Photographs from IJL are available to download from the IJL Dropbox folder
IJL 2019 will return to Olympia from 1-3 September 2019
11 September 2018: IJL, the UK’s Leading Jewellery Trade Event, finished on Tuesday 4 September after a bustling three days which welcomed the biggest names in jewellery design, manufacture, gem sales and supply to London.
The highlights from the three day Show included the opening of the Spotlight on Birmingham by The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Yvonne Mosquito, top designers Q&A as part of Goldsmiths Uniquely UK showcase including Theo Fennell, Stephen Webster and Ute Decker, the first IJL Blog Awards and the ever popular Retail Experience Awards and Gem Empathy award during the Show.
Fotoulla Michael, Head of Sales at IJL said:
“Overall, we have had a pleasing response from exhibitors and visitors to IJL 2018. It felt lively and bustling, with an apparent appetite to buy and it was wonderful to welcome a host of well-known jewellery designers including Theo Fennell, Stephen Webster, Ute Decker, Bobby White, Kiki McDonagh and Dinny Hall to name but a few. Top UK and International manufacturers were very much in evidence and we greatly enjoyed shining a spotlight on the fantastic past, present and future of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. We look forward to building on the show’s successes, and to creating another must-attend IJL 2019 that continues to develop to meet our exhibitor and visitors’ needs.”
International Jewellery London – Sunday 2 September, Day 1 highlights
- The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Yvonne Mosquito, opened the Spotlight on Birmingham at IJL, in association with Birmingham School of Jewellery. She announced that IJL will be launching a £1500 bursary with Birmingham School of Jewellery for three years, for one student per year, called “IJL Birmingham School of Jewellery Graduate Next Steps”
- Euromonitor International, a market research provider, has revealed that India is set to overtake the US as the second biggest fine jewellery market in the world by the end of 2018. They announced that the Indian fine jewellery market will be worth USD $62.8bn, $4billion more than US retailspend which will reach $58.6bn, by the end of The UK market for fine jewellery is 8th biggest international market with a retail value of USD $4.46bn at the end of 2017 and predicted to rise to £4.6bn by the end of the year.
- The winners of International Jewellery (IJL)’s first ever Blog Awards were announced. Jewellery specialist Katerina Perez was crowned UK Social Influencer of the Year and Danielle Miele of Gem Gossip (USA) won Social Influencer Based Outside of the UK.
- Rosie Fortescue, jewellery designer and former Made in Chelsea cast member, attended IJL today.
- Cara Jewellers – Dubai welcomed the newly-crowned Miss Universe Great Britain – Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers to IJL. Dee-Ann spoke about her humanitarian visits to South Africa and India helping email causes through the A-Sisterhood charity before modelling the latest jewellery collection of Cara Jewellers at the Catwalk Theatre.
- Karolina Zlotkovska, Beauty and Fashion Analyst, spoke about the trends that are impacting the jewellery market around the world, discussing Western Europe and the UK where foreign spend on luxury jewellery has become equally important as domestic for driving sales.
- Warren Knight, a digital marketing expert, demystified how online customers “think” and why every business owner, entrepreneur and sales & marketing managers in the jewellery industry must start to integrate their sales and marketing strategy into their digital marketing plan as digital leaders.
- The William Agency founder and director, Sarah Jordan, shared her insights on digital marketing on social media and the power content has to shape jewellery companies into powerful and authentic presences in a crowded marketplace.
- The Brightest Bulb Team created an IJL themed professional video from scratch on a smart phone in front of an audience in under 30 minutes to demonstrate how easy it can be to create professional looking content and how powerful employee generated video is for businesses today.
- Harriet Kelsall of ‘Harriet Kessall Bespoke Jewellery’ spoke about her journey from creating jewellery at her kitchen table in 1998 to growing her company that is now internationally celebrated, with many national awards to its name for design, business, ethics and retail. She shared tips that she has learnt from her own journey!
International Jewellery London 2018: Day 2 Highlights, Monday 3 September
Day two of International Jewellery London (IJL) saw a celebration of some of the best British designers at the Uniquely UK showcase, the winners of the Editors’ Choice Awards and the Retail Experience Award announced and more.
Highlights included:
- Some of the best British designers were on display at the inaugural Uniquely UK showcase. 13 leading British designers brought inspiring examples of their signature work after an expert team at Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council carefully selected the thirteen designers as part of the campaign to highlight the amazing skills of UK silversmiths, goldsmiths, jewellery designers and industry professionals. The designers showcased were: Ute Decker, Tomasz Donocik, David Fowkes, Theo Fennell, Gill Galloway-Whitehead, Sarah Herriot, Ornella Iannuzzi, Andrew Lamb, Shaun Leane, Tom Rucker, Leo de Vroomen, Stephen Webster and Bobby White.
- The NAJ announced the winner of its Retail Experience Award, in partnership with International Jewellery London, as Bond Jewellery & Diamonds. The Birmingham based retailer was one of four stores that were judged on their ability to create a memorable in-store experience.
- The winners of the Editors’ Choice Awards were announced today. Kickstarter Jewellery designer Aishleen Lester from LeSter won the Editors’ Choice Award for Designer to Watch 2018, Daisy Grice of Daisy Grice Jewellery won Innovator 2018, and the Overall Excellence 2018 was won by Johannes Weege of ManuSchmuck.
- Birmingham-based Chinese designer Fei Liu, and other experts within the Chinese jewellery market, shared their knowledge with exhibitors and discussed how to successfully crack and build successful jewellery brands in the ever-expanding Chinese market. Topics discussed included; demystifying the tax in China on jewellery, the importance for brands and jewellers to harness both online and offline sales, and different ‘revolutions’ in the Chinese jewellery market.
- Cooksongold provided an introduction to the 3D technology that they have been developing in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. The production of innovative jewellery directly from precious metal powders has recently burst onto the manufacturing scene and the team from Cooksongold discussed how the jewellery industry can now adopt the process as part of their supply chain.
- In a thought-provoking and popular seminar, Warren Knight, a Digital Marketing Expert, shared how every business, entrepreneur, sales and marketing manager in the jewellery industry can use technology to help their business grow.
- The British Society of Enamelers (BSOE) launched their 35th anniversary with a drinks reception in the Champagne Bar.
- Jewellery trends analyst Paola De Luca, The Futurist, presented her detailed forecasts of six key jewellery trend themes for Spring/Summer 2019 at The Catwalk Theatre. Her vision includes designs rooted in urban lifestyles, the renaissance of pearls, dark romantic influences, and a blending of Art Deco and 1960s Op Art themes.
- Asha Pitt, Director of Living Content, gave a 45-minute interactive session, providing practical tools to help jewellery retailers to start or improve their Insta-journey to increase sales online.
- Ma’s House, created by freelance fashion and textile graduate Faye Clarke, unveiled its new unique smart labelling system for the blind and visually impaired. This consists of computer chips within clothing labels which, using the app on a mobile phone, give a verbal description of the garments appearance, size and washing instructions. The second part of the labelling system is a quick colour indication label using braille for ease of dressing.
IJL: Day 3 highlights, Tuesday 4 September
International Jewellery London (IJL) concluded with a fantastic day of award celebrations and fruitful discussions about human rights, mental health and sustainability within the jewellery business. Some of the highlights included:
- Ariel Tivon of Tivon Jewellery won The Gem Empathy Award, hosted by Gem-A. The competition gave exhibitors the chance to win a beautiful gemstone by world renowned cutter, John Dyer.
- Last night, the second annual Professional Jeweller Awards took place to honour the achievements of companies and individuals operating in the UK jewellery industry. The full list of winners can be seen further below.
- Human Rights Watch highlighted the human rights issues in the jewellery manufacturing sector, which they covered in their report The Hidden Cost of Jewellery.
- Lianne Piroddi, Assistant Editor for Fashion at Stylus spoke to Editor of Retail Jeweller Ruth Faulkner about the biggest market shifts and cultural development impacting the jewellery industry. Sustainability being a key focus, their discussion delved into how the jewellery industry can adapt and reinvent itself, both in order to reduce its carbon footprint, and to cope with the rising depletion of precious material reserves.
- In a world where we being encouraged to take greater care of our own well-being and mental health, creativity for all has had a resurgence. Jordanne Cliffe of Fine Cell Work, and Andy Howell from the Birmingham School of Jewellery explored how jewellery and needlework can have a positive impact on your mental health, and how the art has been used in prison environments to aid rehabilitation, to instil a sense of self-discipline, and to encourage independence.
- Victoria Gronwald, of Levin Sources, highlighted the extreme work conditions and human risks of artisanal mining and discussed progress and challenges on the journey towards integrating this important sector into global regulated supply chains.
- Sarah Greenway, from Mosami, explored impact innovation in the manufacturing sector. Sarah shared case studies from Her Future Coalition and other social enterprises that are changing lives, showing how positive impact can be made by reimagining the supply chain.
- Simon Forrester from The NAJ, together with Ben Mactaggart from their website partner Senior Internet explored what’s new in the online world, and how you can make simple improvements to your website in 2019, getting the most out of your customers online.
- 2018 is the centenary celebration of women’s suffrage in the UK, and today the jewellery industry celebrated this anniversary in a discussion chaired by Kathryn Bishop of Women’s Jewellery Network. They discussed jewellery as a powerful tool for women in terms of messaging, how jewellery companies have supported women’s movements, and the rise of self-purchasing females.
- Kathryn Bishop later spoke about how new technology constantly gives us the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of our audience and the marketplace. She looked at how we can harness this tool to stay on top of emerging trends and make the most of consumer demand.
Full winners list from last night’s Professional Jeweller Awards:
- Independent Fashion Jewellery Retailer of the Year: David Mellor Jewellers
- Independent Fine Jewellery Retailer of the Year: Jeremy France Jewellers
- Multiple Fashion Jewellery Retailer of the Year: F. Hinds
- Multiple Luxury Jewellery Retailer of the Year: Beaverbrooks
- Branded Jewellery Boutique of the Year: Thomas Sabo
- Designer-Maker Jewellery Boutique of the Year: Alex Monroe
- Omnichannel Jewellery Retailer of the Year: Diamond Heaven
- Most Innovative Customer Events of the Year: Wongs Jeweller
- Best New Store or Store Refurbishment of the Year: Fitzgerald Jewellers
- Fine Jewellery Brand of the Year: Gemex
- Fashion Jewellery Brand of the Year: Swarovski
- Emerging Jewellery Brand of the Year: Astra
- Jewellery Industry Supplier of the Year: Curteis
- Precious Metals and Stones Supplier of the Year: Madestones
- Jewellery Designer of the Year: Satta Matturi
- Young Jewellery Designer of the Year: Natalie Ball of Natalie Perry Jewellery
- ENDS –
For media enquiries please contact Leighanne Murray, Midas PR, Leighanne.murray@midaspr.co.uk / 0207 361 7860