Inhorgenta Munich Reports 4% Growth for 2018 Show

According to Inhorgenta 1026 exhibitors from 42 countries participated in the international focused trade show over the six exhibition halls covering a total space of 65,000 square meters.

The Fine Jewellery area recorded 25 new exhibitors, among whom brands with an international focus, such as the Vreden-based Niessing jewellery manufactures, the Danish design company Georg Jensen and the Italian jewellery manufacturer Piero Milano.

Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München, is satisfied with the response received from visitors and exhibitors:

“We had received consistently positive feedback for this Inhorgenta Munich, but also generally for the development of the trade show in the last few years”, said Klaus Dittrich. “It is not an easy undertaking to take equal account of all needs of our exhibitors and visitors. I think we have excellently coped with this challenge.”

One of the highlights of the trade show was the presentation of the second Inhorgenta Munich Award. Last Sunday evening, more than 500 guests from the worlds of business, culture, politics and the media celebrated jointly with the industry at the gala event which took place at the Postpalast in Munich. For the first time, the Award was conferred in seven categories. By the new Award category “Smart and Connected Watch of the Year”, in which the Swiss traditional label TAG Heuer was the winner, Inhorgenta Munich responded specifically to the international success of the smartwatches.

Award Winners

A high-level jury had selected the winners from more than 100 submissions from nine countries. The jury was composed of the actress and designer Barbara Becker, top model Franziska Knuppe, Patricia Riekel, the former editor-in-chief of the German magazine “Bunte”, Anja Heiden, Member of the Management of Wempe, designer Markus Hilzinger, watch expert Gisbert Brunner and Prof. Christine Lüdeke from the Pforzheim University for Design. The coveted audience prize was won by the Spanish jewelry designer Jaime Moreno with his “Tornasol” necklace.

Digitalization as a Mega Trend

This year’s show paid particular attention to the topic of digitalization, a desire exressed byt the jewellery industry itself, who had expressed a requirement to have an intensive exchange of views about the current trends in the industry. At the “Digital Forum”, visitors could discuss the topic during numerous events.

E-commerce is of particular importance for the traditional designer label Georg Jensen.

“One of the key challenges faced by the industry is to win younger target groups without losing the regular clientele”, said Gesa Michahelles, Managing Director for the GAS region at Georg Jensen. “This can be achieved by a clever combination of offline and online offers. We are making very good experiences with the topic of e-commerce.”

The show has stated that it will actively follow through on this development.

“We are in a phase of change together with the industry”, said Stefanie Mändlein, Exhibition Director of Inhorgenta Munich. “We intend to meet the challenges jointly with our exhibitors. We would like to keep on being a communication platform and a trustful partner for the jewellery and watch sector. Our tailor-made solutions for our customers are our first priority.”