Jewelers from all over the world take pride in winning awards at the London Jewellery Show, as winning an award means receiving more attention.
After winning the gold medal last year, Qin's Jewelry received orders from jewelry buyers in many countries. According to Qin Haoran, the entire Qin's Jewelry processing plant has been extremely busy this year.
"Sir, Madam, please show me your invitations..."
The entire third floor was the venue for this exhibition, covering an area of several thousand square meters. It was filled with jewelry booths of all sizes from various countries and private individuals. However, Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing were stopped by the guards at the entrance.
"What? This isn't a casual visit?"
After Qin Xuanbing took out two invitations from her handbag and entered the venue, Zhuang Rui asked her with some surprise.
"Of course not. At exhibitions like this, the jewelry is for sale. If visitors want to come in to view or buy jewelry, they have to pay a £50 fee..."
Zhuang Rui was speechless upon hearing Qin Xuanbing's words. 50 pounds was equivalent to 600 or 700 RMB. The ticket price was much more expensive than in China. For example, tickets for the China Hi-Tech Fair or the Canton Fair only cost a few dozen RMB.
Moreover, after entering the venue, Zhuang Rui learned that all the booths in the venue were paid for, and the prices were extremely high. A typical booth cost around £400 per square meter. If you add the costs of decoration and lighting, the cost of a single booth would be over one million RMB.
However, according to Qin Xuanbing, all these expenses were worthwhile. Qin's Jewelry spent more than three million Hong Kong dollars to participate in the exhibition last year, but received orders worth as much as three hundred million Hong Kong dollars. The pros and cons are not difficult to judge.
As Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing walked along the aisles between the exhibition halls, they could see that although it was called a jewelry expo, some of the items on display in these halls went beyond the scope of jewelry.
In addition to branded jewelry from well-known companies, there are also showrooms specializing in second-hand jewelry, children's jewelry, apparel jewelry, fashion jewelry, and luxury jewelry. The categories are very detailed, allowing jewelers and visitors to select the items they need based on each subcategory.
In addition to the jewelry exhibits, there were also exhibition halls for antiques and gifts, which greatly piqued Zhuang Rui's interest. It was a bit like a temple fair in China, and he might be able to find some good items there.
At this moment, most of the people in the exhibition hall were exhibitors from various countries, waiting for the opening of the expo, while others were busy setting up their exhibition booths.
In the middle of the exhibition hall, there was an empty space of several hundred square meters, with only one jewelry display case. The piece of jewelry inside the glass case was the purple-eyed jade necklace that Zhuang Rui had given to Qin Xuanbing.
This was sent over in advance by Qin Xuanbing as requested by the organizing committee of the conference. This is also a convention of the conference, as the award ceremony for the gold medal jewelry of the previous conference will be held at this expo.
After waiting for about ten minutes, all the exhibitors and buyers participating in the expo gathered in this open space, and a gray-haired host stood in the center of the venue in front of the purple-eyed jade necklace display.
It seems that these opening ceremonies, both domestic and international, are all very similar. The host first introduced some of the distinguished guests who came to attend the opening ceremony, including the Mayor of London.
Fortunately, these VIPs were just there to show their support and didn't give a speech like the leaders in China.
"Next, please welcome Ms. Qin Xuanbing from Hong Kong Qin's Jewelry Group to receive the gold medal certificate from the previous expo..."
The opening ceremony proceeded very quickly. A few minutes later, the host mentioned Qin Xuanbing's name, and after the awards ceremony, the expo was officially open.
"Beautiful Miss Qin, your charm makes this piece of jewelry pale in comparison. May I ask if I may place this piece of jewelry on you?"
Qin Xuanbing was indeed radiant today. Her height of over 1.7 meters and her curvaceous figure, paired with this Chinese cheongsam, made her even more beautiful and charming. Many people's eyes were fixed on her fair thighs, which were faintly visible through the slit of the cheongsam.
"Thank you, but I would much rather have my loved one put this piece of jewelry on my finger..."
Qin Xuanbing politely declined the host's request and turned her gaze to Zhuang Rui.
"Damn it, why wasn't that man me?"
"Oh, beauty from the East, I must go to the East to find my beloved..."
"Your beloved? What about your wife at home now?"
Amidst envious glances and whispers, Zhuang Rui walked over, took out the purple jade necklace that originally belonged to him from the display case, and put it around Qin Xuanbing's neck. Her fair skin paired with the alluring purple color made her look dazzling under the lights.
"Kiss her!"
"Kiss her!"
"My dear, you are one of a kind..."
Amidst cheers and jeers from the crowd, Zhuang Rui kissed Qin Xuanbing on the cheek, followed by applause. The opening ceremony of the expo commenced amidst the applause. ...
"Miss, Mr. Zhuang, this is Qin's Jewelry's showroom for this year. Please take a look and see if there are any areas that need modification. I'll have someone make changes immediately..."
After the opening ceremony, Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing, led by staff from Qin's Jewelry, arrived at the Qin's Jewelry showroom.
Because Qin Haoran had specifically instructed that Zhuang Rui's opinions should be the primary consideration for this jewelry exhibition, the staff member from Hong Kong treated Zhuang Rui with extreme respect.
"That's fine, you can proceed according to plan. Xuanbing and I have some other things to take care of..."
Zhuang Rui glanced at them and saw that most of the jewelry in the glass cases on display were red jadeite ornaments that he had gambled on in Myanmar this year.
Chapter 662 One shouldn't be too shameless
The jewelry made from this batch of material, although only graded as Grade A, does not reach the level of top-grade jadeite jewelry. However, women have always preferred red, so there were quite a few jewelry buyers standing next to the booth, inquiring about the prices of the jewelry.
"Xuanbing, have we completed our mission?"
Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing sat on the sofa in their own showroom, and asked somewhat boredly. At this moment, his mind was already on the several showrooms selling Chinese and foreign artworks, and he had little interest in his own business.
"Well, Daddy has taken care of everything else, so we don't have anything to do..."
Qin Xuanbing nodded. She didn't really like these kinds of occasions either. If it weren't for the family business, she would never show her face in public.
"Alright, since everything's alright, go back to your room and change your clothes. Then we can wander around a bit. I have an appointment with Ezkena tomorrow; after we finish our business, we'll head back to Beijing..."
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rui stood up, but the first thing he did was to tell Qin Xuanbing to go back to her room to change her clothes. His woman was wearing such revealing clothes and being stared at by everyone. Zhuang Rui wished he could wrap Qin Xuanbing up completely with a bed sheet.
On another note, even with that jade necklace worth hundreds of millions around Qin Xuanbing's neck, she wouldn't feel at ease wearing it. There's a group of jewel thieves in this world who specifically target expensive jewelry. Qin Xuanbing may look beautiful in the necklace, but it's also the source of trouble she might attract.
Back in the room, Zhuang Rui handed the necklace to Peng Fei. With Peng Fei and Bai Shi there, he figured no thief in the world could steal the necklace from them.
"Crack!"
The sound of shattering glass echoed from the luxurious office of the Paris auction house.
"Did you find out who did this? Who did it?"
Richard's short, stout body produced a voice comparable to the world's number one tenor, causing the glass in front of him to tremble slightly, while the innocent crystal ashtray on the ground was torn to pieces and scattered all over the floor.
“Boss, we found that this video was originally released by an American company, but that company… that company has no connection with us and couldn’t possibly do something like this…”
Standing in front of Richard was Bartcap Raz, the auction house's public relations manager, who handled most of the external affairs. However, Bartcap clearly didn't have a better solution for this auction scandal.
"What company? How can you be so sure there's no contact?"
Daniel was also furious about the video circulating online, because it contained his apology, and it was filmed very clearly, even giving a close-up of his humble facial expression.
His phone had been ringing non-stop since early this morning. It was either old friends calling to ask how things were going, or colleagues making calls that seemed to be comforting but were actually mocking. The gloating in their voices meant that Daniel's phone was already ruined before the crystal ashtray hit the ground.
Daniel had had enough. Known for his composure, he now felt an urge to grab his antique hunting rifle and blow the head off the person who shared the video.
"That's a women's underwear company. I...I don't think I have anything to do with them. It's probably a hacker attack..."
Bartcap was also furious. The video had severely damaged their company's image. He had been so busy all morning that he hadn't even had time to go to the toilet, and the feeling of a swollen bladder was very unpleasant.
"Damn it, go get a hacker and find out who did it. I'm going to kill him!" Richard was like a bull that had been teased to the point of rage, no... a boar or something more like a pig, waving his short arms and spitting saliva all over Bartcap's face.
"Richard, do you think it could have been that kid from yesterday?"
After venting his frustrations, Daniel gradually calmed down. The auction incident was rather strange. There shouldn't have been any reporters who managed to sneak into the meeting room yesterday, and if they had, they definitely wouldn't have uploaded the video directly to the internet; they would have done an exclusive report instead.
"It shouldn't be that. I think... it might be our rivals. You know, there's a special auction of Chinese art in Hong Kong next month. It's very likely they orchestrated it..."
Upon hearing Daniel's words, Richard's fury vanished instantly, replaced by a solemn expression. Reaching their level of status required more than just the ability to hurl insults.
"Damn it, a bunch of selfish bastards, Richard. It seems this auction isn't going to achieve the desired results. Should we lower the bid and try to improve our relationship with those Chinese?"
Daniel swore, then thought of a solution. There were only a handful of auction houses that could rival them, and while the relationships between these auction houses weren't irreconcilable, there were still occasional frictions.
So when Daniel heard Richard's words, he immediately ruled out Zhuang Rui as a suspect. After all, the young man had praised his decision when he left yesterday, so he shouldn't turn around and expose this matter. One shouldn't be too...shameless, right?
"Alright, we'd rather have a lower profit margin this time than let those bastards profit from it..."
Richard slammed his hand on the table and immediately gave orders, instructing Bartcalp to inform Jefferson to lower the starting bid.
Zhuang Rui, far away in England, was naturally unaware that the auction scandal he orchestrated had actually benefited Chinese collectors in Paris, who were able to purchase many rare items at prices far below market value.
This experience taught those who remained a lesson, leading them to spontaneously organize themselves in subsequent international auctions. They used collective strength to challenge auction houses, ensuring that while the value of Chinese artworks continued to rise steadily, there were no more instances of inflated prices at auctions.
"Achoo! Who's insulting me?"
As Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing strolled hand in hand through the various jewelry exhibition halls of the expo, Zhuang Rui suddenly sneezed, the sound so loud that everyone around them turned to look at him.
"Honey, are you catching a cold? It's all your fault, you wanted to just go for a little while..."
Qin Xuanbing first asked with concern, but then rolled her eyes at Zhuang Rui and pinched his waist. She had been groped by this pervert while she was changing clothes.
"It's nothing, it's not a cold..."
Zhuang Rui grinned and grabbed Qin Xuanbing's small hand. He thought to himself, "Women usually pinch the softest spot, so how come they pinch so accurately?"
"Could it be that those two old bastards found out?"
Zhuang Rui was feeling a bit guilty at this moment, but he was sure that he had handled the matter very cleanly. He wasn't afraid of Richard and the others coming after him; without any evidence, he could just deny it.
After fooling Qin Xuanbing, the two went to a showroom that sells handicrafts and gifts. In foreign countries, antiques are all referred to as works of art, and their market regulations and classifications are more detailed than those of Chinese antiques.
In this exhibition hall, there are some antique jewelry pieces with relatively dark colors, as well as some oil paintings, all works by emerging artists.
There were also some rusty bronze artifacts, which piqued Zhuang Rui's interest. However, when he walked up to the glass display case and examined them with his spiritual energy, he was immediately disappointed. All of these items were fake.
Zhuang Rui had long heard that there was a village in Henan that specialized in making bronze artifacts. Their craftsmanship was superb, and their antiquing techniques were so sophisticated that they could almost be mistaken for the real thing.
Many unscrupulous antique dealers frequently order bronzes from there. Although the people there will make the items according to the other person's wishes, they will leave a receipt for every item sold, which will invariably state that the item is a modern craft.
In this way, even if antique dealers use these items to cheat and swindle, they won't be able to find this village. Even if someone comes to them with fake items, they can produce the original receipt and photos, leaving the person who bought the fake items speechless.
The bronze artifacts produced in that village have another characteristic: even though the vast majority are exported, the foreign exchange generated by the village in a year accounts for more than half of the entire county's total.
Judging from the manufacturing techniques of these bronzes, Zhuang Rui could almost certainly conclude that these items were brought out of China, and most likely, they were made in that village in Henan.
Several salespeople were enthusiastically explaining the value of these items to buyers and tourists.
"Xuanbing, let's go, there's nothing to see here..."
These items held no appeal for Zhuang Rui. After browsing around without finding anything that could entice him, Zhuang Rui shook his head and left the exhibition hall with Qin Xuanbing.
"Oh, dear Zhuang, I've been looking for you for ages..."
Just as Zhuang Rui stepped out of the exhibition hall, he heard someone calling his name loudly to his right. Turning around, he couldn't help but laugh. Rather than looking at these boring objects here, he might as well go and see this person's collection.
“Mr. Ezkener, it’s a pleasure to meet you here. Are you interested in jewelry as well?”
Zhuang Rui and Ezkenayo's meeting is tomorrow, because Huangfu Yun can finish his business in New York tomorrow and rush to London to participate in this matter.
For transactions like Zhuang Rui's, the presence of lawyers and notaries is required so that Zhuang Rui can explain the origin of these items after returning to China.