Vicenza Oro winter 2007: Jewellery made in Italy confirms its challenge to world markets

Foreign visitors up by 12% at the première of the year

Today saw the close of Vicenzaoro Winter, Vicenza Fair’s first international jewellery event, which this year debuted under its new name. A very good increase in buyers from 119 countries, overall accounting for 12% more foreign visitors than the January 2006 edition, with a total of 25 thousand specialist operators arriving in Vicenza. These figures confirm the start of an inversion in trends compared to last year, highlighted also by the presence at the Fair of authoritative, leading international purchase groups. Different sources show strong interest that is now oriented not only towards brand products, but also unbranded ones, whose strong points lie in their craftsmanship and quality. A definite feeling therefore of new energy permeating Italian gold and jewellery products, arousing renewed attention in these excellent articles, also in the light of the fact that the Italian gold jewellery system has taken up the challenge represented by world markets. The creation of new collections has in fact highlighted and amplified the tangible values of the gold jewellery product (innovation, design, style) in parallel with investigation into consumer taste and interpretation of differing needs, leading to “made in Italy” being re-proposed as a reference area for improved distribution. Vicenzaoro Winter in this way launched clear positive signals that were also unanimously confirmed by specialist entrepreneurial representative groups in Vicenza (among other things Italy’s leading reference production centre). Valentino Ziche, president of the Vicenza Fair, had this to say: “The results of this event are the fruit of much work by both the Fair and manufacturers. It seems obvious that if we look beyond the attendance figures, which in themselves are already positive, we also see new-found vitality in the Italian jewellery sector, which aims to confirm its leadership worldwide. Naturally the results of this edition must then be evaluated over the coming months”. The sector appears to be considering projects, investments and new resources with renewed faith: a fact also confirmed by results from Oromacchine, the machinery fair. It recorded a high number of visitors to its stands (14 thousand – double last year’s figure), who placed plenty of orders, especially for complete production systems - an obvious sign of a strong desire to invest in innovative technologies. Everyday language now includes words such as “partnership”, “product-system” and “multi-brand”, which go to join the already tried and tested “innovation”, “quality” and “research”. This can all be seen in the very products shown by the 1600 companies (70% Italian) at Vicenzaoro Winter. Innovative collections were presented at the fair, often medium-high bracket as well, with styles and definitions in line with current trends in jewellery fashion, strengthening the blend of technology and fashion. “We see more and more contamination in sectors close to ours, in fact”, stresses the Fair’s General Secretary, Corrado Facco, “without doubt Italian gold and jewellery are capable of taking on a centre-stage role in reinterpretation of the world of luxury, not in the sense of opulence, but as an experience and emotion of values that are strongly felt as tangible. Aesthetics, elegance and style – all oriented towards well-defined consumer targets with customised products. Luxury in this sense becomes an experience.” Important large stones, plenty of colour and big impact, together with the flower style – where roses, daisies and imaginary flowers star on brooches, pendants and rings – were among the most popular motifs by the Italian maisons, using imagination and creativity to re-invent the playfulness of precious accessories. Charm rings, crowded with tiny fun pendants that tinkle in time to movements of the hand, or chains long enough to go around more than once, these too sporting charms with varying degrees of finishes and patterns, in gold or silver, often burnished and with large links, for ornaments that echo the colours of the earth: from bronze to dark grey through to ancient gilt. Finally, another new item at this edition was the do-it-yourself-jewel, offering the possibility to create personal fashion-jewels, inventing and creating pieces that are always new, unique and very, very personal. Mention must also be made of the big return of yellow gold and widespread use of pink gold.