Hong Kong city lights, one night of the jewelry show 2015.

Gemstones at the show.

After 17 years in the business I finally arrived at the Hong Kong Jewellery Show ( spelled with a double ll in Asia). It used to feature only gemstones, but the show became so popular over the years that they decided to split it into two separate shows to accommodate.

Now the Jewellery Show is held in central Hong Kong at the convention center, and the gem show is held at the airport expo. I was staying in a posh location across the river in Kowloon, a city that has changed so much over the past 10 years that it was nothing like I remembered. The infrastructure and high end shopping was unbelievable! All your high end brands were concentrated in one area with swarms of Chinese people shopping. Times must not be so bad.

At the Jewellery Show, I sought out the high end designers first. Wallace Chan was there (a few years back, he made a jade and diamond necklace worth 200 million). The collections unveiled had price tags in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. Everyone including myself stood by the windows with our mouths agape, gawking at the incredible designs and sheer size of the valuables. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed!

I then went to see Sofragem and Gianna Jewelry. Mike from Gianna gave me a sneak peek of his new collection that he has not yet launched. Unbelievable fashion forward designs, crafted beautifully, that I can't wait to have in store. Sofragem showed me some incredible new pieces that I immediately ordered for the store. Surprisingly, Suzanne Kalan was exhibiting there. One of the few US designers to travel to HK.

Gianna's award winning necklace shown above with a stunning chain bracelet.

After walking the show I came to the conclusion that it's very difficult to find a new designer in HK. Most of the jewelry I liked was from companies that do not travel to the U.S. I find it difficult to have top quality customer service when the company does not have a presence in the U.S. Therefore, I did not find new companies to do business with.

I am fortunate to work in NYC, the greatest city in the world, where all the best international designers gather for representation and all the gemstones come to life.