On the heels of the most successful Couture event ever, this year's Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference 2003 is sold out and posting the highest return rate yet. With 156 exhibitors, Couture's Advisory Council vetted and rotated 20 new replacement exhibitors to freshen the roster, as they do annually.

Next May, Couture will host its ninth conference with a sold-out list of the jewelry industry's most elite designers and watchmakers, including Montblanc, Mikimoto, Boucheron Montres USA and David Yurman. Couture is the only trade show that vets its invitation list every year to deliver the highest caliber retailers to ensure high at-the-event sales. Indicative of their confidence in the return on investment at the Conference, over 30 percent of the 156 exhibitors have increased their salon space over last year.

Exhibitors have good reason for their confidence: in 2002, exhibitors reported over $110 million in wholesale sales from Couture retail attendees. Retail owners doubled their number of appointments held at the event and individual retailers' spending went up as well, even though Couture's Advisory Council decreased the number of attending companies from 200 to 170 to ensure only the highest caliber attendees. Compared to 2000 - Couture's previously strongest year - sales increased over 14 percent.

Adding to the anticipation is a new venue that is conducive to maximizing the number of retail appointments: Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. The resort, which opened in December 2002, was also chosen for its ability to fully accommodate all of the Conference's attendees while providing the service they have come to expect of Couture.

“The intimate, one-on-one nature of the event that differentiates Couture from other trade shows will be maintained while the new resort offers new venues and expanded networking and relationship building,” said Nancy Robey, Global Brand Director of Couture Events Group. “Although the venue is larger, we plan to maintain the current ratio of exhibitors and retail guests while offering our Couture Jewelers larger, more spacious salons for more flexibility with appointment schedules. The property also will allow us to present our events in a prestigious business networking environment and offer exciting venues and restaurants for our evening entertainment.”

About Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference.
The Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference is the definitive event for the most upscale jewelers and the designers, manufacturers, watchmakers and press that serve them. Like the premier fashion designers who present their new lines on the runways of Paris, Milan, London, and New York, the world's elite jewelry designers gather to show their latest collections at the Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference. The conference is by-invitation-only and to the trade.

The Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference and its European counterpart held in Monte Carlo are produced by VNU Expositions, Inc., a leading event management company producing trade shows, conferences and special events such as the JA International Jewelry Shows. VNU Expositions, Inc. is part of VNU Business Media, Inc. a subsidiary of VNU, one of the world's leading publishing and information companies. VNU publishes Couture International Jeweler, the official trade journal of the event; Couture is founding member of the Luxury Marketing Council.

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Source: Couture press release
December 2002