Come September - Facets will glitter

by Chandani Jayatilleke

Sri Lanka's glittering gem and jewellery show, Facets, enters its 15th year this September. The show will be venue for a vast array of exhibits of myriad colours and exotic jewellery designs from the source itself. The source being Sri Lanka, the Facets is set to achieve many milestones including an increased number of visitors and revenue.

This year's show would be different from all other years. For instance, it would be held at the BMICH's new Exhibition and Convention Centre instead of at the usual venue of Colombo Hilton Hotel.

The show is scheduled to be held from August 31 to September 3. Facets is the island's premier international gem and jewellery show and over the last 14 years, this exhibition and show has brought much honour and recognition to the country as a genuine gem source. Following this success, many overseas buyers now look forward to participating at the September show in Colombo.

The organisers have arranged for 150 booths this year, a significant increase from all previous shows.

Facets has also been an ideal location to display the talents of our craftsmen and designers as many companies participating in the show, exhibit their best collection.

Everybody takes great interest in presenting the best products and finally the finest array of gems and jewellery would be on display.

Sri Lanka produces some of the most colourful and rare gem stones in the world. The range varies from exquisite one-of-a-kind Blue Sapphires, Star Sapphires, Pink, Yellow and Orange Sapphires, Padparadschas, Cats Eyes, Alexandrites and Chrysoberyls to Garnets, Spinels, Moonstones and Aquamarine both free size and calibrated, cut to international standards.

The country has also made a niche for itself in highly developed jewellery industry with a high degree of creativity and craftsmanship, manufacturing jewellery to meet international quality standards. Therefore, Facets will be the show of gems, jewellery and creativity of Sri Lankan manufacturers.

"We expect a large number of foreign buyers and visitors for the show this year. It will certainly be a grand show this year," Macky Hashim, Chairman, Facets Organising Committee said.

"It will be a show of 'exceptional gems' and exquisite jewellery," he said. Talking about the history of Facets, Hashim said: "When we started the show for the first time in 1990, Sri Lanka's gem industry was losing its market share in the international scene and today, we are proud to say, Facets has become a major event internationally."

He added Facets has seen a remarkable growth over the years and more and more people want to take part in the event by way of traders and visitors.

"Over the last couple of years, we have promoted the show in India, Thailand and Europe, so that Facets is a quite internationally known event now. It's like 'Come September - Come Facets', as we have always chosen September as the Facets month.

Following Facets there are two other gem and jewellery events in Thailand and Hongkong. This makes it easier for many foreign buyers to plan a complete purchasing trip to Asia.

As far as trade partners are concerned India and Myanmar are very much interested in having their own stalls in Facets too.

This year's Facets show will be opened by a renowned jewellery maker in the US. While US is the largest buyer of Sri Lanka gems, other countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan also come under the top buyers' bracket.

Sri Lanka alone produces over 50 varieties of gem stones from a total of 155 varieties in the world. However, Sri Lanka is yet to gain more recognition for its beautiful gems in the world.

"This needs continuous marketing and promotional programs. And we need a lot of funds for such a task. If we have about 150,000 US dollars for promotions, we can do much better in this industry," he said.

In organising the Facets Show, the industry put together finances to cover expenses incurred. Additionally NGJA also provides some financial assistance.

Facets organising committees is also planning to extend invitations to top jewellery designers in the world in the future as a new marketing strategy.

"But, we need to offer them free travel and accommodation facilities. We need Government support to carry out such promotional programs," Hashim said.

Hashim, who is also the Chairman of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries recently signed an agreement with China to promote the gem and jewellery trade between China and SAARC countries.

"China is an emerging market and the buyers have already started coming to the SAARC region. This will be a positive move. We are also hoping to promote the Facets Show in China and Russia in the future," he said.

Over the years, Facets Show has shown a remarkable improvement. This is mainly due to the hard work done by the organising committee, the sponsors and the traders.

The Show has been organised by the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association and the main sponsors are Export Development Board (EDB) and the National Gem and Jewellery Authority.

Director General NGJA, T. Piyadasa said the NGJA has been with Facets since its inception. "We have been helping the trade by way of providing finances to participate in the Facets. Since the first year, Facets has done exceptionally well and we are happy to be part of this great event," he said.

With much hard work over the years, the Export Development Board (EDB) has been able to brand Sri Lanka's sapphire as 'Ceylon Sapphire' in an effort to make Sri Lanka the hub of sapphire in the world.

Most stones mined in Sri Lanka are being sold loose on international markets. Various designers and companies set them in jewellery and when the final product goes to the market, nobody would know where the sapphires came from.

However, there are many jewellery makers who want to work with the gem stones coming from the source.

Finance Director, Facets, Akram Mansoor said, they expect over 500 foreign buyers and 1,000 local buyers in addition to many thousands of visitors.

"Visitors to Facets in the past years have increased significantly and we hope the same will continue this year," he said.

SriLankan Airlines will be the official airline for the show. Their flights from major destinations will bring down many visitors to the show under a special package.