The Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair, which opens Sept. 21 at the Hong Kong Exhibition Center and run through September 27, will be the first stop on a world tour of the “Awards Collection 2003.” The collection includes 50 designs from the 2003 Antwerp Diamond High Council Awards, a biennial diamond jewelry competition that for the first time this year was opened to an international field.

The Antwerp Diamond High Council (HRD) said it selected the Hong Kong show as the first venue for the Awards Collection tour because the HRD is the international sponsor of the show.

The Belgian diamond sector will be represented at the Hong Kong show in two Antwerp Diamond Pavilions —in Atrium 2 and in Hall 5. The HRD booth is located in Atrium 2, and it is there that the 50 original jewelry pieces from the “Awards Collection 2003” will be put on view.

The decision by the HRD to open its biennial diamond jewelry competition to entrants from around the world is part a larger strategy aimed at expanding Antwerp’s role from being the world’s most important diamond center to also being a primary hub in the international jewelry distribution chain. The competition, which recognizes creativity and design excellence in contemporary diamond jewelry, had finalists coming from 12 different countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Four of the five first-place winners were from outside of Belgium.

The “Awards Collection 2003” is supported by UBS Wealth Management as part of its global commitment to passion, discipline and creativity. Following Hong Kong, it will visit Paris, Vicenza, Basel, and Las Vegas.

JCK