The Amber Trip
Posted on October 26 2020
The 17th International Baltic Jewellery Show, known as the "Amber Trip", took place in March 2020 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was sponsored by the Vilnius City Municipality. Originally scheduled from March 11-14, it was curtailed to two days, closing on March 13. The Lithuanian government issued a directive, concerning COVID, banning mass events as a precautionary measure. Yet, the show featured participants 30 countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, USA, Japan, India, South Africa, and Mexico. There is even an exclusive room, featuring amber in all shapes, sizes and forms from the region.
There are around 500 buyers, representing wholesalers, museologists, collectors, raw material suppliers and retail customers. Despite the new reality, this number is expected to increase in coming years. Although the show prioritizes B2B, allowing business and corporate buyers exclusive access to the show one day before opening to the public, the organizers emphasize that the show is for everyone.
The Amber Trip has attracted wide range of gemstone suppliers.
“The goal of the exhibitors is to create a special environment allowing each of the participant or guest of the Amber Trip show to feel like home, no matter what continent they came from. This is what we strive to achieve every year to ensure we stand out of other shows. Amber Trip will always be a bridge connecting Europe and other countries of the world,” says Giedrius Guntorius, organizer of the Amber Trip.
One day before the show, the Amber Trip launched the Raw Trade Platform for buyers and sellers of Amber. It connects major raw material supplies from Russia, Ukraine and Poland with dealers. The venue will be expanded for the 2021 show.
This year's show featured a 40,000-year-old mammoth skeleton, which also acted as the exhibition's symbol.
Other show highlights included:
- Complimentary jewellery cleaning by Professional Jeweller Jurga Gusarovienė,
- The International Jewellery Art Competition, themed as ECOSIGHT, selected winners in four categories: Grand Prix, Amber, Jewellery, and Object. One participant received a people's choice award.
In total, the 17th International Amber Trip welcomed 220 exhibitors, 500 VIP buyers and 3,000 guests. Next year's show will be in March at the Litexpo exhibition and congress center on Laisvės pr. 5 in Vilnius. In 2019 (under normal circumstances) the show turnover, among an average of 220 participants, is around €5 million.
In December, the organizers of Amber Trip, will launch a new project Baltic Jewellery Art Gallery, allowing artisans to show their work online. The planned online platform is a response to the current conditions and acts as a "Plan B" to a physical exhibition. Applicants will be reviewed by a committee. Initially, there will be 18 designers from throughout Lithuania, shipping worldwide. The emphasis will be on amber. However, the site will feature many other designs. Please visit www.AmberTrip.com for more information.
Hopefully, by next year's (2021) exhibition, the global COVID situation will be better. Like this year, B2B participants will be allowed entry one-day in advance before it opens to the public and there will be a separate room for amber. Currently the show mostly represents Lithuanian jewelry designers and related vendors but they hope to represent more vendors from around the Baltic Sea Region.
The Amber Trip organizers also publish Baltic Jewellery News. Since 2005, they publish a 100-page magazine in English, distributing it throughout the Baltic Sea Region: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Their goal is to raise global awareness of the region's jewellery industry. The magazine covers jewellery news, reviews, art, design trends, industry challenges, technology and industry events around the world.
Information about the 2020 -18th Annual Baltic Jewellery Show
