JB Insights
VICENZAORO JANUARY 2024
IEG’s trade show is the global jewellery industry’s choice
Attendance +3% more than 2023 on the 70th anniversary, 141 countries of origin. The United States, Turkey and Spain on the podium. Enhanced hosted buyer programme thanks to ITA – Italian trade Agency
More than 1,300 exhibiting brands
Technologies: T.Gold, showcase of top products for the supply chain. In 2025, the first edition of “The Vicenza Symposium”, a global scientific event
Watchmaking segment consolidated with TIME for B2B. Visitors to VO Vintage up 13%
More than 490 students at the 20 events in the city’s VIOFF programme
Work to start on the new 22,000-square-metre hall: an investment of about Euro 60mn
Vicenzaoro January 2024 exceeds all the most optimistic prior expectations of the Vicenza – Italy gold and jewellery exhibition’s 70-year anniversary. Italian Exhibition Group’s «boutique show» closed today with a 3% increase in attendance at the Vicenza Expo Centre, surpassing last January’s record edition. Moreover, at this edition, six out of ten visitors came from abroad: the global jewellery industry has chosen, Vicenza will be a market hub for the next 70 years. IEG responds with the start of work on the new 22,000-square-meter hall.
THE VICENZAORO JANUARY 2024 NUMBERS
Foreign attendance has been confirmed at 60% of the total, arriving from 141 countries around the world, up from 136 in 2023: with Europe counting 53%, the Middle East 9.3%, Asia 10.5%, Turkey 8%, North America 7.2%, Latin America 5.1% and Africa 4.9%.
Among the most represented individual countries overall: the United States and Turkey; from Europe Spain, Germany, France, Greece and the UK; from the Middle East the United Arab Emirates, while standing out from Asia are India, China, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong. The largest increases are for China (+188%), Japan (+44%), Colombia (+38%), Brazil (+36%) and France (+25%). Among the new entries at Vicenzaoro: Tanzania, El Salvador and Honduras. Veneto, Lombardy, Tuscany and Piedmont confirm an extremely positive trend for Italian attendance, which saw an overall increase of 3.2% compared to 2023.
T.GOLD ON THE RISE
At this edition, T.Gold, the leading international innovation showcase featuring the most advanced machinery for goldsmithing and the latest processes applied to gold and jewellery, organized in partnership with A.F.E.M.O., saw a 4.7% increase in attendance.
TIMEPIECES.
In the timepiece segment, VO Vintage consolidated its success with exhibitors up 22% for vintage watches and jewellery open to the B2C public, with collectors, experts and watch lovers from Italy and around the world also up +13%.
INDUSTRY AND TRAINING, PASSION MAKES A COMEBACK
Gold and jewellery see restored generational turnover in the labour market. Industry and education meet at Vicenzaoro: 23 schools at the Show, mostly from Italy and from France, Germany and the UK for a total of about 750 students and escorts, all involved in the many initiatives. In the VIOFF programme of city events, Vicenzaoro’s off-show, more than 490 students took part in the 20 events on the calendar.
THE EXPO CENTRE CHANGES FACE, 2024 IS THE YEAR OF WORK ON THE NEW HALL
The close of Vicenzaoro January 2024 will mark the opening of the building site that will return a new layout to the Vicenza Expo Centre for the September 2026 edition. The new 22,000-square-meter hall will replace Hall 2, the historic “snail” built in 1971, and Hall 5, to provide more space for exhibitors and better “navigability” for visitors inside the building. The investment of about 60 million euros is fully financed by IEG.
“THE VICENZA SYMPOSIUM”, THE NEW EVENT ON IEG’S JEWELLERY AGENDA
Italian Exhibition Group’s Jewellery Agenda will be further enriched as of 2025 with a new international event, “The Vicenza Symposium” scheduled to take place from 2 – 4 September. Vicenza will therefore inherit the scientific legacy of the “Santa Fe Symposium” which closed in 2022. A biennial event with a problem-solving approach for companies, the Symposium is the result of IEG’s collaboration with two leading companies in the T.Gold world: Legor and Xolutions.
GLOBAL STAKEHOLDERS AND INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
Vicenzaoro January confirmed its role as an international reference point due to the presence of the entire institutional and association world. From Confindustria Federorafi, Confartigianato Orafi, Confcommercio Federpreziosi, CNA Orafi, Confimi Industria Categoria Orafa ed Argentiera to Assogemme, Assocoral and A.F.E.M.O. – Association of Jewellery Machinery Manufacturers and Exporters, CIBJO – World Jewellery Confederation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ITA – Italian Trade Agency.
The community’s next appointment with Vicenzaoro will be from 6th to 10th September 2024.
JB Insights
Gold Loans Fuel MSME Expansion
Industry Seminar Focuses On E-Commerce Growth, Logistics Solutions and Global Shipping Opportunities For The Gem and Jewellery Sector
Across India, gold loans are rapidly shifting from purely personal-finance products into a go-to source of working capital and business-expansion funding for MSMEs, with non-bank lenders such as Muthoot Finance playing a central role in this transition. Record-high gold prices and easier documentation, combined with short-term tenures and relatively quick disbursal, are making gold-loan collateral attractive for small manufacturers, traders, and services-sector entrepreneurs who struggle to access traditional bank credit.
Gold loans have become a key contributor to India’s consumption-loan growth, with originations surging amid slowing personal-loan and credit-card growth and elevated gold prices improving collateral coverage.
Rating agencies and brokers note that high gold prices not only allow larger loans against the same jewellery but also help maintain asset quality, as borrowers are more incentivised to repay rather than forfeit precious metal.
Why MSMEs are turning to gold loans
- Many MSME borrowers use family-held gold as collateral to finance working-capital gaps, inventory purchases, machinery upgrades, or local-market expansion, especially where cash-flow cycles are irregular or credit history is thin.
- Gold loans typically offer lower interest and faster processing than unsecured personal loans or credit cards, and the presence of a tangible asset (gold) makes lenders more comfortable with shorter-tenor, higher-ticket loans.
Role of organised lenders like Muthoot Finance
- Muthoot Finance and other large NBFCs explicitly position gold loans as flexible, short-term credit for “business-related” needs, including trade, small-scale manufacturing, and micro-retail, and have reported that a significant share of new disbursements go to self-employed professionals and small business-owners.
- Digital-first interfaces, branch-network expansion into semi-urban and Tier-2/3 towns, and features such as missed-call status checks and mobile-based payment reminders help MSME-type borrowers manage repayments without frequent visits to branches.
Regulatory and risk-management angle
- Regulators and rating agencies note that channeling gold-loan funds toward productive MSME activity can improve asset quality, as business cash flows often support repayment better than purely consumption-driven loans.
- At the same time, tighter supervision on re-pledging and stricter documentation—from April 2026 onward—are pushing MSME borrowers toward organised players, reducing reliance on informal pawn-shop-style lending and improving transparency in SME-oriented gold-loan portfolios.
Market-level impact
- With the organised gold-loan market expected to breach ₹15 lakh crore by March 2026, MSME-oriented lending is emerging as one of the key growth segments, particularly for NBFCs that combine branch-level trust with digital ease.
- This trend is encouraging gold-loan houses to design quasi-MSME packages—such as higher ticket-sizes, flexible moratoriums around festival seasons, and payment-tracking tools—while keeping the underlying product clearly tagged as a secured gold-loan.
Gold Loans Fuel MSME Expansion
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Gold Loans Fuel MSME Expansion
Gold and Silver Under Pressure: Inflation Shock, Fed Repricing, and Critical Support Zones AUGMONT BULLION REPORT
Kirit Bhansali Has Been Appointed As The Nominee Director On The IAGES Board, Effective 11 May 2026
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JB Insights2 hours agoGold Loans Fuel MSME Expansion
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National News2 days agoKirit Bhansali Has Been Appointed As The Nominee Director On The IAGES Board, Effective 11 May 2026
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International News3 hours agoGold and Silver Under Pressure: Inflation Shock, Fed Repricing, and Critical Support Zones AUGMONT BULLION REPORT
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National News3 hours agoGJEPC & DHL Host E-Commerce & Export Logistics Seminar In Delhi
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