AMBERIF - The Amber Fair in Gdańsk

20. International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones

20-23.03.2013

450 exhibitors from 14 countries – from Europe to India – will come to AMBERIF 2013, the 20th anniversary edition of the International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones, with trade visitors expected from 40 countries. For the first time, the event will be held at the new AMBEREXPO Exhibition and Convention Centre.

 

The products exhibited at AMBERIF include: Baltic amber jewellery; silver and gold jewellery decorated with amber; jewellery with gemstones, pearls and diamonds. The Designers’ Gallery, where artists exhibit their work, enjoys a great deal of interest every year.
AMBERIF is a trade-only event. It is addressed to the owners of jewellery stores, wholesale outlets and art galleries from all the continents who make it possible for Polish jewellery to reach customers all over the world. AMBERIF attendees also include tourism and marketing companies who wish to incorporate amber into their product offer or image. AMBERIF is an excellent opportunity to establish business relations and to get an overview of the global trends.

 

The first AMBERIF had 49 exhibitors. Today, their attendance has increased almost tenfold
“More than 450 companies will come to AMBERIF 2013, from countries including Poland, Belgium, Lithuania and Italy,” says AMBERIF and AMBERMART Project Director Ewa Rachoń. “Every year, the fair has a footfall of ca. 6000, including trade visitors from all over the world, from nearly 50 countries.”
Four exhibitors have participated in AMBERIF continuously for 20 years: AMBER Klaudiusz Buzalski, DUKAT Marian Węsiora, LUX Jan Bryksy and Jerzy Zauliczny.
Marcin Bazulski, of the AMBER company, represents AMBERIF’s second generation. He has taken over from his father and between them they have not missed a single edition of the event.
“AMBERIF to us is what the harvest is to a farmer,” admits Marcin Bazulski. “It allows us to follow our philosophy: we manufacture, others do the selling.”

 

Each year, AMBERIF is accompanied by multiple education and popular science events. For example, there is a series of seminars dedicated to subjects that are important to experts and enthusiasts of jewellery, amber, design and fashion. There is the Amber Laboratory, where every AMBERIF customer may not only find information but also get a lab test done to confirm the type of the amber they’ve purchased – all free of charge. The SRJ Association of Jewellery Experts organises a gemmology seminar in partnership with the HRD Diamond High Council of Antwerp.
During the fair, the Amber. Treasure of Poland Consortium will run three projects: a media tour for 9 journalists from Germany, Italy, the USA and China, a special edition of the Amber and Fashion Gala – the Amber Look Trend & Style fashion show and a two-day International Amber Researcher Symposium on Amber. Deposits—Collections—The Market addressed to 100 participants. The Symposium is organised in partnership with: the PAS Museum of the Earth, Warsaw, the University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology, the Academies of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and Łódź and the International Amber Association.
Almost PLN 7 million will be allocated by Poland’s Ministry of Economy for amber promotion. Spread over the 2012–2014 period, the project covers a wide range of promotional activities, including Polish companies’ participation in jewellery trade shows worldwide, media tours with trade journalists from abroad coming to Poland and an advertising campaign in the German, Italian, US and Chinese consumer media.
The AMBER LOOK Trends&Styles 2013 Amber and Fashion Gala is an inseparable and much anticipated item on AMBERIF’s agenda. Every year, designer creations shine on the catwalk. In duos, and sometimes in trios, jewellery designers work with fashion designers to create consistent fashion concepts, with amber in the lead role.
“This year, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of AMBERIF and to mark the occasion we are going to hold the Gala in a new venue hoping that the event will enter its next decade with a new and contemporary image,” says Michał Starost, the Gala’s Art Director and one of the most versatile and celebrated Polish designers whose roots are in the Tri-City of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot.
And so, the Gala will take place in the post-industrial space of the Gdańsk Shipyard Centre rather than, as it used to in previous years, in the Concert Hall of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic.

 

 It is worth remembering that AMBERIF is also a brand which promotes artists and their art. Its competitions include the international AMBERIF DESIGN AWARD, which has been held for designers, artists and craftspeople since the third edition of the fair. This year, the competition subject was: a ring, with 152 entries submitted by 110 artists from 17 countries. The international celebrity jury awarded the main prize, sponsored by the Mayor of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz, to Polish artist Bożena Czarnecka for an extremely clever design. The ring is made of caramel, so deceptively similar to amber in its colour and translucency, in which small amber pieces are embedded to turn the amber itself into an inclusion. And to top it all, the ring can be . . . eaten. AMBERIF competition prizes will be presented at the Gala.
The annual compendium of knowledge about amber entitled TREND BOOK 2013+ will be launched at AMBERIF; it was written by Prof. Sławomir Fijałkowski, head of the Functional Forms and Jewellery Design Studio, Design Faculty, Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts, exhibition curator and competition judge.
“To me, it’s the quality criterion that matters. Contemporary solutions can be sought even in a traditional form. Amber is relatively easy to work with and comes in large sizes, which encourages the search for new cuts, new forms,” says Sławomir Fijałkowski.

 

The 20th anniversary AMBERIF is held for the first time in the new venue. The new AmberExpo centre is located next to Gdańsk’s amber-nugget shaped football stadium built for last year’s European Football Championship. AmberExpo is one of the most cutting-edge exhibition and convention centres in Europe. It offers three integrated exhibition halls with a total floor space of 12,000 m2, a Conference Centre with 4 rooms for more than 1000 participants and a mobile space arrangement option, a Restaurant and a car park for 430 vehicles.

 

It is no coincidence that the AMBERIF International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones – the largest amber trade show in the world – takes place in Gdańsk. With its Hanse tradition, located on the Baltic Sea coast, Gdańsk is known as the World Capital of Amber. Amber from the Bay of Gdańsk has been recognised for centuries in the Baltic Sea region and went on to reach the most distant parts of Europe. Traces of the oldest amber workshop in Gdańsk come from the late 10th century. It produced beads, rings, pendants, dice, game pieces and amulets and – after the 997 great baptism of Gdańsk by St Adalbert – also crosses. Archaeologists discovered about 1000 workshops in the area which manufactured amber jewellery and functional objects of daily use.

 

Every year, Gdańsk hosts two jewellery trade fairs: AMBERIF, held always in the spring, with 20 years in the business, and AMBERMART – in the autumn, with 14 years to its name. Both events are organised by the MTG SA Gdańsk International Fair Co.

AMBERIF’s honorary auspices are held by: Marshal of the Polish Senate Bogdan Borusewicz, Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński, Pomerania Region Voivod Ryszard Stachurski, Pomerania Marshal Mieczysław Struk and Mayor of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz.

 

More than 450 Exhibitors from Poland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Ukraine, as well as trade visitors from over 50 countries. AMBERIF is a trade-only event – addressed to persons and businesses who trade in jewellery, jewellery art and functional art. AMBERIF’s agenda will be developed in partnership with our long-standing partners including the SRJ Polish Association of Jewellery Experts, the HRD Diamond High Council of Antwerp, the Pomeranian Skilled Crafts Chamber of SMEs, the Polish Chamber of Amber Commerce, the International Amber Association and the STFZ Goldsmithing Artists’ Association.