Expanded IIJS Signature Gets Under Way In Mumbai

(IDEX Online News) - The fourth edition of the IIJS Signature trade show got under way Friday in the Mumbai suburb of Goregaon, with 400 exhibitors in 800 booths. Traffic was slow on the first day of the show in Hall 1, which houses most of the jewelry firms, but the international pavilion saw some buyer traffic and engagement in the loose-diamond booths.

The show, a much smaller, niche variant of the huge IIJS show that takes place annually in August, had its first three runs in the resort state of Goa, as it had originally been targeted at high-end buyers from the US, Europe and other consuming markets.

With the economic crisis and the fading of demand from the global markets, however, the show has now been retargeted at the booming high-end domestic Indian jewelry retail industry. This has prodded the move of the show to Mumbai, India’s jewelry production hub, along with a doubling in size from the original 200 or so exhibitors.

The retargeting of the show at the Indian market has resulted in a surge of interest from overseas loose diamond suppliers, particularly from Antwerp and Israel. Therefore an international section that features pavilions from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) were added. Official delegations from the UK, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Libya and Vietnam are also attending the show.

Given that the show precedes the Indian gold-buying festival of Akshaya Trithaya, a great deal of plain-gold jewelry, with electroformed designs that generate a large look while reducing gold content, is on display.