plan future activities and develop new strategies. Mainly those that would encourage IAA members to be more active online: the epidemic has made us all realise that there is no escaping it.
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INTEGRATION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION FOR THE AMBER INDUSTRY – AN INTERVIEW WITH ADAM PSTRĄGOWSKI By Anna SADO How much has the epidemic impacted the European amber industry? Though we will learn what the real size of the crisis is in autumn, amber makers are already counting their losses and wondering what’s next. Non-standard situations call for non-standard solutions. There are no tourists in holiday resorts, so there’s no amber products trade – what does that mean for the industry? The trade of the amber industry was mainly based on tourists and took place mostly in the holiday resorts in the Baltic Sea basin in the north, through Cracow, to Prague in the south. Tourism was stopped in March and up until now it hasn’t returned to what it was like before the pandemic, so it seems that this season is pretty much a write off for the industry.
One may wonder about the Christmas season, but even there I wouldn’t be too optimistic… In the situation when the Chinese market is closed – both due the virus and saturation with the products from Poland and Lithuania combined with the easy access to the raw material from Russia for the Chinese producers – the threat of collapse is looming over the industry. The only hope in the situation might be, and should be, production diversification – relying on only one type of product and particular target customer is inadvisable. Local clients may be a solution – regardless of the country in Europe – they may fall in love with amber jewellery and start perceiving it as something special, something that they will covet. How has the S&A Jewellery Design managed the last few months? Exactly thanks to diversification. We have received many orders from our clients for jewellery products, including the ones that in a normal
situation would most likely be realised by Indian or Chinese companies. We have survived the most difficult period of the lockdown only because amber is about 50 to 60% of the S&A product offer, rather than 100%. The jewellery market in the world has been changing in the last few years, and during the quarantine the process of clients turning away from buying larger jewellery products that stand out thanks to their uniqueness has accelerated even more. Currently, the markets are dominated by the trend for minimalist, understated, and simple jewellery. The kind that you can wear every day, to work, to go shopping, etc. The jewellery world is changing and we, the producers have no choice, but to adjust and adapt our designs to the current market demand. The Amberif trade fair has been moved from March to August – is there a chance that it can change something in this situation?
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Is there any solution for the amber industry? Everyone will probably be looking for the right solutions for their own company here and now, but I think that we should start thinking about acting on a wider scale and longer term. What could really help us all is consolidation of the amber industry located in the countries with strong amber making traditions – that is Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. And who knows, perhaps the Ukraine, who is launching effective activities putting in order amber mining, would be willing to join the project? In
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What should be the beginning of such cooperation? In my opinion the simplest way would be by combining the fair trades that take place in the region, that is the Amberif in Gdańsk and Amber Trip in Vilnius in order to create one large joint event that would help to strengthen both Polish and Lithuanian industry. I will use a comparison here again, this time in the diamond industry – the stones are mined in Africa, Australia, Canada, India and Russia. They are cut in Israel, India and Russia, however it is European Antwerp that is an important world diamond trade centre. It is about best using all existing possibilities – if we don’t do anything, the industry may shrink to the size of a disappearing craft in the next 10 years… Adam Pstrągowski is the president of the S&A Jewellery Design – producer of high quality jewellery with Baltic amber and natural stones and distinguished by modern design, created in cooperation with the leading Polish jewellery designers.
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I’m afraid not. Especially that we can’t predict whether the buyers – even if they come – won’t place orders or will place really small ones, as their warehouses are still full. Let’s not forget that sales stopped for 3 months, not a lot is being sold now as jewellery is not a basic necessity product – especially in the situation when recession and an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases are predicted. The situation is very difficult on all markets. The ones who will suffer least from it are the Russian producers because they have a huge local outlet with the purchasing force of about 130 million inhabitants of the entire Federation who know and love amber and call it their national stone. It won’t be easy for the Ukraine either, as it wasn’t even possible to start their production properly and now the interest in the raw material will most likely plummet. The Poles and Lithuanians can already strongly feel the results of the lack of tourist trade, especially that they have become specialised in souvenir products with amber.
order to avoid the serious threat of recession we need a coherent raw material distribution policy and joined actions on the world scale aimed to promote Baltic amber – not Polish, Lithuanian, Russian or Ukrainian, but Baltic – as a unique, natural jewellery stone. The assumptions are simple: the Russians have the largest deposits of amber in the world, which instead of selling to China they could process locally and make profit on selling semi-finished products to Polish and Lithuanian companies specialising in making high quality products. They in turn could sell the products to customers all over the world. Good cooperation is the basis – we could all benefit from setting up a Baltic consortium modelled on the European airbus, which for decades has been contributing to strengthening cooperation in the region and at the same time supporting economic development.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT
MISSION: TO EXPORT NORWEGIAN JEWELLERY
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Interview with Alexander GROVER
Alexander Grover, founder of Norwegian. Jewelry
How did you become a jewellery enthusiast? I am actually not so much a jewellery enthusiast as a gold and design one. I believe that gold is the ultimate store of wealth and jewellery is a means to allow one to wear their investments. Nevertheless, I have always been fascinated by design and architecture: more so the minds and people behind the design. Therefore, jewellery is a wearable form that expresses human creativity. In the past, every year, I commissioned a pair of 18K gold cufflinks (see the folder). My view is that design and art are what defines us as human beings – self-expression. What was the start of a website https://norwegian.jewelry ? What is the mission of this project? Originally Norwegian Jewelry was a directory of jewellery designers. Our goal was to showcase 3-4 designers from each of the original 19 Fylkekommunes (counties/region divisions in the country). The logical region divisions in the country have since been consolidated. We wanted to give foreign customers a broad overview of Norway's jewellery traditions on a single site. Later we evolved into a marketplace, selling jewellery on behalf of the designers after receiving many inquiries. The mission is to showcase leading artisan Norwegian jewellery designers and goldsmiths to the world. Perhaps the secondary mission is to boost exports of handmade items abroad. How many jewellers do you represent? We represent 12 with three more coming onboard for a total of 15 by the fall. How do you choose the jewellers? We have several criteria: 1. Commitment to handmade fabrication and ethical supply chain. 2. Commitment to the profession and proof of consumer demand – in business for at least four years with steady sales. We do make exceptions for exceptional people as we recognize there are prodigies in this trade. 3. Designer’s personal story – we want a diversity of designers from those who are in the business via family for generations to those who came later into the trade from another profession. We have designers who started right out of jewellery school,
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / NORWEGIAN JEWELLERY REPORT
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Our platform differs in the following ways: | We tell the designer's story so that the customer can build a connection with the designer and perhaps understand the origins of the item. | We openly give the designers contact information so that the customer can make a direct connection with the designer. (So far the designers have given me commissions on sales originating but not processed through the site). | Our marketplace is curated – we carefully select members and items.
Hilde Nødtvedt - Slangesølje from Telemark
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Photo by Eva Braend
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stories and getting the backlinks. That helps build our SEO. What advice would you give for a jeweller in the current situation when going online is a necessity? Hire a specialist to build and maintain your site. There are only 24 hours in a day and it should be devoted to your profession, not distracted by learning all the nuances of a new one (web design and marketing). Another option is to join a marketplace like ours, benefitting from collective marketing and synergies of being in a group. It is like having your own store out in the country vs. being in a jewellery district in a busy part of town. Building a website is only 5% its marketing it and getting the word out that is 95%. The website is just a brochure, but then you have to distribute it. Get it in front of all the right people and that is much more expensive and difficult than just making a brochure. The same is with a website getting it out there on top of the search rankings and getting people to know about it is quite difficult. But there are professionals who can take away all that marketing responsibility. How as an outsider do you see the taste of Norwegians? Do they like author jewellery or are they more of brand jewellery buyers? The same Norwegian can have many style requirements. They need jewellery for the office, for their bunads (a traditional outfit to be worn on May 17th), and perhaps something more striking for the party. She may also have tattoos (Norway has a very prevalent ink culture,our tattoo artists are among the best trained and regulated in the world) and enjoy black metal concerts, requiring something goth. I noticed that the younger people gravitate towards the branded jewellery, following the social media influencers. The older people and working professionals appear to like the local artisan jewellery more. How is your platform different? (Small note: You mentioned traditional jewellery and that you encourage customers to talk to jewellers because this is what makes you different since you can’t compete with Amazon.)
Linn Sigrid Bratland – Rom enamelled double necklace. Photo by Aliona Pazdniakova
Linn Sigrid Bratland – Rom enamelled bracelet Photo by Aliona Pazdniakova
Undlien Design – Pillula mite pendant Photo by Aliona Pazdniakova
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a medical doctor, a lawyer and a chemical engineer (recently joined). We believe that life experience influences design. We seek diversity in our offerings and therefore diversity in the designers’ life stories. 4. Situated in Norway. We require that our designers reside in Norway. How does the jewellery community in Norway accept that an American does this as a side project? Did someone try to compete? There was scepticism at first but now that the business model is proven, we are gaining acceptance. We are focused on selling products and avoid the organisational politics associated with many non-profit trade groups. There are competitors out there: the established jewellery shops with their own websites. However, we are more easily found in the English language via Google Search due to our content. Our competitors simply list items, we tell a story, building a personal connection with the customer. You mentioned that this project helps to export Norwegian artworks. Which countries do you sell to? Is there a customer type that you noticed? (Small note: You mentioned that Norwegians who live abroad buy your jewellery, this is why I include this question.) Our customers, believe it or not, are almost 50/50 male and female over 35 with a connection to Norway. Either ancestry or they have visited before as tourists. Mostly we sell to the USA. I would have thought Minnesota would have been our largest market but most sales have been from the East Coast USA: New York, New Jersey and Massasschutes. We also do brisk sales to Australia and the UK. Yet our first sale was to Poland and our most recent to Mexico. How do you promote your website? Search – we write blog posts to maintain our SEO ranking. Most of our customers come via search and we rank first on searches related to Norway and jewellery. Facebook Ads – we run ads a few times per year, receiving a 2:1 return on investment. Blog Collaboration – we collabo rate with other blogs, exchanging
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ETHICS IN JEWELLERY MATTERS Interview with Jemima HARGREAVES
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / SWEDISH JEWELLERY REPORT
How is your jewellery ethical? When I first started the brand, I focused on using lab grown diamonds and Fairmined or Fairtrade gold. Not everyone is ready for that though, so I now use responsibly sourced mined diamonds along with reusing antique diamonds. I also offer metals that are recycled or certified as responsibly sourced. It is all about taking the hard work from clients and providing them with good options. It is important to me that our working environment is positive. We focus a lot on sharing skills and knowledge. Everyone that works in the studio is female, so helping those women rise in the industry is another factor when I discuss ethics. Tell us about your cooperation with Diamond Foundry? What does Diamond Foundry do? Diamond Foundry is an amazing organisation. They utilise solar technology in creating high quality diamonds in a laboratory environment. It is so poetic to use the sun in creating diamonds. When I launched the brand, I was first working with
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Are there many ethical jewellers in Sweden or is it a new concept? We were the first to be certified to use Fairmined in Sweden, but now I think more and more and more people are starting to use responsible metals, as well as reconsidering their choices. I do however think that sometimes brands can appear more responsible than they really are. It is always worth it to have a conversation with a brand on what the options are, as long as you are looking for an ethical product.
Ring “Into the Wild”.
Could you name a few ethical jewellers that you admire? I think Cred from the UK are amazing for the pioneering work they have done to consistently talk about the issues. They continue to be a strong voice in the industry, and their work has made it easier for all of us to have a better access to responsibly sourced gold. Arabel Labrusan is also another strong, inspiring voice for change. Your brand launched at Stockholm Fashion Week in 2017. Why is that? Did you present a special collection in this event? I chose Stockholm Fashion Week because fashion weeks as such have always held a level of prestige. It also made sense with the press contacts I had that. It was just a natural step for me. To showcase the skills in the brand and the pieces I create, I came with a significant breadth of work. Since then I have worked on more focused collections. While it is not so relevant for fine jewellery, but I have taken a lot from the Fashion Week and shows I have exhibited at. What kind of materials do you use in your work? Most of my pieces are in 18ct gold with diamonds or sapphires. Everything is made in house, so if a client wants a custom piece in silver or platinum with any other specific gemstones, that can be accommodated too.
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their materials. Even though due to my clientele my focus has shifted, and I now use lab grown stones on request only, I still strongly believe that they are an amazing organization and there is definitely a place for them in the market.
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Earring “To the Moon and Back“ (modelled by IngMari Lamy).
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When did you first came across ethical jewellery? Who introduced you to this idea/movement? When I was an apprentice, I learned about the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), and what it was safeguarding against. My master at the time told me that it was an easy way for the industry to look transparent. He said it was a way to pretend being responsible, even though you did not care. It always made me uncomfortable. A store could absolve themselves of any responsibility for the materials they use just by relying on the KPCS. That is not to say that the KPCS is not important, because it is, but I just feel we need to also make sure that we as individuals are also held accountable for our choices. So, then it was always at the back of my mind. I then did my DGA and learned about diamond mining, where the gold comes from, and what these processed involve. I am now very aware of what it took to get these amazing materials to my bench, as well as all the hands and lives it passed along the way.
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AMBER TRIP COMMUNITY INITIATIVES KEEP ON GETTING STRONGER Virginija ZYGIENE interview with Giedrius GUNTORIUS organiser of Amber Trip Opening of the Amber Trip 2020. From the left handside: Giedrius Guntorius, CEO of Amber Trip; Jekaterina Rojaka Vice minister of Economics and Innovation ministry of Lithuania; Jassim Bouhamed, Amber Trip ambassador; Kazimieras Misgiris, Amber Trip ambassador.
Amber Trip was one of only a few jewellery exhibitions in the world organised this year. What challenges did the organiser of this exhibition encounter? Even before the Amber Trip exhibition and during it, we received various questions from representatives of the jewellery market regarding the organisation of the event, cancellation and other questions. As the coordinators of the exhibition, we had to take into account the wishes of all the market participants (buyers and exhibitors), which led to the decision not to cancel the exhibition and organise it by weighing all the circumstances in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic which also affected Lithuania, and take all the necessary safety measures to protect the participants, buyers and guests of the Amber Trip show. Even though buyers and participants from Italy opted out of participating in the exhibition, there were plenty of guests from other countries. However, due to the decision of the Lithuanian
Government to ban mass events, the Amber Trip show lasted only two out of four days and had to be closed on March 13. Nevertheless, the exhibitors and buyers were very understanding and grateful to us for organising the exhibition and making it possible to meet up, buy, sell and arrange future transactions. We are all thankful for that.
Jewellers and amber artists often find themselves in a variety of situations, but the coronavirus outbreak is a non-standard situation where other challenges such as the financial crisis, shortage of raw amber, rising prices of gold and the like fade away in comparison to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS / LITHUANIAN JEWELLERY REPORT We are glad that, after the quarantine has been imposed in Lithuania, we still managed to attend the Jubinale exhibition in Krakow which has not been cancelled, even though there were not many participants. I want to congratulate all the participants of this exhibition. Hopefully the Amberif exhibition in Gdansk (this interview took place on 23 July – editor's note) will not be cancelled and participants from European Union countries will have the opportunity to take part in it.
Amber Trip stands out from other exhibitions with its Art Jewellery Contest and Author Jewellery Zone which has been organised for three years in a row now. How did these events fare this year and what else was unique during the show? We are happy that the Art Jewellery Contest organised during the Amber Trip show is becoming an increasingly well-known and internationally recognised art jewellery platform. This year, 75 professional jewellers from 22 countries around the world (Taiwan, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Iran, Poland, Turkey, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Russia, South Korea, the Netherlands, Australia, Mexico, Latvia, Greece, France, Austria, Belarus and Lithuania) competed in the Ecosight competition. For a number of years now, the
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participants attending the exhibition, helping them to communicate and learn from each other. And this project turned out to be very successful. I would also like to single out the exhibition “Inspired by Freedom” organised by the jewellery community and dedicated to Lithuania's Independence Day which we celebrate on March 11. The exhibition organised by the Lithuanian Jewellers' Association (Lietuvos autorinės juvelyrikos kūrėjų asociacija) displayed the works of 30 authors, and the number of the exhibition's participants symbolically matched the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Lithuania's independence. This exclusive exhibition was attended by creators of metal plastic and jewellery art representing different generations. The Amber Trip exhibition also included other exclusive showpieces such as the skeleton of a mammoth that lived at least 50,000 years ago and was found in Siberia, as well as works of art – sculptures made from mammoth bone, and a blue stone from Sweden. There were also creative workshops with wax, amber and enamel, as well as seminars providing information on what you need to know when buying jewellery, and how hydrogen is used in jewellery and Baltic amber in food production. For the second year in a row, a raw amber
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commission of the competition has been chaired by Laima Kėrienė, professor at the Department of Metal Art and Jewellery of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The list of members of the commission also includes well-known names such as doctor of arts, philosopher and art critic Pille Veljataga, jeweller and founder of the jewellery school "Vilnensis" Darijus Gerlikas, Polish professor, artist and writer Giedyminas Jablonskis, as well as silversmith, jewellery designer, director of the Finnish Goldsmiths' Association and editor of Baltic Jewellery News magazine Henrik Kihlman, and Latvian jewellery artist, lecturer at the Department of Metal Design of the Latvian Academy of Arts and active participant in international artists' residencies and group exhibitions Rasma Pušpure. The Author Jewellery Zone was held for the third time and this year attracted the highest number of participants: 40 participants from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the United Kingdom and the USA. Author Jewellery Zone is like a separate exhibition presenting unique works of art and providing guests with a wonderful opportunity to talk to jewellers about their creative directions or to buy articles of jewellery that they like. The idea behind the Author Jewellery Zone was to build a bridge between wholesalers and art contest
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Art jewellery competition jury: Laima Kėrienė, Pille Veljataga, Rasma Pušpure, Giedyminas Jablonskis, Henrik Kihlman, Darijus Gerlikas.
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The urgent decision of the Lithuanian Government to ban mass events has obviously affected all the participants, buyers and guests of the Amber Trip show. Did you receive any support or compensation from the government or other institutions? In order to react quickly to the spread of the coronavirus in Lithuania, the exhibition has been closed as of March 13. However, the quarantine was put in place in our country on March 16, therefore Amber Trip has not been included in the list of companies eligible for subsidies. Amber Trip did apply to the Lithuanian Government for support and, although the voice of our exhibitors has not yet been heard, we hope to receive a response from the authorities sooner or later.
BUSINESS INSIGHTS / ITA LI A N JE W ELLERY R E V IE W
“Inspired by Freedom”
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on the online platform, but there are downsides to communication and shopping at a distance. It was plain to see that shoppers were particularly delighted to be able to once again browse through and physically touch jewellery in jewellery and amber salons after the quarantine in the country has been lifted. After all, even the highest quality photo cannot portray the actual beauty of jewellery.
Jeweller and founder of the jewellery school “Vilnensis” Darijus Gerlikas
The consequences of the coronavirus can be felt by both businesses and individual people. Did you notice any changes in the habits of jewellery and amber buyers? Of course. The market was in complete stagnation for two months,
exchange-auction was held, during which a number of transactions were concluded. Therefore, every year we look for new 'pearls' which would delight all of our participants. Do you think the format of Amber Trip and other exhibitions will change in the future? The format of the exhibition will remain the same, but certain safety requirements and measures will bring some changes in terms of distance between the stands and the people, the limitation of the number of people indoors, hygiene requirements, distribution of disinfectants, and so on. Of course, like other businesses, jewellery is entering and fully focusing
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but now life is slowly getting back on track. There are birthdays and various other celebrations. People need gifts and positive emotions which can certainly be provided by jewellery. Thus, as I mentioned before, the jewellery trade is recovering. And the number of sales has also increased in the renewed online stores.
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Amber Trip Raw Trade Market is Open!
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What would you like to wish for the next year's Amber Trip show, its participants and buyers? The world has not stopped because of the coronavirus. I wish every participant and buyer of this wonderful exhibition to protect themselves and their health, love their country and continue to enjoy life. The Amber Trip show will flourish as long as each market participant will be actively involved in it. This year’s exhibition, which took place during the pandemic, was the product of the entire jewellery and amber community. We can only hope that these good initiatives will continue on in the future. I am convinced that Amber Trip can continue to maintain its high standards with the help of other market participants. We, as the coordinators of the exhibition, simply need to listen to them and meet their needs. Jewellery is a form of expression and people will never stop looking for ways to express themselves. It has existed for thousands of years and will continue to exist as long as there are humans on earth.
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How did the pandemic and the resulting crisis change the prices of jewellery, amber articles and raw amber? It is clear that the global COVID19 pandemic has also affected retail prices. Sales are often announced during which jewellery and amber articles are sold in retail with a 30 percent discount. In wholesale trade, which had come to a complete halt at the beginning of the pandemic, we are seeing a 10-15 percent drop in jewellery prices. The price of raw amber has dropped by a tenth and we believe that this price will remain for a while, but it should not drop any lower than that.
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A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / POLISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT
MAY IN LEGNICA WITHOUT SILVER By Anna WĂ“JCIK
While the jewellery market was going through a period of stagnation and sales of jewellery
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products were falling, the world of culture also found itself at the receiving end of the crisis and looked to the future with uncertainty. Artists were deprived of the possibility to display their works, and the need for contact with art and interest in cultural matters gave way to mundane concerns. Galleries and museums remained closed for a long time, and events that had been planned and prepared for months got cancelled. www.balticjewellerynews.com
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This
was also the case with Legnica SILVER Festival, which was to culminate in early May. Because of the pandemic its programme – modified and enriched with new events – will be realised next May. To a large extent it will include presentations planned for 2020 (solo exhibitions of Prof. Andrzej Szadkowski, Marion Delarue and Delphine Perrache, a group exhibition Extranalities, presentations of Silver Schools from Shanghai and Bratislava and many
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others), but there will be room for new projects as well. The event was thorougly arranged and its cancellation meant that the organizers as well as artists and specialists involved in the realization of particular exhibitions had to face a completely new and very difficult situation. The dilemmas connected with the Festival cancellation were finally settled by governmetal regulations prohibiting the organization of mass events.
International Collection of Contemporary Jewellery from the Gallery of Art in Legnica: 01
Georg Dobler, Neo classic brooch, oxidised silver, synthetic rubies, citrines, handmade stone settings, assembled, classical stone cut, 2012 02
Timothy Information Limited, Watch the badge, brass, silver, acrylic, steel, powder coat, 2012 03
Nils Hint, The piece of the nameless one No. 1,2,3 pendants, forged steel, readymade, 2012
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A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / POLISH JEW ELLERY R EPORT
04 05
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From the very beginning a virtual edition of the Festival seemed rather unrealistic. SILVER Festival means meetings, talks, grand vernissages, hours of jury discussions over hundreds of displayed competition works that can be not only seen but also touched, felt and directly experienced in every possible way. The decision to postpone the Festival to 2021 was one of the most difficult ones (if not the single most difficult resolution) that the organisers of the event have been faced with in recent years. It was finally made in the conviction that the safety of Festival guests is an utmost priority. It is very encouraging that despite numerous obstacles and difficulties of external and internal nature, so many artists decided to submit their works to the 29th International Jewellery Competition. The contest will be settled by the jury in 2021 and the results will be traditionally announced during the culmination of next year’s SILVER, which we are very much looking forward to.
Meanwhile, we continue our day-to-day activities aimed at promotion of contemporary artistic jewellery. Currently, we are preparing – in cooperation with Prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski – an exhibition of the International Collection of Contemporary Jewellery, It will be the first such extensive presentation of the Gallery’s collection. The Gallery began working on creating a permanent jewellery collection in 2004. At present, it comprises about half a thousand objects representing the latest artistic trends, most of them created in the 21st century. To a large extent, they are the winners of the International Jewellery Competition – the main event of Legnica SILVER Festival – and works presented at accompanying exhibitions. You will also find there examples of works by jewellery artists from different corners of the world, showing a wide range of possibilities arising from an effort to turn body decoration into a work of art. The Collection presents a wealth of contexts, techniques, materials and ways of thinking about jewellery – from speculation on the traditional understanding of decoration, through the medium used to manifest the artist’s views, to the conceptual work of art. The planned exhibition will present works selected by Prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski, who was the Festival general consultant of for many years, thus having a direct influence on its shape and development. The exhibition will be presented at the Gallery of Art (1 Katedralny Square, 59-220 Legnica) between August 27 and October 25. Afterwards, there are plans to show the exhibition in other locations. 04
Andrzej Bandkowski, bracelet, silver, black obsidian, 1979 05
Alexander Blank, Memento Juniori (Sylvester) pendant, rigid foam, silver, string, hand carved, 2011
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AMBERIF DESIGN AWARD WITH THE THEME OF ULTIMATE BEAUTY
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By Michał KOSIOR
The tradition of Amberif is to support non-commercial artistic activities. One of the main manifestations of such activities is the organization of the Amberif Design Award, the International Amber Jewellery Design Competition. 130 artists from 25 countries took part in this year's 24th edition. This is another impressive increase in interest in the competition. 169 works were sent to the Amberif Design Award, nearly 15% more than the year before. The awarded and distinguished artists come from Poland, Finland, Taiwan and Iran.
In
contemporary art, including jewellery art, the definition of beauty is not of key importance, nor is it popular. An international jury composed of Tarja Tuupanen (Finland), Marta Hryc and Ewa Rachoń (Poland), chaired by Melanie Isverding (Germany), faced the difficult theme of Ultimate Beauty. ADA’s long-standing curator is the German art critic Barbara Schmidt. From the very beginning of the Award, display boards or photos of models or completed pieces have been submitted as entries, produced not only by jewellery designers but also artists from related fields, sculpture or visual arts.
beyond perfection. In Amberif Design Award, we seek jewellery with amber as a commentary on ultimate beauty.
THE JURY AWARDED THE FOLLOWING PRIZES AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
THE GRAND PRIZE sponsored by the Mayor of Gdańsk, PLN 10,000:
MARCIN TYMIŃSKI, Poland The delicate handling shows a very sublime understanding of the concept of the competition. The dialogue between the natural and artificial material and their equal treatment gives the piece a timeless holistic value. Leaves something for the imagination.
Barbara Schmidt, ADA’s curator about ADA’s theme: Ultimate Beauty. Beauty is also for the eyes, but first of all it creates and stabilises our identity. We perceive others as beautiful if they are charismatic, just as we welcome things as beautiful if they carry a story. Our striving for beauty is actually a striving for life. Therefore, we appreciate a kind of beauty that lasts longer than a moment and which seduces us to live. Amber radiates this special kind of beauty. With its wide spectrum of natural colours, it highlights the wearer’s beauty and identity. Its natural inclusions and small cracks speak of life
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and pollution, and the consequences of how we use our resources and what we leave behind.
THE JURY QUALIFIED WORKS BY 15 FURTHER ARTISTS FOR DISPLAY AT THE EXHIBITION:
Adriana Lisowska, Poland, A playful approach to the classic necklace concept where the creator is in control of its properties, the colour and what to put where.
A zam Ghahreman, Iran; Dovile Kondrasovaite, United Kingdom; Delphine Perrache, Belgium; Yi-Jia Huang, Taiwan; Kristýna Španihelová, Czech Republic; Mirta Congost Naulart, Germany; Angela Chienchia Hou, United Kingdom; Jelizaveta Suska, Sweden; Chiaki Miyauchi, Japan; Kairi Sirendi, Estonia; Sława Tchórzewska, Poland; Norbert Kotwicki, Poland; Dorota Paruznik, Austria; Monica Bobbi, Belgium; Michał Fatyga, Poland.
Fatemeh Darzidarounkola, Iran, An important reflection on the current condition of the sea, climate change
Ewa Rachoń, the previous Project Director of Amberif, recalled that being part of the Jury was a completely new and very moving experience for her because until then she had only acted as ADA’s organiser. She emphasized that the Jury paid a lot of attention to searching for the idea contained in the entries and for an original interpretation of the topic. An innovative approach to amber was also important and clearly visible in the winning pieces. Marta Hryc: On one hand, the Jury had no easy task because the broad presentation of the theme resulted in a very large number of entries. On the other hand, paradoxically, the excessive generality of creative expression and
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the lack of references to the specific nature of amber allowed us to efficiently and quickly eliminate some of the pieces. The final selection of 20 entries, in my opinion, reflects the diversity of both the possible interpretations of the subject and the composition of the Jury itself. What we have are pieces situated in the area of art, classical handicraft, alongside references to serial production. The competition once again proves that amber inspires artists from around the world. It is a material that allows them to build various narratives around itself, while its inner beauty has the opportunity to resonate the most fully when it is the central plot of the story. It is impossible to overestimate the value that the Amberif Design Award has in building a broad, multi-contextual image of Baltic amber in contemporary designer jewellery. Marcin Tymiński: Amberif Design Award is one of the most important competitions in Poland. I can say that for me it is the most important one! Every year I prepare for it, often neglecting other competitions, exhibitions and events, but I think it’s worth it! ADA is unique and requires such an approach from artists as well: what counts here is the WOW effect, colloquially speaking. Flash, dramatic effect, sparkle and visuals, but isn’t this what jewellery is all about? It is about a design that will stir an inspiration in the artist and that the public will desire to own.
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THE JURY DECIDED TO AWARD TWO HONORARY MENTIONS:
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The Silver Prize: Meng-Ju Wu, Taiwan, A combination of metal alloy with amber in a technically challenging way that required a knowledge of metallurgic processes and the physical properties of organic amber. The result is a talismanic piece that glows from the inside.
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The Amber Prize: Helena Lehtinen, Finland, At first glance, it is super simple. Yet, it is like a document, it evokes questions about cultural backgrounds, refers to classic necklaces in a conceptual way. It is a diary of evolution. A narrative built out of many different individual stories and choices.
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SELECTED LATVIAN JEWELRY OF 2019 Some KEY Members Of The Latvian Jewellery Art Association By Ginta GRŪBE
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One of the biggest events in the field of Latvian jewelry in 2018 was the establishment of the Latvian Jewellery Art Association (LJAA). There was a Latvian Jeweller association that operated from 1993 until 2012, but data on its activities hasn't been updated in the Register of Enterprises for the past eight years. Several jewelry artists are also members of the Artists' Union of Latvia, but the generation of mature jewelry artists was looking for a fresh platform to put their ideas into action and meet like-minded people. LJAA was established by husband and wife jewelers Zane Vilka and Jānis Vilks, and a fellow artist, Valdis Brože.
called Latvian jewelry art as she lived in Latvia until she obtained her bachelor’s degree. She has been chosen to participate in Schmuck 2020 during the 72nd International Trade Fair Munich in March. In her collection Rebirth, she worked with a very important material in the context of Latvian jewelry—amber. The material is widely interpreted and Suska was looking for a new quality by experimenting with coloring it. “I place amber pendants together with an amber cord made from amber fiber that was developed less than 10 years ago at Riga Technical University. I either spin or weave the cords by hand,” she explains.
LJAA
made its first contri bution to the public by displaying art jewelry in Cēsis exhibition hall, in Latvia, during summer 2019. To my mind this exhibition, A Priori, was a success—LJAA’s first opening also helped the members get to know each other better. The next exhibition, Mark, opened recently, on February 7, 2020, at the Mark Rothko Art Centre, in Daugavpils, Latvia. In a wider geographical context, the most prominent Latvian jeweler of 2019 could be Valdis Brože, who became the latest AUTOR Award winner, at JOYA Barcelona in October. His success in 2019 was probably rooted in November 2018, when he opened his solo exhibition, Imprint, at art gallery Putti.
Jelizaveta Suska has been working and living internationally for approximately seven years, but her work can still be
In summer 2013, artist Vladislavs Čistjakovs created his brand, Vladislav Chistyakov Jewellery, which continues to successfully operate today. He specializes in making custom jewelry from precious metals, with precious and semiprecious stones. I got to know him during his studies at The Art Academy of Latvia. His work embodied intelligence, not to mention qualitative performance. But with all that, he could make a harsh joke both in his work and in life. His collection Trajectory perfectly visualizes his accuracy and ingenuity. Simple shapes and a deeply thoughtout composition provide both excellent exhibition work and pieces of jewelry. Andris Silapēters is a professor at The Art Academy of Latvia and it’s hard to imagine the metal design department (including jewelry) functioning without him. In May 2019 the exhibition Perfect Mess opened its doors to visitors in Riga’s Tallinas Street Quarter. In it,
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students, graduates, and lecturers from the Art Academy of Latvia’s metal design department showed their most recent work. Silapēters exhibited two of his latest miniatures/brooches cast in silver.
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Jelizaveta Suska, Rebirth, 2019, amber, amber thread, 14-karat red gold, photo: Māris Grīnbergs
At the end of 2019, jewelry artist Guntis Lauders traveled to Berlin and Hamburg to show his new jewelry collection. He and his brother, Andris Lauders, are also members of LJAA and participated in the exhibition A Priori. Guntis showed his collection Primavera, and Andris offered necklaces in silver and gold with hematite and sapphire. They are both prominent jewelers who studied in Estonia, as did a number of other Latvian artists in the second half of the 20th century, since at the time higher education in jewelry wasn’t yet available in Latvia. Fashion designer Sabīne Skarule recently became the winner of the H&M
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Valdis Brože, Venus, 2019, necklace, 24-karat gold-plated sterling silver, optical glass, photo courtesy of the artist
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At the beginning of summer 2019, art gallery Putti presented Maya. Illusion माया, a solo show by artist Māris Šustiņš. Later that year, in August, he and the aforementioned Valdis Brože created the jewelry collection Kocmoc for the new Latvian brand of exclusive jewelry, Óde. Unlike the Kocmoc collection, Māris Šustiņš’s work is noted for its frequent use of titanium. On one hand he makes the kind of jewelry people usually expect to see—rich with precious and semiprecious stones, floral and insect motifs. On the other, he balances on the border between kitsch and banality. Over all, the specific taste and strong appeal of his jewelry pieces remains.
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In December 2019, the metal design department opened another exhibition, titled Raised Temperature, in Gulbene, Latvia. Four out of eight miniatures/ brooches in the exhibition were executed by Silapēters in 2019. He has been faithful to the crafts in their traditional sense and at the same time remains able to create timeless masterpieces. In an interview from 2015 he explains: “Nevertheless I am a Soviet product (author's note: raised within the Soviet occupation zone) ... when understanding of beauty and aesthetics were sought through form. What is now called art is mixed up with media and advertising. I am not there to judge whether it is right or wrong, but I am also not a part of it. I remain faithful to the school and the general understanding of creating the beautiful.”
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Design Award 2020, which was announced in November 2019. Her winning collection drew on her memories of her childhood in Latvia. Skarule took knitting techniques, folkloric patterns, and visuals of traditional materials and gave them a fresh new look. She completed her master’s degree in fashion at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in summer 2019 and is currently working on launching her own label. In the collection, called +371, accessories play an important role. Her amber pendant is one of my 2019 favorites.
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Exhibition view, A Priori, work by Jelizaveta Suska (Rebirth, 2019, amber, amber thread, 14-karat red gold), photo: Ginta Grūbe
Latvia is rich with a young generation of jewelry artists, including Rasma Pušpure, Una Mikuda, Lāsma Ansone, and Maija Vītola-Zitmane. They are all former students of the Art Academy of Latvia. Pušpure is also a teacher at the academy. She says she’s passionate about slow fashion and one-of-a-kind pieces. Her necklace Behind the Scenes shows her interest for slow fashion—the piece is made from the waste that is left behind by the gilding process. There are around 30 ever yday practitioners in Latvia and way more artists who focus on jewelry periodically. This might sound like a small group, but for a country with population of 1.92 million, it is actually decent. One good way of keeping an eye on them is to follow the activities of the Latvian Jewellery Art Association.[1]
Exhibition view, A Priori, work by Vladislavs Čistjakovs (Trajectory, 2019, oxidized sterling silver, moonstone, nephrite jade, cat’s eye, chalcedony), photo: Ginta Grūbe
Ginta Grūbe was born in 1989 in Riga, Latvia. She holds a BFA (2013) and MFA (2015) from the Art Academy of Latvia’s metal design department, (jewelry specialty), where she is currently lecturing. She researches jewelry art in Latvia from the second half of the 20th century up to the present. Her interest in contemporary jewelry is rooted in her Erasmus exchange at the Strasbourg Academy of Fine Arts (now Haute Ecole Arts Du Rhin – Strasbourg). She has worked as a freelance artist, independent writer, curator, and lecturer since 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ rotumakslasbiedriba/. [1]
Andris Silapēters,????????//
This article originally published on Art Jewelry Forum on February 24, 2020, https:// artjewelryforum.org/selected-latvian-jewelryof-2019. Reprinted with permission.
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Maija Vītola-Zitmane, Sadness, 2019, brooch, hand-carved camel bone, silver, pearl, photo: Māris Grīnbergs
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Lāsma Ansone, necklace from her MFA collection Touch (created by PXL-MAD University of Art’s newly created program, Object & Jewellery, in Hasselt, Belgium), 2019, polymerized wood, silver, string, photo courtesy of the artist
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Māris Šustiņš for the brand Óde, Kocmoc, 2019, 18-karat gold, eco diamonds, courtesy L'Officiel Baltics and the artist, photographer unknown
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Rasma Pušpure, Behind the Scenes, necklace from the collection Secret Life of a Jewellery Designer, 2019, steel, gilding, photo: Māris Grīnbergs
PETRI PULLIAINEN
R E T S A M OF HARD MATERIALS By Henrik KIHLMAN
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CURIOSITY AND NEVER GIVING UP IS THE KEY TO LEARNING |
I have always been a bit of a nerd when it comes to techniques and materials. I want to know and understand exactly how they work and behave under different circumstances. This enables me to develop my own techniques and innovations so that I can create something new and spectacular. I started using laser welding and 3-D design already in the 90’s when all of this was still very new in goldsmithing.
A GOOD EDUCATION GIVES A STRONG BASE |
I started my studies at Kuopio Institute of Handicraft and Applied Art where I learned the necessary craft skills. Coached by good teachers I also established my theses for design. The user determines the form and the purpose of the object. Jewellery has to be comfortably wearable.
there. Surgical steel, 316 L, is safe to wear as jewellery and it possesses a beautiful white shine that combines great with diamonds and coloured gemstones. Setting stones in material as hard as steel demands a lot of skill and technique that I have learned by hard work, trial and error. Learning to master this skill has enabled me to create a different kind of jewellery design. As a jeweller, I always strive for perfection. It is not that difficult to make a basic band of steel but to have it set with precious stones takes it to a whole new level of fine jewellery. Apart from steel I also like to work in other hard materials like zirconium and titanium. Looking at Petri´s jewellery you will find that they are both traditional and very expressional at the same time. The designs are very technical and masculine. You will find geometrical forms, interesting contrasts in colour and combinations of material and gemstones. The design is tough and strong, but the details reveal the quality work of a master. As a recognition of his fine work Petri was awarded the highly appreciated ‘Goldsmith of the year’ title in 2016.
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After the basic artisan exam in jewellery, it was time for higher education and Petri entered the Department for Jewellery Design at the famous Lahti Institute of Design. During the studies, it was possible to experiment with both materials and the new technology that, at that time, was available at the school. After four years of intensive studies, he graduated with an exam piece that was a pair of earrings in Damascus steel. This was the start of a long journey toward mastering steel and other hard materials.
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Portrait. Photo by: Anthony Ubaud 02
Black Damaros - Ring with blue diamond. Photo by: Marita Ilander
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After graduating I spent eleven years as a part of Union Design. An awardwinning goldsmithing community consisting of a group of Finland’s most talented upcoming jewellers at the time. That was a good time to develop one’s skills and design in close interaction with other young talented colleagues. However, the community came to an end and since 2008 I have been on my own building up my concept as a master of exciting new hard materials with a strong line of masculine jewellery for the customers that appreciate something special and personal out of the mainstream jewellery. Steel has always been my main material, says Petri. The fascination for it from my childhood has always been
DIFFERENT MATERIALS EXPRESS DIFFERENT THINGS In the pieces made of Damascus steel the layer forged steel parts display an individual and exclusive pattern which often is framed in a strict geometrical form of precious metal for both looks and comfort. Even though masculinity is a dominant factor in the design, many pieces are very much suitable for women who want something expressive and striking. The deep black colour of zirconium offers a stunning contrast with coloured gemstones and presents a worthy option to the traditional diamond jewellery. Combining it with other metals like titanium, gold or platinum opens up a new palette of colour combinations to be used in a much richer fashion that
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Pulliainen(1969) grew up and spent his childhood in Leppävirta, close to Sorsakoski Steel factory where the famous Hackman cutlery was manufactured. Being able to closely follow what the skilled craftsmen could accomplish with steel planted a seed. Subconsciously he knew that he also wanted to master this tough material someday. He always had an eye for all beautiful things in nature and as a young boy, he was a keen collector of beautiful stones, butterflies and other colourful things you can find if you keep your eyes open. This passion for beauty led him to his future career as a goldsmith and jewellery designer.
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Petri
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Today we experience a whole new range of materials in jewellery. Hard materials like steel, zirconium and titanium have emerged on the market. Mostly quite simple designs and mass production. Goldsmith Petri Pullianen, based in Helsinki Finland, has taken the challenge one step further and his pieces demonstrate how you can combine modern technology and the traditional techniques of fine jewellery into creating something new and powerful in jewellery design.
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you are able to create using only the traditional precious metals like silver, gold and platinum. Titanium is a very versatile light and hard and metal with the ability to achieve different colours by using heat, or electrical current. One of the most recent innovations is a crystallized surface on titanium. It turns out as an opal-like shimmer that brings your mind to the aurora borealis phenomenon you can witness in the sky in Lapland. The surface seems almost three-dimensional and is very hard and durable. Even though titanium became popular in jewellery in the 80´s there is still a lot to explore and learn in order to bring the material to a new contemporary level. TOWARDS NEW CHALLENGES Even though my special interest lies in these hard materials I also work with the traditional materials of goldsmithing. Engagement rings and wedding bands
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are the most individual commissions where I together with the customer design a piece to their liking but with my fingerprint. Mastering many materials makes the range and possibilities quite large and challenging. | My devotion to technology and laser skills has also brought me customers from the watch community. Damaged bracelets and watch cases can be restored to original condition when you possess the right knowledge and experience with steel and laser. To my question about what lies ahead in the future, Petri replies: | During the past ten years my skills as a jeweller and designer have developed into my own very markable style. I believe that there is a big market for my kind of masculine jewellery, especially in North America. At the moment I am developing a new concept
extending the product range and skill towards other luxury items, not just jewellery. The concept is taking form and partnerships are being formed. I am very excited. Check Petri Pulliainen jewellery: Kingdom of Stainless Steel www.petripulliainen.com info@petripulliainen.com
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HEX-U diamond ring.
Photo by: Mikael Pettersson 04
Damascus ring, from the series Northern light in collaboration with Kalevala Koru. Photo by: Teemu Töyrylä 05
Twin Row - diamond rings. Photo by: Mikael Pettersson
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K
KETO
®
Design by Jussi Louesalmi
Winner of the Most Beautiful Ring of the Year competition in Finland Find the Keto Meadow collection in www.au3.fi and in shop.au3.fi
Au3 Goldsmiths – Unioninkatu 27, Helsinki, Finland – +358 9 436 500 90 – au3@au3.fi @au3goldsmiths – shop.au3.fi – www.au3.fi
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International Baltic Jewellery Show Amber Trip 2020 held an art jewellery contest. Polluted oceans, burning Amazon forests, unable to breathe Delhi, Earth's warming. And how many side-byside processes that are disrupting the coexistence of nature and mankind! Ecological disharmony - like a threatening dragon, who is constantly coming to our castle to take his victims... What vision do we have in this confrontation? Do we surrender ourselves to fear and anxiety or are we taking a more conscious and active position? Global and everyday view, thoughts, words, and actions that turn into CREATION that can influence the future.
Jury members: Laima KĖRIENĖ – Head of the Jury (Lithuania) Pille VELJATAGA (Lithuania) Darijus GERLIKAS (Lithuania) Giedymin JABLONSKI (Poland) Henrik KIHLMAN (Finland) Rasma PUŠPURE (Latvia) 75 authors participated with over 80 amazing art works from around the world (Taiwan, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Iran, Poland, Turkey, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Russia, South Korea, Netherlands, Australia, Mexico, Latvia, Greece, France, Austria, Belarus and Lithuania).
THE WINNERS OF
THE AMBER TRIP ART JEWELLERY CONTEST
“ECOSIGHT” 2020
Grand Prix Vita Pukštaitė-Bružė (Lithuania) “The end of the foot-bridge”
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Award in the category of amber works Soonin Han (South Korea) “We=I”
Award in the category of jewellery Chien-Yu Liu (Taiwan) “One Moment to Another”
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Award in the category of objects Rachael Colley (United Kingdom)) “Sha-green”
Award of the audience Charlotte Parent (France) “Plumbing”
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Award in the category of jewellery Rasa Jundulaitė (Lithuania) “The very first”
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Jury diplomas were also awarded to:
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Ieva Laskevičiūtė (Lithuania) “Pandora's Cake” – for the alternative of using the material
Yaroslava Kellermann (Poland) “Way” – for rendering harmony of water and nature
Anna Tereshchenkova (Russia) “Bird and Fish” – for the visual declaration of the danger of plastic to the wildlife
Annarita Bianco (Italy) “3020| Graft series” – For Concept Concern and Sustainable Expression in Jewelry
Joshua Kosker (USA) “Copal (Gold Edition)” – for an elegant alternative to amber and a sense of humor
Alain Roggeman (Belgium) “Broken and reclaimed” – for the balance of thought and composition in jewelry
Simona Martinkutė (Lithuania) “Darius, who started from himself” – for supporting the ecological initiative
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Ilze Egle (Latvia) “Skies are crying about the Earth's warming” – for the paradox of thought and artistic expression Teresa Dantas (Portugal) “Babel” – for the visuality of ecological problems
Algina and Rolandas Žalimai (Lithuania) “I see flying storks” for romance, simplicity and sustainability
Eglė Širvytė (Lithuania) “Full house of the rain” – for creative subtlety
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Peiheng Huang (France) “Tree hole crossing” – for its sensitivity to natural disasters and its metaphorical presentation in jewelry
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Brigita Rodaitė (Lithuania) “Gardens” – for the sensitivity to nature and the aesthetics of the composition
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE AMBER TRIP ART JEWELLERY CONTEST THEME
SURVEILLANCE JEWELLERY You might recognise this face jewellery – it went viral last year. Ewa Nowak the author of Incognito invites jewellers and artists to explore the topic Surveillance Jewellery in the Amber Trip art jewellery contest. Surveillance cameras that indicate traffic, tracking of people who were exposed to Covid 19, facial recognition in airports, discussions about Huawei all over internet – Surveillance is the topic that brings us to discussions from its benefits to privacy breach. Please send a picture of your work and description to office@balticjewellerynews.com until the 1st of February.
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VITA PUKSTAITE-BRUZE IN HER STUDIO IN VILNIUS OLD TOWN
CONGRATULATIONS ONGRATULATIONS TO VITA PUKSTAITE-BRUZE,
THE WINNER OF THE GRAND PRIX OF THE AMBER TRIP ART COMPETITION! This year ECOSIGHT was chosen as the theme of the art competition, and Vita‘s piece of work Liepto galas (The End of the Bridge) won it. www.balticjewellerynews.com
In your opinion, how does the world of jewellery in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia differ? Could you single out a community that is more active than others? Among the Baltic states, Estonian school is very strong. By the way, many Lithuanians have graduated from it. The state policy of Estonian culture is also better. Their level, at least in the past, stood out greatly. But now, with the Internet and information available worldwide, perhaps the level should be determined by authors rather that by countries. It depends a lot on individual effort.
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The title of your work is Liepto galas (The End of the Bridge). What message does it carry? There are two layers: The first is personal. It conveys the feeling of insecurity. The lonely boat. It symbolises loneliness with many threats around. The second is global. We are, in a sense, all in one boat. The climate change will have an effect on each of us, but there is a chance that the boat will turn around towards the bridge and we’ll be safer.
The Pockets collection was made more than ten years ago. That jewellery shows a person’s identity. I’ve experimented a lot with texture and have a weakness for materials. I have collected fabrics from my parents’ closet, from Soviet times, from my grandmother’s home, woven. I now go around fabric stores and second-hand stores where one can find absolutely fabulous and unexpected textiles. Those ornaments inspire me to create something new. And each has fragments that are somehow expensive personally to me. I care about personality in my work. The Meadow collection was also initiated a long time ago. I identify myself as a graphic artist rather than a jeweller. The plants are very graphic and dramatic to me. I always saw some kind of hierarchy and structures in them. The plants are also very dramatic, and their names add that drama to them. Here, for example, there are rabbit tears on the table. By the way, in different languages, plants are called differently, each
What materials do you use to design this work? Enamel, silver, copper, amber, and mammoth bones. Let’s talk about your work in more detail. I saw your Pockets collection. To me, it turned out to be very playful. Meadow, meanwhile, seems to send a more serious message. Is there something that connects your artworks?
Koala from collection Pockets
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Why the ECOSIGHT theme is close to you? The concepts that the artists participated with were different. Why do you think did they differ? I think it’s a topic everyone is concerned about to some extent as people care about what’s going on with nature. The subject is very broad, and everyone has their own interpretations. I really enjoyed the work of Soonin Han from South Korea, she had a very strong concept that she approached very broadly.
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You have participated in the Amber Trip art competition multiple times, haven’t you? We remember your artwork A Place under the Sun. What is it that gave you an impetus to participate in this competition? I have participated in Amber Trip art competitions many times. I am not very active in competitions, but if I am interested in a topic and whenever I am invited, I participate in it. It is good to see that artists are also participating in the business event. It’s nice that the artistic side of jewellery business gets support too. For us, artists, such competitions are important as they give us a chance to see what we look like in other contexts. For me personally, this gives me the opportunity to create a thematic work, because otherwise I keep delaying some topics. What I like about the contest themes is that they are unexpected.
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The End of the Bridge – Grand Prix of Amber Trip art jewellery competition
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Collection Meadow
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culture values plants differently. The same plant may be considered weed in some country while elsewhere it is a royal symbol. And I want to capture these dramas in some way. You use amber in your works without hesitation. Modern artists find it difficult. Why? It is very difficult for me to come up with an idea how to make a piece of amber look like it’s right in its place. Now I got used to it. For example, let’s look at my piece of work A Place under the Sun. It took some time to realise that
Moss
amber depicted the sun. And then the hammock naturally appeared under the sun. This work was not only recognised in the Amber Trip art competition, now it is exposed in the Amber Museum in Palanga. You seem to love designing brooches. Are Lithuanians fond of brooches? Do you just like to wear them yourself? When I make a brooch, it’s like a mini picture to me. I feel like I’m not creating a piece of jewellery, but like a painting. The ring is a sculpture. And the pendant is in an even closer relationship with a person. The man is the background of the picture / brooch. My brooches are like pieces of art on the wall. These artworks have a history. For example, a brooch Samanos (Moss) contains a moss in it, and the sky, and water, and the sunshine through the forest. The brooch was like a capture image of the moment.
A Place under the Sun
Where does the inspiration for your collections come from? Everyone experiences moments of oblivion or escape. Everyone goes
daydreaming while watching the clouds or planes passing by... I feel like travelling in those states and it seems like I’ve been there. It only takes half a second, but you’ve already been to Hamburg. And that state creates the image. I really want that state to be in my works. The sea creates a certain state, the plant too, and I try to convey it. The piece with the hammock A Place under the Sun is also about that state of being elevated and grounded at the same time, because you feel good. Like a micro rest. I am interested in painting, graphics, sculpture, book illustrations. First, I think about what the piece of work should be like, and then I think about technology. I like metal as a material. The process itself drives me, playing with fire is not boring. What jewellers do inspire you? Jewellers are not always my inspirers, but painters are, e.g. Paul Klee. I have formed an overall picture of Lithuanian metal artists. Birute Stulgaite seems to me the most serious: both her image and content are strong in her work.
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Twenty-four hours
www.balticjewellerynews.com B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
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A RTISTIC INSPIR ATIONS / SOU TH KOR E A N JEW ELLERY R EPORT
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
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p. 82
“WE= I”
How did you find out about Jewellery Contest “Amber Trip”? I was going through jewellery works on klimt02 when I came across information about Art Jewellery Contest “Amber Trip”. The topic matched the area of my interest so I decided to participate. Do you often work with amber or is this material new to you? I think it is an interesting material for jewellery, because amber is a lightweight material. I still use mostly waste glass as a material, but I am sure that I will use amber in combination with waste glass some day. Your piece of work “We=I”; tell us about the idea behind this piece of jewellery. Current ecological disharmony demands us to restore harmony, which can be possible by recognizing and restoring the order and solidarity innate to all creatures. Each circle seems separate but they are connected to each other creating a big one, like the Universe, and the overlaid amber shows the order and connectedness of the ecosystem, which can only be seen when all of them are together.
Soonin Han won the Award in the category of amber works during Art Jewellery Exhibition “Amber Trip”. Her work surprised the jury of the contest and many jewellers have acknowledged her unique take on the topic and the use of amber in jewellery. It is always interesting to see how other cultures use amber in their work, because the majority of the participants in the contest are European.
Is amber popular in South Korea? Traditionally amber was used as a twin ring as well as for traditional Korean ornaments for women and as a button for men’s handbook in South Korea. There are brownish to translucent brown series and yellowish to opaque yellow series ambroid. I learned from G.I.A. that the Baltic amber has a higher value than the Dominican amber in general. What materials do you usually work with? Currently I make pieces of work by using waste glass. Could you compare European and Asian art jewellery scene? How is it different?
I think European art jewellery seeks more simplicity while Oriental art jewellery craves depth. What inspires you to create? Seeing things through something inspires me. For example, I am inspired by what is seen through glass. Are you familiar with the concept of ethical jewellery? The chaotic life of the mankind pollutes the Earth. People’s over-consumption is also a factor in making our planet sick. We have a shared responsibility for the destruction of the ecosystem. I would like to make works of art by using waste glass in hopes of restoring the ecosystem.
www.balticjewellerynews.com
International Fair of Jewellery Amber, Watches and Gemstones Invites you:
01- 03.10.2020
www.tjexpo.pl
12/14 Prądzyńskiego st. , 01-222 Warsaw
PRICELESS – MEDIEVAL BROOCH WAS ACQUIRED BY V&A Imagine that you were a metal detectorist going around farmland with your equipment. When the detector releases a sound you dig for 10 centimetres until you find something covered in mud thinking it’s an old coca-cola bottle cap or something else. But after some washing and inspection of specialists, your finding is now placed among such precious items as Queen Victoria‘s coronet and popstar Beyonce‘s Papillon ring.
Justin
Owens discovered the brooch during an organised dig in 2017. Though an announcement about its existence came out only now. Mr Owens had this hobby for four years and did not have much hope to find something so valuable when he kneeled in the farm near Brigstock to see what was under the ground. To his surprise, he found a 600-year-old medieval brooch. This kind of jewellery is unique in the
United Kingdom. It is a rare finding as there are only six items similar to this one that exist worldwide. Since diamond and gold brooch was found on former hunting land, experts believe it was lost during the hunt. Initially, it might have had more diamonds that fell off and pearls that we don’t see on the brooch due to biodegradation. As time did much damage to the brooch, cleaning it was another challenge. Experts used
pheasant and ostrich feathers while cleaning it to remove the dirt. V&A jewellery gallery is long known for its exquisite collection. V&A acquired this flower-shaped brooch through the National Treasure Act. The Act requires finders to report their finding if it is over 300 years old. Under such circumstances, V&A did not disclose the price of a brooch and called it “priceless”.
www.balticjewellerynews.com
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
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HISTORY / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS LOVE FOR DIAMONDS Henry Cyril Paget
Anglesey, is worth telling as he seemed to be erased from history for being different and eccentric.
Also
known as Lord Anglesey, 5th marquess lived a short lavish aristocratic life and died in 1905 at age 29. When he died newspapers described his life as a ‘wasted life’. Young gentleman was not respected by the society with Victorian and Edwardian values for a few reasons. He wasted his family fortunes, he turned his family chapel into a theatre, moreover, society had noticed hints of queer identity because of his costumes and love to jewellery. Word ‘love’ for jewellery would be an underestimation as it was more of an obsession with jewellery and glitter. Henry Cyril Paget preferred diamondset tiaras just like this one.
www.balticjewellerynews.com
Rare jewellery was his thing. Once before the interview with Daily Mail Henry apologized: ‘I must apologise for not appearing before you in peacockblue plush wearing a diamond and sapphire tiara, a turquoise dog-collar, ropes of pearls and slippers studded with Burma rubies; but I prefer, and always have preferred, Scotch tweed’. The concept of costume jewellery was not familiar to this guy as he would put real diamonds and real gold to even little details of accessory in plays. Costumes worn on the stage of his theater would cost millions of pounds today. For instance, Aladdin costume cost would be valued more than a decent house or 1 million GBP if valued today. In the summer of 1904, his lavish spending had to stop as he was declared bankrupt. His bankruptcy sales had to be quite an event at the time as the list was endless and full of accessories. Jewellery, 900 lots of
silk-lined suits, fur coats, walking sticks, a separate day for his collection of dogs. Who knows where those items are now. But for some reason, The Anglesey tiara was not sold and Paget’s family kept it. Seiriol Davies, musical stage biographer told to BBC News: ‘He put on touring productions of an Oscar Wilde play that would have been quite daring in that period’. This and some other hints to queer identity might be the reason why his family destroyed his papers, letters and diary. As there is no actual evidence of what kind of personality he was besides some extravagant photos and painting of him in eye-catching costumes and jewellery. The Anglesey tiara is an obvious masterpiece for its jewels and unique craftsmanship, but more importantly this tiara hides a story. The story of queer culture which started earlier than the majority of us is aware of.
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
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This year European Fine Art Fair TEFAF had reminded jewellery lovers that diamonds could be best friends not only to girls but to guys as well. One of the top masterpieces at the fair was The Anglesey tiara, which was made for Henry Cyril Paget. The long-forgotten story of the fifth Marquess of
MICHAŁ KOSIOR IS THE AMBER PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2019 By Elżbieta SONTAG and Adam PSTRĄGOWSKI
Fot. Michał Szczepankiewicz
winner of the title of the Amber Personality of the Year 2019, Michał Kosior, first got into the jewellery and amber industry in 1999 by working on the Polish Jewellery Directory, to subsequently work with the other Polish and international trade media, become the Amberif Press Officer and an industry expert. In 2008-2019, he headed the office of the International Amber Association; moreover, he served as the Secretary and Vice-President of the IAA Board for two terms. What was the most noticeable in Michał’s work was his commitment, above and beyond the call of duty. For 11 years of his work there, he not only proved himself as a reliable Director of the IAA Office but also perfectly mastered all the amber know-how and “amber traps,” and became an amber appraiser. In a very short time, amber and the amber community became for Michał not only a workplace but also a passion.
It is his knowledge and passion that helped create a reliable image of the International Amber Association on the Internet, in social media and at international meetings where he represented the Association and the industry.
Over his more than 20 years in the industry, he has actively inspired many projects which have contributed to making Baltic amber better known both at home and abroad, some of which are listed here: He has been active in building the IAA Amber Laboratory, organising training sessions and meetings for appraisers, the Understanding Amber courses and gemmology workshops; he was a consultant for amendments to the Polish geology law, worked with major science, museum, art and educational institutions in Poland, Europe and worldwide; he ran the gallery at the IAA head office, organised exhibitions for contemporary jewellery designers, engaged in publishing, organised exhibitions and events to promote amber; he facilitated liaisons between IAA members, actively participated in conferences and trade shows, promoted amber and published amber-related features in industry and consumer media, and much more. In appreciation of his contributions, the Award Committee conferred the title of the Amber Personality of the Year 2019 by a majority vote in the first round of voting. This unusual circumstance proves the strength of the candidate who garnered the votes.
www.balticjewellerynews.com
39 –2020
The
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
For more than twenty years, the International Amber Association (IAA) has been awarding the Amber Personality of the Year title to honour special achievements, artistic creativity, scientific research, making amber research known worldwide, etc. This year, the nominees were: Dr hab. Aniela Matuszewska, Aleksander Gliwiński and Michał Kosior. By the decision of the Award Committee, Michał Kosior became the Amber Personality of the Year 2019.
p. 87
PERSONALITY / POLISH JEWELLERY REPORT
MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide Price for
Raw Amber August 2020
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
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p. 88
AMBER FROM RUSSIA No.
Regular Amber Piece Size
1
/+4 - 8 fraction
Price / 1 kg – EUR 4
2
/+8 - 11.5 fraction
11
3
/+11.5 fraction
35
4
/+14 fraction
65
5
/+16 fraction
130
6
2 gr. - 5 gr.
130
7
5 gr. - 10 gr.
260
8
10 gr. - 20 gr.
700
9
20 gr. -50 gr.
1050
10
50 gr. - 100 gr.
2100
11
100 gr. - 200 gr.
2350
12
200 gr. - 300 gr.
2600
13
300 gr. - 500 gr.
2800
AMBER FROM RUSSIA
FRACTIONS 20-50 GR. RAW AMBER PRICE CHANGE 2006 FEBRUARY – 2020 AUGUST EUR per kg
4300 3900 3500 3100 2700 2300 1900 1500 1100 700 300
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 06 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08
Amber Trip Raw Trade
trade@ambertrip.com
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MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide Price for
Raw Amber August 2020 AMBER FROM UKRAINE Semi-processed amber (15%)
Price / 1 kg – EUR 50
2
1-2 gr.
90
3
1-2 gr. bead
130
4
2-5 gr.
160
5
5-10 gr. clear
270
6
5-10 gr. matte/semi-matte
360
7
10-20 gr. clear
410
8
10-20 gr. matte/semi-matte
610
9
20-50 gr. clear
910
10
20-50 gr. matte/semi-matte
1110
11
50-100 gr. clear
1205
12
50-100 gr. matte/semi-matte
1410
13
100-200 gr. clear
1510
14
100-200 gr. matte/semi-matte
1810
AMBER FROM UKRAINE Raw amber No.
Regular Amber Piece Size
1
0-1 gr.
Price / 1 kg – EUR
2
1-2 gr.
70
3
2-5 gr.
130
4
5-10 gr. clear
220
5
5-10 gr. matte/semi-matte
300
6
10-20 gr. clear
340
7
10-20 gr. matte/semi-matte
510
8
20-50 gr. clear
765
9
20-50 gr. matte/semi-matte
935
10
50-100 gr. clear
1020
11
50-100 gr. matte/semi-matte
1190
12
100-200 gr. clear
1270
13
100-200 gr. matte/semi-matte
1530
35
Amber Trip Raw Trade
trade@ambertrip.com
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p. 89
0-1 gr.
39 –2020
Regular Amber Piece Size
1
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
No.
MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide
Gold Price
Monthly average 2019–2020
EUR per troy ounce
Data/EUR per troy ounce 31/01/2019
1 131,3
1600
28/02/2019
1 163,5
1550
29/03/2019
1 151,6
1500
30/04/2019
1 145,1
1450
31/05/2019
1 147,8
1400
28/06/2019
1 203,1
31/07/2019
1 260,0
30/08/2019
1 347,2
1350 p. 90
1250
30/09/2019
1 372,9
39 –2020
1150
31/10/2019
1 352,3
1100
29/11/2019
1 330,3
31/12/2019
1 328,7
31/01/2020
1 406,5
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
1300
www.gold.org
28/02/2020
1 464,5
31/03/2020
1 441,3
30/04/2020
1 548,6
29/05/2020
1 573,4
30/06/2020
1 538,5
1200
2019 2020 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 02 03 04 05 06
www.balticjewellerynews.com
MARKET REVIEW / WORLDWIDE JEWELLERY REPORT
The Worldwide Price for
Amber Silver 925 Jewellery August 2020
AMBER SILVER 925 JEWELLERY PRICE CHANGE AUGUST 2010 – AUGUST 2020 Eur / gr.
Amber Silver 925 Jewellery
Price EUR / gr.
Handmade
2,05
Machine made
1,58
3 2
Handmade
39 –2020
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 08 03 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08 03 08
Machine made
Data
EUR / OZ
SILVER PRICE CHANGE JANUARY 2019 – JULY 2020
01/01/2019
13,96
01/02/2019
13,51
Eur / ounce
01/03/2019
13
21
01/04/2019
12,81
20 19
01/05/2019
12,44
18 17
01/06/2019
13,07
01/07/2019
13,99
01/08/2019
15,3
15
01/09/2019
14,48
14
01/10/2019
15,28
13
01/11/2019
14,45
12
01/12/2019
15,23
11
01/01/2020
15,26
10
01/02/2020
13,9
16
2019 2020 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
www.silverprice.org
Amber Trip Raw Trade
trade@ambertrip.com
www.balticjewellerynews.com
01/03/2020
11,99
01/04/2020
12,75
01/05/2020
15,77
01/06/2020
15,79
01/07/2020
20,54
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
0
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1
Oct. 30th—Nov. 1st 2020 Munich Trade Fair Center Europe‘s top show for jewellery & gemstones
be part of gemworldmunich.com
M A JOR J E W E L L E R Y T R A DE FA I R S /
MAJOR JEWELLERY TRADE FAIRS August 2020 – March 2021
49th MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show Date: 29th September - 3rd October, 2020 Location: Expo Centre Sharjah, United Arab Emirates www.mideastjewellery.com info@expo-centre.ae
Intergem Date: 2-5 October, 2020 Location: Messe Idar-Oberstein, IdarOberstein, Germany www.intergem.de office@intergem.de 50th Istanbul Jewelry Show October Date: 8-11 October, 2020 Location: CNR Expo, Istanbul Fair Center, Turkey october.istanbuljewelryshow.com visit-ijs@ubm.com
Japan Jewellery Fair (JJF) Date: 14-16 October, 2020 Location: Tokyo big Sight Exhibition Center, Japan www.japanjewelleryfair.com info@japanjewelleryfair.com
International Jewelry & Watch Show Abu Dhabi (JWS) Date: 24-28 October, 2020 Location: ADNEC, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates www.jws.ae info@jws.ae
Watches and Jewels Date: 10-12 September, 2020 Location: PVA Expo Praha, Prague, Czech Republic www.hodinyaklenoty.cz rakusan@abf.cz
Gemworld Munich Date: 30 October – 1st November, 2020 Location: Munich Trade Fair Center, Munich Germany www.gemworldmunich.com besucherservice@munichshow.com
Shenzhen International Jewelry Fair Date: 10-14 September, 2020 Location: Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, China www.newayfairs.com info@newayfairs.com
Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong Date: 9-13 November, 2020 (original dates 13-19 September, 2020) Location: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, China exhibitions.jewellerynet.com salesjgf@informa.com
Vicenzaoro September Date: 12-14 September, 2020 Location: Fiera Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy www.vicenzaoro.com sales@vicenzaoro.com International Jewellery London Date: 13-15 September, 2020 Location: Olympia, London, United Kingdom www.jewellerylondon.com ijlteam@reedexpo.co.uk
VOD DUBAI Date: will be announced Location: Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.jewelleryshow.com nadeera.jayaratne@dwtc.com GeMin Date: Canceled www.gemin.eu info@gemin.eu
MadridYoya Date: 17-20 September, 2020 Location: Ifema, Feria de Madrid, Madrid, Spain www.ifema.es/en/madrid-joya madridjoya@ifema.es
Jewellery Expo Ukraine Date: 3-6 December, 2020 Location: International Exhibition Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine www.jewelleryexpo.kiev.ua info@kmkya.kiev.ua
JUNWEX Moscow Date: 23-27 September, 2020 Location: VDNH, Pavilion No 75, Moscow, Russia www.junwex.com overseas@junwex.com
Mineralien Hamburg Date: 4-6 December, 2020 Location: Hamburg Messe and Congress Center, Hamburg, Germany www.mineralien-hamburg.de silke.eidam@hamburg-messe.de
www.balticjewellerynews.com
JOGS Tucson Gem And Jewelry Show Date: 27 January – 8 February, 2021 Location: Tucson Expo Center, Tuscon, Arizona, USA jogsshow.com info@jogsshow.com JUNWEX Petersburg Date: 3-7 February, 2021 Location: Expoforum, Saint Petersburg, Russia www.junwex.com overseas@junwex.com Jewellery & Watch and Fashion Date: 7-11 February, 2021 Location: NEC Birmingham, B40 1NT, UK www.jewelleryandwatchbirmingham.com Inhorgenta Munich Date: 19-22 February, 2021 Location: Messe Munchen. Munich, Germany www.inhorgenta.com info@inhorgenta.de Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair Date: 23-27 February, 2021 (original dates 7-11 September, 2020) Location: Impact Exhibition and Convention Center, Bankgkok, Thailand www.bkkgems.com bkkgems@ditp.go.th Hong Kong International Jewellery Show Date: 3-7 March, 2021 Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre event.hktdc.com/fair/hkjewellery-en exhibitions@hktdc.org XVII International Baltic Jewellery Show Amber Trip Date: 10-13 March, 2021 Location: LITEXPO, Vilnius, Lithuania www.ambertrip.com info@ambertrip.com 28th Amberif, International Fair of Amber, Jewellery & Gemstones Date: 17-20 March, 2021 Location: AMBEREXPO Exhibition & Convention Centre, Gdansk, Poland www.amberif.amberexpo.pl amberif@mtgsa.com.pl
■ Moved
■ Canceled
p. 93
Palakiss Spring Date: 5-9 September, 2020 (original dates: 9-11 May, 2020) Location: Palakiss, Vicenza, Italy www.palakiss.com info@palakiss.com
GoldExpo Date: 1-3 October, 2020 Location: WARSZAWSKIE CENTRUM EXPO XXI 12/14 Prądzyńskiego Str 01-222 Warsaw www.tjexpo.pl targi@tjexpo.pl
Vicenzaoro January Date: 22-27 January, 2021 Location: Fiera Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy www.vicenzaoro.com sales@vicenzaoro.com
39 –2020
JOGS Tucson Gem And Jewelry Show Date: 3-6 September, 2020 Location: Tucson Expo Center, Tuscon, Arizona, USA jogsshow.com info@jogsshow.com
49th MidEast Watch & Jewellery Show Date: 29th September -3rd October, 2020 Location: Expo Centre Sharjah, United Arab Emirates www.mideastjewellery.com info@expo-centre.ae
B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
27th Amberif, International Fair of Amber, Jewellery & Gemstones Date: 26-29 August, 2020 (original dates 1821 March, 2020, combined with Ambermart) Location: AMBEREXPO Exhibition & Convention Centre, Gdansk, Poland www.amberif.amberexpo.pl amberif@mtgsa.com.pl
Combination Ring Information: 10 mm
Stainless Steel
4 mm
2 mm
Aluminum Copper Aluminum
4 mm
Stainless Steel
“
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VILNIUS MARCH, 202 1 P i
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Contact us for more information:
+370 618 53538 info@ambertrip.com www.ambertrip.com