cherrytreebeads.com

Greetings from Hong Kong!  It has been a long 10 days here in HK and China but I am finally wrapping it up and will return home in the morning.  I was joined by David Whone from Bead Dreams of NY again.  We scheduled our trip around the September Jewellery & Watch Fair and the Asia Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair.  I have not been to the September shows in about 4 years and wanted to see if there was anything new and exciting in the market.  I unfortunately have to report that I didn’t find many new items coming this year for the bead industry.

We have started production at a new factory for some quality stones including: labradorite (a little gray but with nice fire), dumorterite, dragon blood jasper, a pale green/blue jasper which I don’t know what we will call yet, American picture jasper, and a few others.  We are also cutting a full line of Botswana agate from another factory.  In addition to these new items, we also have a full line of stones in a large variety of shapes already in production and expected to land around November of this year.

Some of the items we did pick up while in HK and in China include: a full line of small rounds, a nice selection of turquoise, about 8 colors of nice coin pearls, and a very nice selection of small pendants.  I did find a new manufacturer from Indonesia and have placed a sizable order for ethnic looking necklaces including pucca, bone, shell, coco beads, and more.  These are already finished into necklaces but we will sell them as strands anyway.  They caught my eye when I was walking the show and after a discussion with the factory owner, decided not to try to change up his products.  I think you will like them as much as I do!

As you have probably already heard, prices are heading up.  The combination of a weak dollar, a slow economy, and ever increasing labor costs in China is driving the market.  During our travels in China we were able to find some existing stock at last years price in RMB but due to the lower dollar and increased freight, our price of the goods landed in the US will be above those from last year.  I do not believe all of these price factors are negative.  I will never complain about the labor costs in China increasing.  We have visited many factories over the past 5 years and completely support the efforts of the Chinese workers to raise their standard of living.  We have seen many changes over this time and they are all good.

Well, I guess that’s all I have to report.  I am bringing back the China cold with me.  It has really kept me a little sluggish the past 3 days but I hope I will not bring it home to my family and friends.  I felt so badly that I tried to return a day early but the flight to Tampa was full so I was forced to stay.  I fell a little better today so it worked out for the best.

Hope to see you soon!  Give us a call and we’ll let you in on all the new products like our new brass and gold color base metal lines.

Take care and keep beading!

Bill

We are busy planning our next trip to China for September.  We normally try to go just after the Bead and Button Show in June but couldn’t work out the travel plans this year.  With the Olympics and the earthquake tragedy the flights got very expensive and the hotel accomodations were tight as well. 

Another new issue is the difficulty in getting business travel visas.  The Chinese government is now requiring an invitation letter stamped by the Chinese Ministry along with hotel reservations and a receipt of purchased airline flights before they will issue a visa.  We have everything in order now but have too many shows until September.

I usually travel with my friend David Whone from Bead Dreams of NY.  I feel much safer traveling with someone.  I will be traveling with David again this Fall.  In addition, I think we may have several other friends joining us.  Robert from C&S Beads has traveled with me before and may come along and David Sterling from Rare Earth has shown interest in visiting this year also.

We are going to be in Hong Kong during the September Jewelry Show this year.  I have not been to the show for 5 years but think it may be worth going back.  You can usually see the latest products at this show but the prices are not as good as those in Tucson.  In Tucson they are much more willing to sell a full lot, table or booth than in HK.  In HK they can just take it back to their factory or showroom without liquidating the stock.  A major drawback to traveling to China during the HK Jewelry Show is that the factories and showrooms are often closed because they are attending the show also.  This limits the number of locations we can visit.  We will overcome this by traveling further into China to visit more remote factories.

Please let Jenn or me know if you are looking for anything special for the Fall or Spring and I will try to source it for you.  I normally don’t receive the goods I contract for in the Fall until Tucson, so expect some delays unless I can find it in ready stock.

I hope to blog about the advantages/disadvantages of shopping in China vs. Tucson soon.  I have been going to China for 5 years now and think I have some valid input on the subject.  Keep an eye out for the article!

Hope you get a chance to check out our new items on the website (www.cherrytreebeads.com).  Hope to hear from you soon!

Bill

As I sit down here to write my first post to my blog, I’m taking a break from my preparations for the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee.  My daughter Beth will be traveling with me this year.  We will be heading out on Monday afternoon and will stopby our office in Asheville to visit Jenn and pick up Adriana.

We have some very nice new products for the show this year.  I have just received a large order from China which includes several new stones for us.  One of the most interesting is a new chrysocolla from Madagascar.  I found this stone in Tucson in the spring.  One of the reps from a Chinese factory had 2 hanks on their table.  It was only available in a nugget but even in this small shape I could see it was special.  We placed an order with the factory and received it just in time for the show.  I hope you get a chance to stop by the booth or look on the website (www.cherrytreebeads.com) to check it out.

Several other stones that we have received our full line of shapes are Brazilian Agate, Iron zebra jasper, gray agate, and sardonyx.

For those of you traveling to Bead and Button for the first time you are in for a treat.  I believe this is the best bead show of the year!  You get to see the premier bead suppliers all in one venue.  This is much different from Tucson where things are spread all over the city and many of the vendors are fly-by-night suppliers who only do the one show a year.  Many of the vendors at Bead and Button have been established for many years and are consistent suppliers year round.

You will find vendors at this show to meet almost any need.  We at Cherry Tree Beads specialize in gemstone beads and glass beads but you will find vendors who specialize in many other areas including clasps, findings, tools, silver, shell, pearls, seed beads, pendants, cabichons, buttons and everything else you can imagine.

I’m looking forward to seeing all my friends again!  I hope you can join us.

See you soon,

Bill