Amberif 2009 in Gdansk, Poland, is billed as the world's largest amber fair and the leading jewellery jamboree in Central and Eastern Europe. Hong Kong had a promotional booth, joining some 450 exhibitors to present designs before 8,000 visitors from 38 countries and territories.
Organised by the HKTDC, the territory's presentations were aimed at promoting the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show held annually in March, but there were added advantages.
A representative from Belgium's Schuman Gold (who was at Amberif this time) visited the Hong Kong fair for the first time last month and said he had purchased plenty of products. The company expects to bypass both Turkish and Italian fairs in favour of Hong Kong in the foreseeable future.
Zbigniew Strzelczyk, President of the Polish Commercial Chamber of Amber is also considering the possibility of closer co-operation between Polish and Hong Kong or Chinese mainland companies.
This year's edition had exhibitors from the UK, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Germany, Slovakia, the US and Italy. A separate exhibition area was dedicated to companies from Turkey.
Besides an exhibition dedicated to gold, there was an Amber Hall aimed at silver and amber jewellery, with interest from wholesalers and retailers, as well as specialty shops, galleries and museums.
Amber is seeing a revival in the international jewellery community due to its durability, exotic looks and relatively low price as a wholesale commodity.
