Vicenzaoro Highlights, January 2024: The Power of Encounters
Inform and train. In addition to the show’s undisputed amplitude guaranteed by more than 1,300 exhibiting companies, Vicenzaoro January offers its audience a varied schedule of events and talks on the entire supply chain’s main issues
Intense days here at Vicenzaoro, as could be seen from the crowd of visitors on the very first day in the forecourt and at the entrance turnstiles, a glimpse of which gave an immediate snapshot of the situation: a melting pot of more than 1,300 companies from 37 foreign countries, plus more than 500 buyers hosted by IEG Italian Exhibition Group and ITA – Italian Trade Agency, and visitors from all other the world. Well, if the exhibition offer is rich and varied enough to satisfy every kind of request, the edutainment program also covers all aspects of the supply chain with a calendar featuring dozens of talks and events, which culminated between Saturday and today. Starting from the first rung of the supply chain, i.e., mining and production, the twelve speakers who participated in yesterday’s Jewellery Technology Forum, entitled “Exploring progress in Jewelry technology”, reported on technological innovations and related topics. Metallurgy, electroplating, mining and production process sustainability, 3D printing, design and gemology: nothing was overlooked by the experts from some of the world's most important research centers as well as cutting- edge industrial companies, including Legor Group, which has been IEG's partner in organizing the JTF for over 40 years. Sustainability was also one of the mainstream topics in the seven meetings included in CIBJO's Jewellery Industry Voices, which, between Saturday and Sunday, called the Vicenzaoro audience’s attention to issues that have become focal points in the gold and jewelry industry, such as technology and innovation in responsible sourcing, collaborative initiatives and the principles of women's empowerment, the advantages and risks of using social media that have become primary vehicles for jewelry marketing, responsible supply chains and the role of big data in understanding the diamond market and in decision-making. Numerous talks were also organized as part of VO Vintage - IEG's B2C format, now at its fifth edition with a 22% increase in exhibitors - that reviewed trends and issues in the complex world of vintage jewelry and watches. Thanks to the presence of the market's top dealers, experts, influencers and sector entrepreneurs, the risks of those who want to purely collect and how to look for the real deal in an increasingly articulated market were discussed. Vicenzaoro has always been the place where technological research and style meet, not only in the exhibition halls but also, and above all, on the stage of Trendvision Jewellery + Forecasting - IEG's independent Observatory. The event, moderated as usual by Paola De Luca, focused on the values of Made in Italy for the next generations, a topic discussed with special guests such as the well-known fashion and costume journalist, Mariella Milani. «There is no future without the past and if the future is artificial intelligence, we will have to be able to turn a new technology into an opportunity. Just 70 years ago, Fulvia Colombo announced the birth of Italian TV; today, communication is a database of platforms that transmit images and messages that are often difficult to decode in order to understand the times we live in, made up of wars, climate crises. Thinking about tomorrow, we should be more aware of the excellence we have been able to create, thanks to our enormous desire to get things done, in order to be able to defend the prestige we have so painstakingly won,» declared Milani, who has always been devoted to telling the truth in all its subtleties, even the most unpleasant… «The outlines of the future before us are uncertain and difficult to decode, everything can be misrepresented. Today’s world of communication demands a fair, authentic and transparent report. It's time to focus on the extraordinary values of Made in Italy, which is the oil of this country, even if sometimes we have not been able to drill into the wells. If we are able to systematize, collaborate, create real networks, then we can pass it on to the future.» For those who would like to make a post-event recall, all events are published and already available on IEG’s The Jewellery Golden Cloud platform (community. thejewellerygoldencloud.net/c/the-jewellery- golden-cloud).
