The Jewellery Show 2012 post show release
The Jewellery Show 2012 saw the industry pull together in a great show of strength, as some of the best brands in the business shared a launch-pad with some of the best UK jewellery designers.
The much publicised inclement weather did little to deter the UK’s leading jewellery buyers from attending the show, which saw 20,000* visitors pass through its doors at The NEC, Birmingham, between February 5 and 9.
97 companies joined The Jewellery Show for the first time in 2012, including Cinderela b, who commented: “We made our debut at The Jewellery Show 2012 and not only was the show a huge success for us in terms of orders, but we were overwhelmed by the support provided by EMAP staff both in the run up to the show, and during. Our ‘Vintage Couture’ range was featured in the catwalk and this encouraged visitors to come and see us. We sold across our jewellery collections from low to high price points and we gained new accounts across the UK and Europe.”
A number of leading brands supported the 2012 show via sponsorship agreements, including: Pandora – sponsor of the show’s central feature, the stunning Pandora Catwalk Café – for which several other exhibitors sponsored scenes, including: Hockley Mint, Royal London, Merii, Blossom, Zarafa and Cornerstone.
Royal London was sponsor of the brand new Time watch section, a welcome addition to The Jewellery Show 2012 that saw suppliers including Bering Time, Storm and B&A Watches joining the exhibition for the first time. Bering Time was also creator of the Bering Time Lounge in Hall 18.
Ti Sento sponsored the hall entrances and all visitor bags, helping to create a beautifully-stylish look for visitors as they arrived, while Hockley Mint – famed for its great customer service – was sponsor of the VIP experience and Golden Ticket promotion. The much-loved Spinning Jewellery was sponsor of the show’s registration desks.
Welsh jewellery giant Clogau Gold helped create a wonderful ambience at the event by bringing royal harpist Claire Jones to the opening day of the show for a special recital given on the Pandora Catwalk Café.
Super-fashionable brand Tresor Paris was sponsor of the new Trend Edit feature. 2012 was the first time that The Jewellery Show created an area dedicated specifically to trends, which provided visitors with a host of inspiring ideas about how to dress shop windows, what stock to buy and what colours to opt for. Three key jewellery trends were depicted within the area, as guided by global trend forecasting service WGSN.
Elsewhere at The Jewellery Show some of the hottest jewellery designers working in the trade today took part in the 2012 Design Quarter, which provided a stunning launch platform for 30 British and international designer-makers.
Returning for a second year was the Houlden Design Quarter Gems area from which The Houlden Group created its designs of excellence collection. The Gems of 2012 are: Rachel Galley, Aradia Nista, Babette Wasserman, Cindy Dennis Mangan, William Cheshire, Leyla Abdollahi, Alexander Davis, Flash Jordan and the 2011 award-winner, SHO Fine Jewellery.
This year’s winner was William Cheshire, who was presented with the coveted Designer of Excellence award during a presentation held on Monday February 6 at the Pandora Catwalk Cafe. Cindy Dennis Mangan was highly commended in this extremely close competition. The Houlden designs of excellence collection will now go on tour appearing in Houlden retail jewellers stores nationwide.
The Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ) presented its own award for Best New Collection at The Jewellery Show on Tuesday February 7, also at the Pandora Catwalk Café. Babette Wasserman was this year’s winner, and her fabulous collection will now be shown at forthcoming CMJ buyers’ meetings.
Aagaard made sure that good causes did not go unsupported at the show by presenting Emma Parry, co-founder of Help for Heroes, with a cheque for £70,000 on Tuesday 7 February raised through UK sales of its From Soldier to Soldier bracelets.
Emma said: “We were honoured that Aagaard chose to support Help for Heroes with their ‘From Soldier to Soldier’ bracelet. It has already been a huge success and helps provide direct, practical support for our wounded guys and girls and their families for life. We would like to thank Aagaard for supporting us and everyone who has bought a bracelet, it’s making a huge difference to our heroes.”
In future, Aagaard will be donating 10 per cent of the RRP of all products in the From Soldier To Soldier range to Help for Heroes.
Supporting grass-roots ethical jewellery production was Weston Beamor, which hosted the new Cornerstone project launched by Paul Spurgeon and South African jeweller Nqobile Nkosi.
The proceeds from Cornerstone, which will be sold in both the UK and South Africa, will be directed towards empowering Nqobile and his expanding team in Soweto and Makapanstad in South Africa to support themselves and others by making and selling jewellery.
The Jewellery Show organiser EMAP Connect also supported the project by sponsoring a ‘Cornerstone’ scene on the Pandora Catwalk Cafe. Three times a day two models showed off some high-fashion Cornerstone designs to specially selected music.
The Jewellery Show London, a new application only trade event to be held on 12-13th June 2012 at Somerset House, was launched at The Jewellery Show and much fun was had at the Jewellery Show London launch party on Monday 6 February.
The next edition of The Jewellery Show will take place on February 3 – 7 at The NEC, Birmingham
*Pending ABC audit
