Getting Down to Business

RAPAPORT… For years now, the Antwerp diamond industry has been waiting for its Messiah. At different times, various individuals and industry initiatives have been put forward in an attempt to revive the city’s status and reputation as the premier worldwide diamond center — but none of them were successful.

The Antwerp Diamond Conference, the Diamond Symposium, etc… none of them solved the problem.

What Antwerp desperately needs is not a public relations or political effort, but dollars-and-cents business. That’s what the recent Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair, held February 7 through 9, was intended to be — an event designed by businessmen hosting other businessmen, with the goal of establishing the kind of relationships that will lead to business deals down the road.

The by-invitation-only fair was sponsored by the Antwerp Diamond Bourse and planned by Punch, a local event organizer. Its purpose was to bring 45 Antwerp diamantaires face-to-face with a select list of high-profile European retailers in an historic setting on the floor of the Bourse Hall itself, which usually is closed to visitors. All expenses were paid by the exhibitors for the approximately 120 attendees.

Mostly Positive Reviews

Most exhibitors spoke enthusiastically about their experience at the fair and about its potential to become an even larger and more prestigious annual event in future years.

Maldar Pankaj of Karp Impex acknowledged the advantages of a diamond trade fair held in Antwerp. “It’s a good idea to start an exhibition that is very different from all other exhibitions because it’s only for diamond people. It’s also cost effective, as you don’t have the cost of shipping goods abroad. The goods are available from the morning on and they’re in the vaults by the evening, so there are lower insurance and security fees, as everything’s already in the bourse.”

The fair’s importance in enhancing the prestige of Antwerp was also widely acknowledged. Henry Keesje of Keesje & Zoon said he made some important contacts with “many people who were looking for my color-enhanced product and didn’t know where to find it. I also wanted to be here for Antwerp.” Alex Peterfreund of

Pejmani added: “The fact that it is by invitation only and happening at the heart of the sacred Bourse Hall, a place never open to retailers otherwise, gave it a touch of magic. Obviously, some intermediate-size local diamantaires may be upset and feel bypassed, but we have to adapt to the internet era,” where prices are widely available to everyone, intermediate and large diamantaires alike.

Even the fair’s timing was praised. “The timing for this time of the year was impeccable,” said Marc Barber of B&R Worldwide Diamonds. “Clients were enchanted by the location and there is most certainly room for such a European happening in the diamond fairs calendar. The great advantage here is that you don’t have to sort your visitors. You know they’re all here to buy diamonds, and you already have some information about them, which makes it easier to do business.”

The Down Side

Despite the fair’s overall success, there were some negative reviews, especially on the compiling of the invitation list and on reported violations of fair stipulations previously agreed to by exhibitors. The most frequent complaint was that the fair exhibitors were less than candid in submitting the names of companies to be invited, possibly because of a reluctance to divulge potential clients’ names to their competitors. Those actions were said to undermine the integrity of the list.

In compiling the list of approximately 700 retailers to whom invitations were sent, each exhibitor was asked to supply the names of 25 prospects and turn them over to a bailiff, who then prepared a global list, in which no client name was linked to any specific exhibitor. Despite those precautions to protect client confidentiality, many of the submissions reportedly were incomplete or inappropriate. The company name Cartier Paris was submitted, for example, but without any contact name attached or even a phone number. Other company names were submitted in which the individuals listed as company contacts were dead, and the names of several bankrupt companies were among those recommended by exhibitors. In addition, the names of lower-end retailers were submitted, even though fair planners stressed that only higher-end retailers should be invited. Explaining the reluctance of exhibitors to submit the names of prospective clients, Christophe De Borrekens of IGC Group said, “It seems that many exhibitors were afraid of competition and didn’t bother to supply real names, which is too bad.”

“We had hoped that every one of the exhibitors would supply 25 real names, which would have added up to 1,000 names, and that number would drop down to approximately 700 after eliminating redundancies,” said Raphael Rubin of Rubin & Zoren. The weakness of the list forced the Punch organization to complete the list itself, without any help from the participants, in order to safeguard its impartiality. Despite the minor list issues, Rubin said he was very pleased with the fair itself and the connections made with European retailers and that he was enthusiastic about its continuation and expansion in the future.

Another problem with the fair was companies violating a gentlemen’s agreement that no client would be invited to a company office prior to 4 p.m. in order to avoid emptying the venue. In addition, due largely to the pressure from smaller, nonparticipating companies, the doors to the fair were finally opened to everyone at noon on the last day — effectively undermining the promise of exclusivity that was “sold” to the invited visitors.

The obstacles posed by exhibitors in organizing the fair reflected the difficulty in getting universal commitment to an event that promotes the Antwerp diamond industry as a whole when, in fact, the industry is composed of individual diamantaires and companies with their own self-interests to protect.

Going Forward

Possible future expansion of this inaugural fair was on everyone’s mind. Anshul Mehta of Arjav Diamonds offered the opinion that “It was a very good effort for a first time. But the next installment should be bigger and more open — there’s potential for that. This could be quite a significant show in the future. For us, it was a very good experience as we’re just getting established in the European market. It was very beneficial to meet a whole range of new clients and get a broad picture of the European market. It enables us to see how to best market ourselves there.”

Expressing his opinion that he’d never seen “such a high-class fair in the business,” Thierry Silber of Diamaz International suggested that “Next time, maybe the two other major Antwerp bourses could join, and we could thus welcome three times more exhibitors and clients.” Philippe Amiel of Trau Brothers projected that “Within two to three years, this show could become the new diamantaires’ Basel, featuring the world’s largest diamond inventory… in Antwerp.” De Borrekens added, “No single company — even the bigger ones — can supply all orders. But here in Antwerp, it’s just a matter of a few phone calls and a few minutes to get everything that is needed on the table.”

David Pienica of M&D Pienica admitted that “Antwerp was in desperate need of a light pointing in the direction of the future. With events such as this, Antwerp could regain its prestige and its position as a real business center.”