Las Vegas Jewelry Trade Shows Disrupted by COVID-19 for Second Straight Year

The annual JCK jewelry trade show has been disrupted for a second straight year as a result of COVID-19. The annual show, which trades in mass market fine jewelry and counts Pandora, Le Vian and Tacori among its biggest vendors, was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas from June 4 to 7 at The Venetian Resort and Sands Expo. Now event organizers say it has been postponed to Aug. 27 to 30, still at its original planned location.

The show — a benchmark in the jewelry industry’s annual calendar — is typically held each June in tandem with the Couture jewelry show. Couture’s website says its show is still planned for June 3 through 7, but organizers say that updates regarding the show are coming soon. They declined to provide further comment at this time, but given the current state of the pandemic it seems unlikely that the show will continue as planned.

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JCK pulled the plug on its 2020 event in the early days of the coronavirus crisis and planned to reschedule it for a date later in the year. In April, when the pandemic’s breadth and longevity was more apparent, JCK’s organizers decided to pivot the show to an online-only format that took place in August.

The online format, as WWD reported this summer, was a “relative success” with 700 participating brands and 2,400 buyers in virtual attendance. The virtual show counted 5,000 attendees and 43,000 page views.

Now it remains to be seen if vaccination rates can pick up a certain pace under President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 plan, which aims to restore a sense of normalcy by this fall. JCK’s new dates occur in the optimistic end of that timeframe.

“After a year without an opportunity for the jewelry community to gather together, it is important to JCK to facilitate an in-person event in the most positive and safe way possible. Following thoughtful discussion with our advisory boards, partners and customers, we have decided to move JCK and Luxury to a late August date pattern.…We know our industry is eager to come together again, and we are excited to bring many new opportunities in 2021 to source, connect, learn and ultimately conduct business on and off the show floor,” said Sarin Bachmann group vice president for JCK & Luxury within the Reed Jewelry Group.

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