Gem News International Gems & Gemology, Summer 2014, Vol. 50, No. 2

Jewelry Shanghai 2014

Jennifer Stone-Sundberg and Ren Lu

紫色和绿色玉打造的珠宝
Figure 1. Top-quality stones, including purple and green jade, were offered at Jewelry Shanghai 2014. Photo by Jennifer Stone-Sundberg.
Organized by the Gems & Jewelry Association of China, Jewelry Shanghai 2014 took place May 8–12 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center. The two exposition halls held over 1,000 vendors representing more than 22 countries in 4,200 square meters of exhibitor space. A wide variety was offered, including exceptional examples of tourmaline, jade (figure 1), and ruby, as well as phenomenal stones such as cat’s-eye chrysoberyl and star sapphire. Additionally, superb craftsmanship was on display in the form of fine jade and quartz carvings (figure 2), gold work, and cloisonné enameling. This year saw the addition of top-level fossil, mineral, and gem collector specimens. Other popular items for sale were amber, turquoise, and moonstone.

Clear quartz carving
Figure 2.  This clear quartz carving seen at the Shanghai show demonstrates the exceptional
craftsmanship sought by Chinese collectors. Photo by Jennifer Stone-Sundberg.
The show featured lectures on topics such as Chinese jade carving, diamond, and Burmese rubies. As Shanghai is China’s diamond import center, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (which handles every diamond imported into the country) and the Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD) were present. Several other gem- and jewelry-related agencies, including the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the International Gemological Institute (IGI), also attended. Mainland China posted jewelry retail sales of 295.9 billion yuan (approximately US$47 billion) in 2013 (http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201401/t20140120_502082.html), and this show certainly indicated the quality and diversity of items the Chinese gem and jewelry market demands today.

Jennifer Stone-Sundberg is managing director at Crystal Solutions in Portland, Oregon, and Ren Lu is a professor at the Wuhan Geological University in China.