AGS Conclave, Hong Kong Gem and Jewelry Shows Postponed

Las Vegas—The American Gem Society has announced it will postpone its 2021 Conclave event until the fall.

Originally planned for April 26-28 in Louisville, Kentucky at the Omni Louisville Hotel, organizers said they couldn’t guarantee the health and safety of attendees due to the pandemic.

“This was a very difficult, but necessary, decision for us to make,” chair of the AGS Conclave Committee Alexis Padis said. “We all miss time spent in person with our AGS community, and everyone was so excited about the idea of seeing one another finally.

“With the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought and the health of our membership as the top priority, we came to the conclusion, after much discussion, that the best thing to do for our members was to move this much-loved event to the fall.”

Last year, AGS was forced to cancel its springtime Conclave event in Denver and move the conference to a virtual format.

The society said it is selecting new 2021 dates and location to be shared at a later date.

And it’s not the only spring event facing a reshuffle.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has moved its gem and jewelry trade shows slated for March 2021 back by a few months due to continued travel restrictions.

The Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show, originally scheduled for March 1-5, and the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show, scheduled for March 3-7, will now run concurrently from July 2-6, 2021, at the AsiaWorld-Expo center.

Hong Kong’s current policy doesn’t allow entry to non-residents arriving from any location other than mainland China, Macau or Taiwan.

HKTDC wasn’t able to hold the two events in 2020 after moving its March show dates back to May and then August before outright pushing them into 2021.

Informa Markets Jewellery, meanwhile, pivoted its Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong—originally postponed from September to November—to an online format last month through the launch of Jewellery & Gem Digital World.

That event is expected to return to its physical form in September 2021.