Brassem Global Consulting

Now that you are, (or should be) comfortable with buying (sourcing) from overseas, it’s time to get your passport and hop on a plane to Hong Kong.

While Hong Kong is a wonderful and vital city, it also is the unofficial jewelry center of Asia.

Most countries with a jewelry manufacturing standing have cities with annual jewelry fairs, shows, or exhibitions: Bangkok, Istanbul, Shanghai, and so on.

The Hong Kong International Jewelry Show is no exception. Thanks in part to the beautiful, bird-shaped exhibition center, the Hong Kong show has grown to be the largest jewelry in the world, according to its organizers. The extravaganza gets bigger and better every year.

The range of designs, the diversity of the visitors, and the size of the building in which the show takes place, however, can be intimidating.

The more than 4,500 exhibitors are arranged by global regions: Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, South America, and so on. You’ll know you are in the right place when you bump into a buyer from a big jewelry chain, one from a TV home shopping network, or even your competitor.

“Bali’s designs are exclusive to the island, which specializes in silver and gold mesh looks.”

After you have selected and purchased the merchandise you need for the season, start taking notes on what global region appeals to you—and your customer—and will be hard to replicate by your competitor. Once you have picked a particular country, make a point to go there the next time you’re on a buying trip. A few highlights include:

• Bali, Indonesia: Designs are exclusive to the island, which specializes in silver and gold mesh looks. There are also manufacturers that make miniature stone carvings (i.e. faces and the like) that could become unusual pendants.

• China and Hong Kong: These are the places to go for jewelry with unusual details. They specialize in highly complicated handiwork.

• Bangkok, Thailand: If you’re into Victorian jewelry, this is the place to go, since Thailand was a British possession during Queen Victoria’s reign.

Once you are comfortable with the factories with whom you are working, it could be time to develop alliances. An alliance with a favorite manufacture could lead to special prices, delivery, exclusive designs, and a long list of other benefits. It just depends on creativity.

An established alliance could lead to acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, or any other deal that you, your lawyer, or accountant can devise. There’s nothing like having a formal – or informal — price, delivery, style ‘alliance’ with your favorite factory(s) around the world. They could end up being a partner.

With implementation and foresight, you are now an international company, with the experience and partners to grow globally. You just need imagination and a willingness to become an international ‘player’.

Tags: global sourcing, Hong Kong, jewelry consulting, Silver Jewelry, silver sourcing, Sterling silver

This entry was posted on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 6:52 am and is filed under Silver Jewelry global sourcing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.