A successful new start after pandemic

Fu Bingbingg

Once postponed to spring， INHORGENTA MUNICH took place from April 8 to 11， 2022 and saw strong and international participation in a challenging time. The watch， jewelry and gemstone industry made intensive use of the platform to drive their business success. The highlight was the presentation of the INHORGENTA AWARD， which recognized exceptional watches， jewelry and a retail concept. After a compulsory break of two years due to the pandemic and the postponement to April， INHORGENTA MUNICH has convincingly reaffirmed its position as Europe’s leading platform for the watch， jewelry and gemstone industry，”explains Klaus Dittrich， Chairman and CEO of Messe Mu？nchen. “732 exhibitors from 33 countries and 17，285 visitors from 79 countries are a clear vote. The share of international visitors has grown to 40 percent； among exhibitors this share is stable at 45 percent.”

After Germany， the top ten visitor countries were Austria， Switzerland， Netherlands， Italy， Czech Republic， Belgium， Great Britain and Ireland， Spain， Denmark， and Hungary. For the first time， visitors came， among others， from Brazil， Malta， and Vietnam.

The top ten exhibitor countries after Germany were Italy， India， Poland， Belgium， Switzerland， Austria， France， Spain， Turkey， and Greece. New exhibitors included jewelry brands such as Thomas Sabo， Fabergé， Frieden， and Giovanni Raspini， and in the watch sector the Belchen Group， LIU JO， Mondaine， and SEIKO. “The exhibitors confirmed that the groups of visitors were of a high quality， which was also reflected by the success of the Top Buyer program： 500 top customers previously identified by exhibitors were on site”， says Elena Jasper， Exhibition Director INHORGENTA.

“As the leading international platform， INHORGENTA provides new ideas for the future and valuable inspiration for business—it marks a new beginning for the industry，”says Stephan Lindner， President of the German Jeweler Association （BVJ）. During the second pandemic year of 2021， the total market for jewelry and watches had recovered slightly， but is still far from pre-crisis levels. “We also see that in times of crisis， customers are making a clear decision in favor of value and quality， as opposed to quick consumption. In our industry， this is seen in the trend toward gold， diamonds and strong brands.”

“After an interruption of eight years， we are again attending INHORGENTA and could establish and refresh a great many national and international contacts， present our collections and also sell them. We have thus been able to fulfill our trade fair objectives，” explains Brigitte Aeschbach， owner of Frieden. And Christian Schaffrath from the brand of the same name says： “For us， INHORGENTA MUNICH is the place to be. Starting into the year—albeit late this year—without this order fair would be unimaginable for us.”O(jiān)liver Besta， Wholesale Director at THOMAS SABO， says：“Our participation in INHORGENTA absolutely met our expectations. Thanks to our booth and the intensive， personal conversations， we had the perfect opportunity to showcase our spring/summer collection. We will be back and are already looking forward to 2023.” Karsten Isermann， Sales Director at Citizen Watch Europe， confirms the trade show’s significance for the company’s business success： “Also this year， INHORGENTA has turned out to be the ideal platform for our brand group to present our portfolio and our plans for the future. We got a lot of positive feedback and are very glad the show was held again.” Markus Paul Wild， Managing Director of Paul Wild， explains： "It was of extreme importance to have a showcase for our products again—there is a need for information in the market. And INHORGENTA is one of the leading trade shows in Europe.”

Approximately 450 guests from the industry celebrated this year’s winners of the INHORGENTA AWARD at BMW Welt： “It was an honor to be a jury member. The desire to be different was very apparent amongst the submissions and was particularly noticeable in the use of materials and the wide variety of styles in each category”， says Sarah Fabergé， Director of Special Projects Fabergé. The prestigious trophy was awarded to： Autore Pearls （Fine Jewelry）， COEUR DE LION （Fashion Jewelry）， Breuning （Designer of the year）， Jonathan Holz （Design Newcomer of the Year）， Fréderique Constant （Watch Design）， Juwelier B？ckelmann（Next Generation Retail）， Uhrenfabrik Junghans （Retailers Choice—Best Watch） und MANU Schmuckwerkstatt（Retailers Choice—Best Piece of Jewelry）.