Las Vegas shows see attendance rise

Las Vegas--Organizers of both JCK Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show reported single-digit gains in the number of attendees this year.

JCK Las Vegas, which was held at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino from May 29 to June 1, reported that 22,000 buyers from 9,400 stores attended the show, a 4 percent increase in attendance from last year.

In addition to a visual redesign, JCK revamped its education program, creating the “JCK Talks” sessions, at take on the popular TED Talks. The new JCK Talks program and styling events helped further bolster buyer education as speakers from both inside and outside the industry provided new strategies for selling and drew standing room audiences throughout the show, organizers said.

The next JCK Las Vegas is scheduled for June 3 to 6, 2016, at Mandalay Bay, and a show spokesperson verified that the show will be expanding next year and that more details about the expansion will be released in the future, as Mandalay Bay finishes up an addition. 

Also in Las Vegas, U.S. Antique Shows’ Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show saw another year of record attendance across the four-day event, with a 6 percent increase in attendees.

The trade-only show, which was held from May 28 to 31 at the Paris Hotel and Casino, saw more than 400 exhibitors displaying their antique and estate jewelry from across the globe. 

A number of vendors reported strong sales on important consigned diamonds and signed pieces, according to show organizers. 

U.S. Antique Shows sponsor Polygon also hosted a trading pavilion at the show on Wednesday, May 27, which allowed dealers the opportunity to get a head start on selling and trading before the show even started.

“With the euro at the lowest we’ve seen it in more than a decade, we were cautiously optimistic about the level of attendance and buying we’d see from international markets this year,” said Dan Darby, Emerald Expositions vice president and U.S. Antique Shows general manager. “While there were fewer international attendees, those who did attend came to buy and provided our dealers with some of their strongest sales.”

The Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2016, and U.S. Antique Shows said that it has big plans for the event next year, with more details to be announced in the future.