The International Jewellery & Watch Show (JWS), held last week in Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, registered a 28 percent increase in visitor turn-out over last year’s show.
JWS, organised by Reed Exhibitions Middle East, took place 22 – 26 October at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The show was inaugurated by H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade. 101 exhibitors from 15 countries participated in the newly branded event. Some of the finest jewellery and watch collections from Brazil, India, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Lebanon, KSA and Thailand were showcased at the event.
“Despite the current situation affecting global economies, we are pleased to say that JWS 2008 had a very successful run. Ticket sales this year reached 7155 registering a growth of more than 28 percent over last year’s edition,” according to Ara Fernezian, Group Exhibition Director, Reed Exhibitions Middle East.
“The patronage of HH Sheikha Fatima contributed greatly to the success of JWS. The presence of several VVIPs & VIPs at the show was much appreciated by our exhibitors and despite the current market environment, our exhibitors managed to record satisfactory sales at the show. The availability of a free facility for diamond testing and grading at the JWS venue, provided by International Diamond Laboratories® (IDL), was very well appreciated by visitors”, said Fernezian.
“We have already received confirmation from several key JWS exhibitors, of their participation in the 2009 edition. This is very encouraging and gives us the impetus to develop this event further. We also intend working closely with IDL to develop seminars and workshops for the next edition,” he noted.
According to Rafif Tarabishi, General Manager of Al Masaood Jewellery, Reed’s involvement with JWS this year led to a more professional show. “Clearly Reed have brought their global expertise to bear in the organization of the show. Al Masaood is pleased with our participation at JWS 2008. We sold a number of pieces of jewellery and we look forward to being back at JWS next year as well”.
Salem Al Shueibi, Chairman of Salem Al Shueibi jewellers which had the largest exhibitor presence at the show with a 650 square metre stand said: “Despite global conditions we are very bullish about the jewellery market and are pleased that the doubling of our stand size at this year’s JWS brought a good return on investments for us thanks to the quality of visitors who attended the show.”
Clarissa Maciel, a spokesperson for the Brazilian pavilion at JWS said: “Brazil had the largest national pavilion at the show and visitors had a wide range of exquisite pieces of jewellery to choose from. We have received encouraging feedback from members of the Brazilian pavilion and are happy with our participation at JWS 2008”.
Visitors to the show were appreciative of the fact that jewellery and watch collections from all over the world were available at a single location at JWS. “This made our shopping here a more fruitful experience as we had the opportunity to see jewellery collections from locations as far a field as Brazil on the one hand and China and Hong Kong on the other”, said Mariam AbdulKareem, a visitor to the show.
Jeff Stoner, an American businessman who visited JWS said: “The collections at the show were quite superb and I am very happy to have had the chance to purchase a gift with an authentic Arabic touch for my wife and daughter back home in the States”.
JWS featured some of the world’s high-end jewellers and watch retailers including Euro Pearls – UK, VANCOX – Brazil, Lazo Diamond Jewellery & Manufacturing S/B-Malaysia, PT Pelita-Indonesia, Diagems Exports-India, Taka Jewellery-Singapore, Sekikazu Corp Jewellery- Japan, Dew Carat – Hong Kong and IMVIDIA & Fabio Fanfani -Italy.
Leading jewellers from the UAE at the show included Damas, Mohammed Rasool Khoory & Sons, Samra Jewellery Co. LLC, Dhamani Jewels, Amwaj Jewellery, Al Anwaar Golden Jewellery, Jovial Watches, Salem Al Shueibi jewellers, Al Masaood Jewellery, Shattaf Jewellers LLC and Al Nahar.
The next edition of JWS will be held 14 to 18 October 2009.
