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Antwerp
By Marc Goldstein
The tone was clear from the moment one entered the Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair (ADTF) premises. On the right side was the bright, well-lit atmosphere of the main hall of the Antwerp Diamond Bourse and on the left side were the darker, elegant and more intimate booths of the Antwerp Diamond Club. There was a strong sense of “whatever you need, you will find here.” The fair, held January 27 to 29 and now in its fourth year, is gradually becoming a required stop for the global diamond industry. More than 500 visitors attended and 83 exhibitors participated.
Exhibitors have many reasons to be pleased, explained Raphaël Haberkorn of Haberkorn and Sons. “We have decided to use the ADTF to increase our penetration of the European market with our Hand of Fatima Hamsa Diamond because the fair is becoming a significant gate to the European market,” he said. “This is so true that we decided after the 2012 fair in Antwerp to stop going to the Basel Fair and to focus all our efforts here. The money we used to put into the Swiss show was far less profitable than our investment here. On average, we acquired fewer clients during seven days in Basel than in three days in Antwerp — and Antwerp was less than one-third of the cost.” Nirav Shah of Beauty Gems BVBA confirmed that “the market at the fair is okay. Sales started picking up rather quickly, while prices remained strong. We closed deals on lots of pointers in VS to SI quality. All in all, the show was profitable for us this year, much more than in 2012.” Axel Beck of Beck Diamonds said, “The traffic on the first day was of very high quality. There were people from all over the world,” adding that it shouldn’t be a surprise since “it’s our belief that Antwerp is the natural gate to Europe.”
Arnon Meizels, chief executive officer (CEO) of Perrier Prestige in Paris, suggested that the show should be reorganized to take advantage of its potential for growth. “Even if the fair has made a good start, it isn’t prestigious enough for Antwerp. They should organize a magnificent gala diner at the bourse, and move the booths elsewhere to increase the number of participants to be able to compete with shows such as Hong Kong.” On the other hand, one of the most appreciated features of the ADTF cited by the visitors was precisely its intimacy and the fact that it is not such a large-scale show that visitors become nothing more than numbers. This feeling was strongly supported by Lisa Wong of Tivoli Jewelry House in California. “This is our first time here,” Wong said. “Actually, we consider ourselves lucky that we can meet up with vendors who traditionally don’t go to Hong Kong and JCK. Prices are very competitive, and more important, the show is very intimate. You get to sit down and talk to people. You can take your time to find what you’re looking for instead of rushing from one pavilion to the other, as in the huge shows.” Elichai Fowler of Elichai Fine Jewelry in Montana remarked, “As far as I’m concerned, this is the place to be if you’re looking for stones above 3 carats. You can come here with a specific order and choose from 30 stones the one that will best match your client’s request, which is something you can’t do easily in many places. And even if the prices aren’t appreciably lower, at least you’re certain you served your client well, protecting your reputation and increasing future business opportunities.”
Buyers’ purposes in coming to Antwerp were varied. “I’m definitely coming back,” said Wong. “On day one, we visited the bourse, and on day two, the club. We’re here for inventory replenishing and not to fulfill specific orders from our clients. Our interest this time was in colored diamonds. Having said that, now that we’ve been around here, we will consider coming to ADTF in addition to the other major shows we’re used to attending. If I was to summarize the advantage the show has for us, it’s the fact that people are spending real time with us in order to understand our needs, which enables us to discover the specific strengths of each vendor.” Isi Wendum of Madison Diamonds in Paris concluded that “This show is an excellent initiative. They should have done it a long time ago, which would have enabled them to establish themselves even sooner. I have no doubt that this Antwerp Fair will become as big as Basel for the diamond industry if they want it to.” Whatever adjustments the organizers make, the issue of size will be at the heart of any discussions that lead to the next development stage of the ADTF. Becoming big is certainly attractive, and being considered a potential competitor with the Basel Fair is certainly reassuring. But the attendees and exhibitors at the fairs in Antwerp seem to appreciate the human size of the show. To become big or not will definitely be the question.Article from the Rapaport Magazine - March 2013. To subscribe click here.
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