Valumira Jewelry Convention
Notes on buying, exhibiting and travelling for the trade — one city at a time.
How to work out what you can actually spend at a trade show, split it by category rather than by supplier, and hold a reserve for the unplanned find.
Why so much of the world's diamond trade still passes through a few streets in Antwerp, and how a buyer should prepare before walking into it.
What changes when a buyer sources sapphire, ruby and spinel close to the cutting trade: treatment disclosure, parcels versus singles, and which currency to pay in.
Dubai mines no gold and is one of the world's largest markets for it. The port, the refineries, the time zone and the pricing habit behind that.
The four lines on a diamond grading report that a buyer should check at the counter with a loupe, before the colour and clarity grades.
Why Friday at a Valumira show is kept for the trade, what changes on Saturday and Sunday, and how buyers, exhibitors and visitors should choose a day.
A route through the hall for a retail buyer with one day, a fixed open-to-buy and no intention of going home with regrets.