【Seoul, South】2015 Korea Jewelry Fair: ‘The 14th International Jewelry Design Competition’

The ‘2015 Korea Jewelry Fair (JEWELRY FAIR KOREA 2015, hereinafter JFK 2015)’, jointly hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), COEX, and major domestic jewelry and watch-related organizations, and sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, opened on July 16th at Hall C on the 3rd floor of COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, running until the 19th.
Now in its 13th year, this event comprehensively covers domestic precious metals, watches, finished products, fashion jewelry and accessories and related parts, jewelry-related machinery and equipment, crafts, wedding jewelry, and related services. It is Korea’s sole exhibition for gems and watches, designed to foster the development of the precious metals and watch industry and improve the profit structures of participating companies through exports. The fair offered various side events and was held on a scale of 452 booths with over 300 companies from 11 countries, including Korea.

The Korea Jewelry Fair is structured to provide practical help in product promotion and brand value for participating companies through marketing and systematic preparation, serving as Korea’s only exhibition for gems and watches aimed at developing the domestic precious metals and watch industry and improving corporate profit structures through exports.

Established in 1993, the Korea Precious Metal & Jewelry Design Association, under its 10th president, Park Eun-sook, is striving to play a central role in establishing jewelry not merely as a gem for style and luxury, but as a knowledge-based industry that integrates technology, culture, and image, and as an advanced cultural creative industry generating infinite high added value.

This year’s K-Jewelry Design Special Exhibition featured 42 representative Korean designers and brands.
Efforts were made to express Korean culture and sensibility through creative and beautiful jewelry, developing them into global products with Korean DNA suitable for export to the world market. The Korea Precious Metal & Jewelry Design Association is doing its utmost to realize K-Jewelry, which elevates the competitiveness and status of Korean precious metals and gems in the global market and leads in enhancing brand value by commercializing creative ideas.

Each year during the Jewelry Fair, association exhibitions and award-winning works from competitions are displayed.
The exhibition booth of the Korea Precious Metal & Jewelry Design Association featured jewelry displays by association members. A jewelry special exhibition themed on K-Jewelry design by domestic jewelry designers was also held at the association’s booth throughout the exhibition period.
Furthermore, a special exhibition of award-winning works from the ’14th International Jewelry Design Competition’, hosted by the association, was held together, displaying excellent works including the grand prize winner, attracting the interest of visitors.
From over 700 entries submitted by more than 30 countries for the 14th International Jewelry Design Competition, visitors could view in one place creative jewelry pieces expressing beautiful ideas, including the physical work ‘Harmony’ by the grand prize winner Lim Seong-ok, renderings, CAD works, and overseas award-winning works. Specially, works by four young designers from Thailand were also exhibited.

The ‘International Jewelry Design Competition’ is Korea’s premier competition, established to promote the excellence of the Korean jewelry industry to the world and enhance design competitiveness. It is held annually with the purpose of cultivating original and excellent jewelry designers to contribute to the jewelry industry and national economic development, gaining greater public recognition and credibility each year.