Third Day at India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) 2005

16th July 2005 - Day 3: The third day on, many stallholders had their own reservations on the management and the organizers. But they were happy with the response to the show in spite of high entry rates. Compared with last year which saw every category of buyers visiting IIJS, this year there has been a selected category of visitors. Besides diamonds there have been international buyers from Saudi Arabia making gold deals.

In a press brief, Chairman Bakul Mehta, revealed that there have been delegates from Hungary, Poland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia who have been briefed about the Indian industry. "This is a good beginning," he said. Talking about the Italian delegation, he said it is high time "we obtained the technological knowhow" from Italy to match their design and jewellery. "As of now we have succeeded in getting one company, Italandi, to bring in their mounting from Italy and manufacture jewellery in India," he explained. The end target, according to Bakulbhai is to get the Italian companies to manufacture mounting also in India.

The IIJS 2005 has been a perfect place for many to launch their jewellery collections. Further, Bollywood stars endorsing jewellery lines visited the respective stalls. Prominent among them is Nightingale voice of India Lata Mangeshkar, the designer of Swaranjali, the signature line endorsed by Adora.

Karishma Kapoor made her presence felt as she visited the Eros Jewellery stall. Other personalities who visited the stall were Simi Gerewal at the Jewelex stall and Hema Malini and daughter Esha Deol at the Hammer Plus stall.

Pressing woes IIJS 2005, the most happening in the gem and jewellery industry, has left the press looking for information which they are ill-informed about. The press is unaware of the many events taking place at IIJS. Even at the press lounge the computers are lying idle with severe voltage problem. No one is there at the press booth to give them information about the various events either. Rain at Stall no. AL47 It was raining on Friday night no doubt but it was raining at this stall yesterday morning! The ceiling was leaking as the water had collected in the false ceiling causing much damage at the stall. Its bad K.L Tambi, manufacturers of Tanzanite, is not participating at IIJS 2005. Rupesh Tambi visited the show on the second day was very upset. Commenting on the arrangement he regretted the facilities provided to the stallholders and the general cooling system which is very poor. He also disagreed with the high entry fee slapped on the visitors which is more discouraging than encouraging the inflow of crowd to the show. Cooling woes Nirav Bhansali of Classic Diamonds had a bag of woes to share. Visibly upset with the setting he complained about the arrangements and entry fees. His main complaint was about the air conditioning system. "There have been enquiries," said Nirav.

Indifferent attitude Abhay Godha of Eros Jewellery said that he was very upset with the working style of the organizers which is similar to a typical government organization. They have a very indifferent attitude. "To the extent even the floors have not been taken care of. Everything is sub-graded. The floor is uneven in spite of the carpet," said Abhay Godha. "In spite of complaining, the AC is not working properly. The Councils attitude towards the glittering jewellery traders should be one of welcome rather than indifference." Need for convention center Ajay Kala of Sara Jewel sees the positive side of the show. "The show is good. It has improved with time. Business is also improving. It represents contemporary jewellery show in line with international shows. Nevertheless it can be improved in comparison to international shows. IIJS is lagging behind in infrastructure, including cooling. City like Mumbai needs a convention center for IIJS. The GJEPC must look into this. Customers will think twice Mahesh R. Datroja, Managing Director of Ratnakala Exports, is participating for the first time in the IIJS. "We have participated in many shows abroad especially Bangkok. There is a lot of difference there and here. The management is very poor. We have no AC, no water, no other amenities…," regretted Mahesh. "We pay so much money for the stall and we get nothing in return," he added. Will you participate at the show next year? "Yes, of course. We have many visitors and are doing good business. We deal in loose diamonds and are getting visitors from New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune… all over India and abroad. The public is good. No doubt we will come back next year but the custom