With another all-sold-out event with over 1,300 exhibiting businesses, Vicenzaoro January – The Jewellery Boutique expo, an international gold and jewellery expo presented by the Italian Exhibition Group, begins tomorrow. Until Tuesday 21st, IEG’s Expo Centre in Vicenza, Italy, will welcome the international jewellery community for five days of business, education, information, trends, and networking at the event that kicks off the industry’s global trade show cycle. T.Gold, the leading gold and jewellery technology and machinery event, is currently taking place, while the sixth edition of VO Vintage, the marketplace for excellent vintage timepieces and jewellery, will be accessible to professionals, collectors, and enthusiasts until Monday the 20th. The opening ceremony, which will take place at 12 p.m. in the Palladio Theatre, will focus on the protection of Made in Italy: the design and manufacture that distinguishes the works of the Vicenza, Arezzo, Valenza, and Torre del Greco industrial districts worldwide. THE OPENING CEREMONY
Valentino Valentini, Deputy Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy (Memit), General Bruno Bartoloni, Head of the Financial Police’s Economy and Finance Protection Unit, Matteo Zoppas, President of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), and Claudia Piaserico, representing all national jewellery industry associations, will attend the Vicenzaoro opening ceremony to assess legality in the jewellery sector as an essential component of development. Also present were Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto Region, Andrea Nardin, president of the Province of Vicenza, and Giacomo Possamai, mayor of Vicenza. Maurizio Ermeti, president of the IEG, will open the ceremony.JEWELLERY INDUSTRY REVENUES IN THE FIRST TEN MONTHS: +5.8%.
In the first ten months of 2024, the jewellery industry’s revenues increased by 5.8% (Istat statistics), with exports outperforming the local market (+7.2% versus +3.0%). The majority of firms partially corroborated the following trends based on a questionnaire provided by Confindustria Federorafi’s Study Centre and processed as part of the Mediobanca Study Area report: 39.3% of responding enterprises projected lower preliminary revenues for 2024 than in 2023, 32.8% reported rising values, and 27.9% reported unchanged turnover. In terms of views for 2025, 47.5% foresee a stable turnover compared to 2024, 31.2% expect a decline, and the remaining 21.3% see a positive outlook. VICENZAORO AND INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING
Thanks to the ITA’s support, IEG’s event is welcoming 515 international buyers from 72 countries, with the number of foreign flags expected to increase to around 130 in the following days. A one-of-a-kind platform for the entire global jewellery supply chain, with Turkey, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, and Germany among the most represented countries (40%) of foreign exhibitors, and the very best of the Italian jewellery supply chain, with national gold districts as key players. The expo featured 207 brands from Veneto, with 177 from Vicenza alone; 228 from Tuscany, including 200 from the Arezzo district; 84 from Piedmont, with 72 from Valenza; and 68 from Campania for the Torre del Greco district. The Jewellery Technology Forum, a sub-event on Sunday the 19th, will detail the state of the art of the industry’s most advanced machinery.
BUILDING THE FUTURE
Vicenzaoro is propelling itself into the future: after 70 years of Vicenza gold and jewellery displays, IEG is sculpting the Expo’s new face by laying the groundwork for the new hall designed by Hamburg-based GMP Studio last December, a new home for jewels that will open in early 2026. A trajectory that must ensure skill and knowledge continuity for company employees and management: two aspects of generational turnover that, on its first day, will see Vicenzaoro host a meeting between five hundred high school students and key figures in the gold and jewellery world, thanks to a collaboration between Skuola.net and VIOFF, the off-show organized with the City of Vicenza. It then examines company succession, focusing on Intesa Sanpaolo’s study for Club degli Orafi Italy, which is currently in its sixth edition and will include updated industry data on the economy, overseas markets, and company sentiment.