The VICENZAORO January 2018 show drew to a close yesterday with the organisers, Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) – a company born from the integration between Rimini Fiera and Vicenza Fair, reporting over 36,000 visitors from 130 countries, a rise of 10% year-on-year. The first show of the jewellery trade fair calendar in the year, VicenzaOro January featured more than 1,500 brands, with about 40% representing 35 jewellery manufacturing countries other than Italy. Most exhibitors were satisfied at the huge turnout, the organisers said.

The VICENZAORO January 2018 had “Future” as its central theme and the opening event, VISIO.NEXT Summit®, offered a real glimpse into the world of luxury and jewellery with a focus on brand enhancement, new distribution channels and the role of the next-generation consumer.

VicenzaOro January has emerged as an important showcase for companies to unveil a preview of their new collections for the year. It also is an "official" celebration of sorts, where the Andrea Palladio International Jewellery Awards are distributed.

In a statement, the IEG said the brisk traffic over the past few days of the show seems to indicate a recovery in market sentiment in Italy after two subdued years, while also confirming the show’s standing as the 2nd most important jewellery show in Europe.

Significantly, there was a 10% rise in the number of visitors from Italy, while the figures for other countries reveal an across the board increase with the number of visitors from Japan rising by +31%, China by +29%, USA by +24%, Germany by +22% and Russia by +15%.

The show was supported by the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE – Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico) and ITA -Italian Trade Agency, and together they added 500 hosted buyers from the main markets to the over 1,500 invitees managed directly by IEG.

An additional attraction was T.GOLD, the world exhibition dedicated to different technologies for processing of jewellery. The number of visitors was up by 16% as the show is emerging as the hub of innovation, displaying the latest processes and products being introduced into manufacturing each year.

The next edition of T.GOLD International + METS will take place March 1-5, 2018 in Hong Kong while VicenzaOro September 2018 will be held in Italy from September 22-26, 2018.