Well it took us a while to get to an internet cafe to write you ya’ll but better late than never.
The flight to HK was looooooong but went fine. We left portland on a Wednesday and after crossing the International date line we endeded up losing a day …our first full day being Friday in HK.
My daughter Liz and I made a beeline for the Jewelry faire and as expected…we were COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED!!!!!!! The convention center was the largest and most beautiful I have ever seen…right on Hong Kong harbor. Each room in the building was dedicated to a specific gemstone or packaging/display venue. I will show you all the floor plan when I get home. It was almost too much!!! The diamonds alone took up one whole floor with armed guards at ever glance.
When we finally arrived at the semi precious gemstone bead room, we quickly realized we needed CASH ONLY and lots of both the HK dollar and U.S. Cash. Each vendor had a different system and we never had what they needed. So needless to say we didn’t come away with a lot of actual merchandise but ToNs of new leads, and some super new suppliers for me to order from.
We only saw 3 rooms out of 10….I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I felt like a very small fish in a VERY huge pond and was able to put my style of jewelry into perspective within the rest of the world market. I will say……the artisan designers and bead makers have some of the most finely tuned and original designs in the world in my opinion…this is in the “bridge jewerly” market place I am referring to. We saw a lot of lovely pieces but as far as innovative…the artisan jeweler has an edge that you don’t see in the mainstream jewelry marketplace.
Food…we are not starving!!!!! Dim Sum, Sushi, Great teas, incredible service,….we are having a blast!!!!! We will be popping back into the cafe to update again soon…gotta run for now but want to say a special HI to my son Bryan, my mommy Eunice, and my best friend Diana!!!!!
To all of you….thanks for stopping in to the blog and check back every so often. I have lots more to tell but only so many minutes on the computer.
Hugs from Hong Kong
Sandy, Steve and Liz
