Bling Bling Festival

The annual Hong Kong Jewelry and Gem Fair glitters with color this year, as Gan Tian finds out.

Big, bold and colorful. These are the hottest trends in jewelry this year, if the latest designs at the Hong Kong Jewelry and Gem Fair are any indications. Colored gemstones stand out on jewelry that combines two or more varieties. Some of the more popular gems include ruby, deep pink sapphire and sky-blue topaz.

An example is an opulent necklace glittering at Hong Kong Premier Pavilion, set with a giant Paraiba tourmaline. It is priced at a cool 20 million yuan ($2,974,000).

The crystal-blue Paraiba tourmaline is the most precious colored gem in the world, according to Enzo Jewelry, the designer of the piece.

Customers who are interested cannot buy off the shelf and will need to book in advance. Every piece is unique, because the designs may vary according to the color and quality of the gems used.

Lorenzo Yih, chairman and CEO of Enzo Jewelry's parent company (the Nasdaq-listed Lorenzo Group), says that the demand for gemstones has grown substantially since his company tapped into the mainland market in 2005.

Enzo now produces rings set with green tourmalines, rubellites and tanzanites. They are featured in the label's Diana collection, available in the market this year.

Vicky Chan, sales and marketing director of Enzo, says that while colored gemstones have become more popular, she has noticed an interesting difference within Chinese market.

Beijing clients are more cautious. She once met a customer who hesitated, finally coming back three days later to buy the piece of expensive green tourmaline jewelry. But in Shanghai, the clientele is more decisive. Here the customer will buy immediately, if he likes the piece.

"Shanghai consumers pay more attention to style, but Beijing consumers focus on quality and value," Chan says.

"That is why we opened our first store in Shanghai, although the Beijing market is also growing in recent years."

Chan says the company also noticed that while clients from the West like jewelry pieces set in 9- or 10-karat gold, the Chinese prefer settings made with 18-karat gold.

Yellow and purple stones are more popular in Europe and the Unite d States, while white, red and green are favored by the Chinese market.

According to Chengdu Aikexin, another jewelry-maker targeting the Chinese market, jewelry set with rubies and tourmalines do particularly well. This has attracted many jewelry-makers, including Hong Kong-based Dame Bijoux, which has launched its products in the mainland as far as in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, according to its deputy general manager Alex Poon.

The fair attracted thousands of jewelry dealers, designers and buyers. More than 3,200 jewelry companies from 45 countries and regions flocked to the fair. The one-week event, held at the AsiaWorld-Expo and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, dazzled the thousands of visitors with gemstones, diamonds and pearls.

This year the fair has drawn the most participants since it was launched 28 years ago. It also features the largest-ever Diamond Pavilion, with over 400 exhibitors, according to Jime Essink, president and CEO of the fair's organizer, UBM Asia.