Jewellery Focus November 2018 | Page 12

MONTH IN REVIEW www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk AUCTIONS Timepiece dedicated to historic Polish watchmaker up for auction A timepiece dedicated to watchmaker Franciszek Czapek is up for auction at Fellows Auctioneers in Birmingham on Tuesday 30 October for £4,500 - £5,500. The watch brand is named Warszawianka due to it being a patriotic song in Poland, and there is an inscription on the dial which includes lyrics. The brand was founded by Czapek in the 19th Century, a watchmaker and a veteran of the Polish November Uprising (a rebellion against the Russian Empire), who moved to Switzerland after the fall of the military rebellion and devoted the rest of his life to the art of watchmaking. Michael Jagiela, watch specialist at Fellows Auctioneers, said: “This is one of several extremely rare watches we have up for auction on October 30. The cabochon features a piece of amber - one of the world famous symbols of Poland. Furthermore, the number ‘6’ is red to underline the hour at which the November Uprising started. “There are many unique features which are combined together creating a truly exquisite watch that merges Swiss precision with the Polish soul.” Hallmarking in September fell by 11% to 758,232 items (compared with the previous September) 12 JEWELLERY FOCUS There are many unique features which are combined together creating a truly exquisite watch that merges Swiss precision with the Polish soul Michael Jagiela, watch specialist, Fellows Auctioneers, EVENTS London Diamond Bourse hosts first successful ‘Tender’ event The London Diamond Bourse (LDB) hosted its first-ever ‘Tender’ event in May/June of this year, which the group said was a “huge success”. Attendees were invited by the LDB to view a range of rough diamonds that were presented for a trade sale with closed bids from 29 May – 12 June 2018. The collection included gem quality rough items with one stone of over 100 carats and a variety of high quality rough stones from 8gr to 9ct. There was also a selection of polished diamonds and several parcels of industrial diamonds. This was the very first time that the LDB had hosted such an event, and the group said the results “spoke for themselves”. Paul Kopelman of LDB said: “The Tender was a great success and it is hoped that the LDB will be able to secure more tenders like this in the near future. Our close relationship with the government diamond office also allowed us to apply for the necessary Kimberley Process Certificates for any stones that needed to be exported as well as letters of Attestation proving the goods were legally acquired at a public auction.” 1 2 3 4 5 6 TRADE SHOWS Istanbul Jewellery Show sees 22% rise in visitors The latest edition of the Istanbul Jewellery Show saw a 22% increase in visitor numbers as it welcomed 18,953 visitors from 119 countries. Organised twice a year, in the months of March and October, the Istanbul Jewellery Show is now recognised as one of the top five jewellery exhibitions in the world and is Turkey’s first and only specialised international jewellery exhibition. The 47th edition of the show had over 800 exhibitor booths and for the first time almost half of the attendees were from abroad. Compared to October 2017 exhibition the show demonstrated a 39% increase in the number of foreign visitors and 10% increase in the number of local visitors. 49% of the visitors were from abroad while the remaining 51% were from Turkey. Şermin Cengiz, the founding partner of UBM Rotaforte, which organised the show, said: “We are more than glad to have completed successfully, our exhibition which sets the agenda of all professionals of the sector and the global jewelry industry alike. It is a source of pride for us that, despite being an eight-day exhibition consisting of two four-day parts, Istanbul Jewellery Show helped create around 80% of the jewellery exports of our country. “Aware of the fact that every Istanbul Jewellery Show is a major gateway opening our jewellery industry to the world and makes significant contributions to our national economy, we’ve already started working hard to make even greater achievements with our exhibitions in 2019.” END: THAT’S ALL. YOU ARE NOW UP TO DATE November 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk