The September edition of Vicenzaoro saw vibrant attendance despite a challenging backdrop of record gold prices and US tariffs complicating exports by jewellery suppliers.
Gold hit a new all-time high of $3,587 per ounce after weak US jobs data, just as the five-day show gathering jewellery, diamond and gem exporters and retail buyers, kicked off on 5th September.
The global trade fair in northeast Italy unfolded as suppliers grappled with market uncertainty due to the US tariffs, including a 50% tariff against India, a leading jewellery manufacturing nation where most of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished.
At a seminar hosted by Club degli Orafi Italia, an Italian goldsmithing group, Italian gold jewellery exporters said surging and volatile gold prices, up more than 35% in dollar terms so far in 2025, had eroded overseas demand. Silver and platinum prices are also up sharply this year.
According to the latest official Italian goldsmithing data presented at Vicenzaoro, so-called “Made in Italy” gold jewellery exports in the first five months of 2025, were down 16.8% in value to 5.2 billion euros, and were down 19.4% in volume, year-on-year.
Italy is Europe’s leading exporter of gold jewellery to destinations such as the United States, where a 15% tariff applies to EU-origin goods.
At the show, which takes place in industrial fairgrounds outside Vicenza, and is owned by Italian Exhibition Group, jewellery and gemstone suppliers offered their latest collections across a wide variety of goods and accessories, including gold, silver, diamond and gem-set jewellery, loose stones, and packaging.
In Hall 7, which featured some of the top luxury brands at the show, Yoko London showcased sets of magnificent blue Tahitian cultured pearls; and Faberge presented their new “Colours of Love Cosmic Curve” collection incorporating coloured gemstones.
Retail buyers from the UK’s Nima Jewellers visited the India pavilion, supported by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), at Vicenzaoro, looking to stock laboratory-grown diamond jewellery, for which there are increasing enquiries at their store in Coventry, central England.
Devina Parekh of Nima Jewellers said that she had been impressed by laboratory-grown diamonds featuring 100 and 130 facets which fit very well into engagement rings.
“We have come here to see lots of different design concepts, especially in lab-grown engagement rings and bridal sets – and in natural diamond engagement rings and bridal sets,” she told Solitaire, speaking at the India Pavilion.
TRENDVISION, an independent observatory linked to Vicenzaoro, presented their Trend Book 2027+ at the show, highlighting jewellery design trends in coming years that will be influenced by AI.
Indian inspiration plays a key role in future design directions as young, affluent Indian consumers turn increasingly to their emotions, moving away from a focus on commoditisation, to guide their jewellery purchases, according to Archana Thani, a London-based jewellery curator and consultant, who gave a presentation at the show.
Vicenzaoro is widely known in the global trade as a showcase for the latest jewellery design trends: one standout trend was crosses, seen, for example, at Pesavento.
Crosses may bring to jewellery wearers a feeling of reassurance in an unstable world, jewellers said.
In Hall 3, which offered a wide array of exquisite coloured gemstones, New York-based high end gemstone supplier Royal Touch presented some exceptional tourmalines, including a lagoon tourmaline weighing more than 17 carats, and an extremely rare blue indicolite from Brazil.
The show organisers invited journalists to view a new pavilion, now under construction, which is expected to add roughly 20% capacity to the event when it will be completed in time for the September 2026 edition of Vicenzaoro.
The pavilion is also expected to host the 100th anniversary celebrations and Congress of CIBJO, World Jewellery Confederation, in 2026.