MAN ON THE MOVE - Packed visitor turnout at Jewellery Antalya, showcase for Turkish exports

11 Jan 2022

Image credit: David Brough

The exhibition halls at the Jewellery Antalya trade event, a showcase for Turkish precious jewellery exports, were packed from the start as buyers from all over the world including the UK, restocked after the festive season.

Stands such as Roberto Bravo, which supplies gem-set jewellery, were crammed with buyers, many of them from Russia and CIS countries, throughout the second edition of the buying mission, which ran from January 7-11, coinciding with Christmas in Russia.

The event, organised by Turkey’s Jewellery Exporters’ Association (JTR), was high end, presenting some 65 Turkish manufacturers of gold, silver, diamond and gem-set jewellery, including handcrafted pieces, as well as pearl and mounting companies.

Buyers were also attracted by the convivial setting of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast, with an array of resort facilities on-site to encourage networking.

Visitors were required to take a PCR test before joining the event.

Dinesh Parekh, CEO of Birmingham-based jewellery and diamonds supplier Just Diamonds said,

"The Turkish precious jewellery presented at the show was manufactured to a high quality and can be delivered flexibly in line with customers’ requirements"

He bought fine diamond and gold jewellery at the buying mission which he planned to sell to UK retailers.

Dinesh said, 

“This is my first visit to a Turkish trade event. I was impressed by the quality of the jewellery, much of which is handcrafted, and by the adaptability of manufacturers to meet UK customers’ requirements in terms of the carat weight of the gold jewellery,” 

He spoke of the warm welcome by the JTR at the event staged at the Rixos Sungate hotel, a coastal resort.

Dinesh said,

“Buyers have been well looked after here, enabling people to enjoy the sunshine and relax between visits to the show to order goods.

“I have seen strong order flow, indicating a buoyant festive season in many countries and an eagerness to restock now, early in the new year. We are getting the same feedback from our UK-based customers.

“For me, I am confident that my orders here will be quickly absorbed by my retail customers in the UK, and I very much look forward to returning to Turkey soon for the next trade event. Just Diamonds scrutinise international shows for their potential to create new trade opportunities, and to bring new designs and products for our UK retail customers. We are really excited to be bringing new exclusive designs of jewellery to our UK-based customers.

“I believe that Turkish jewellery offers a great opportunity to the UK trade due to its consistent high quality.”

Peter Lovatt, Managing Director of UK manufacturers Hanalex, based in Stoke-on-Trent, said he had been impressed by the variety of cutting-edge designs at the show.

The high quality of manufacturing and a weaker lira will help drive the ambitions of Turkish jewellers to boost export markets, with a strong focus on the United States.

The United States can become the number one market for Turkish jewellery exports, overtaking the United Arab Emirates, with a strong turnout of manufacturers from Turkey expected at the JIS Spring show in Miami Beach in March.

Mustafa Kamar, Chairman of the JTR, said he believed Turkey could achieve around $10 billion of jewellery exports annually in the next few years, up from around $7 billion now.

High manufacturing standards, coupled with investment in design and stone cutting, will help to fuel ambitions to drive up the value of Turkish jewellery exports, with potential to at least double exports to the United States over the next couple of years, he said. 

The weakening of the lira against the dollar will also strengthen the position of Turkish jewellery exporters, who mainly transact in dollars. Jewellery raw materials such as gold, silver and diamonds are priced in dollars.

The JTR has plans to stage trade events in the UAE, US and Asia, along similar lines to Jewellery Antalya, to promote jewellery exports.

View Jewellery Antalya

Source: David Brough (Jewellery Outlook)