Signature, Mumbai - On a mixed Note!

The show witnessed mixed sentiments, with gold doing better than diamonds.
Signature, Mumbai - On a mixed Note!

The Signature 2014 wrapped up with majority exhibitors articulating contentment at the business they got from the show. Nevertheless, the 7th edition highlighted that the hold back in jewellery business and trade that has hit the Gems and Jewellery industry since last year is not going to fade away soon. First day saw less visitor foot-fall, but it picked up on second and third day eventually, but again the fourth day was a lump. The show can clearly be defined filled with mixed sentiments as although the show was slow as expected by most exhibitors due to the industry situation overall, but they managed to get old clients, genuine enquiries and bulk orders. The show clearly saw a decline of 10 to 15 per cent in footfall as compared to previous year. Many exhibitors and buyers expressed that the timing of the show needs to be improved as the wedding season is almost over which is the peak time for demand of jewellery and also there have been too many regional shows in last three months which have eaten up the appetite of the retailers.

Overall business was slouch in the loose diamonds and gemstone section owing to the sentiments of the retailers that they were not ready to entrust the orders. The jewellery sections were much better as the traffic in the gold jewellery segment witnessed was slightly higher. Inflating prices of gold, increase in the prices of diamonds over the past year and the continuous fall in the rupee were gauged as the reason for this buyer behaviour. From the roughs, Vivek Pandya of Ashi Jewellery expressed, “We were sceptical before the show but, after seeing the response we were at ease. The customers gave us ample time and there was no unnecessary crowd. We encountered more domestic crowd and less international. The exposure is not great as compared to IIJS.” Ghanshyam Dholakia from Hari Krishna Exports said, “We got a good response as potential buyers showed up. We not only saw domestic buyers, but international as well. The response from the Northern region of India has been good, especially the whole jewellery industry from Delhi. Luckily, we got the same kind of response to what we get in IIJS.”

One section that was flocked with retailers from across the India was the plain gold section, which was seen busy with retailers placing orders for gold jewellery. Most exhibitors were satisfied with the amount of gold jewellery operated over the initial three days of the show. Retailers placed good amount of orders of lightweight gold jewellery, despite the prevailing of blurring market conditions. From the gold section, Arun Pahuja from Itan Jewels said, “Even after market being not so good, we did good business here. We are satisfied by the response we got. Better than our expectation! We got just the right clients. We also had delegates from Dubai and USA. So overall, we are happy to be a part of Signature.” As a retailer, Yash Agarwal from Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas said, “Signature proved to be a good opportunity for us. The business has been slow but not bad. Our collection is appreciated and the sale has been good.”

Surely the energy and liveliness was missing at the Signature 2014, the temper was moderate with the strength of Signature clearly gone astray.


Follow DiamondWorld on Instagram: @diamondworldnet
Follow DiamondWorld on Twitter: @diamondworldnet
Follow DiamondWorld on Facebook: @diamondworldnet

logo
Diamond World
www.diamondworld.net