From unexpected retail sales to more than 100 new industry connections and growing stockist interest across Australia, Australian Jade’s appearance at IJF Sydney marked an exciting new chapter for the brand.
Australian Jade has returned from the 2026 International Jewellery Fair in Sydney with an exciting result: strong sales, more than 100 new retail contacts, multiple stockist enquiries, and an enthusiastic response to our contemporary Australian jade jewellery.
For us, the fair represented much more than a trade exhibition. It was an opportunity to introduce the Australian jewellery industry to what Australian jade can become when an ancient Australian material meets contemporary design and exceptional craftsmanship.
And the response exceeded our expectations.
More Than 100 Retail Connections
Throughout the fair, we established contact with more than 100 jewellery retailers and industry professionals from across Australia, as well as visitors from Hong Kong, Pakistan and Vietnam.
At least 10 retailers have already placed orders or made enquiries about becoming Australian Jade stockists, with further discussions continuing after the fair.
We were also pleasantly surprised by the number of direct sales during what is primarily a trade event. Some retailers loved particular pieces so much that, rather than purchasing them for their stores, they bought them for themselves.
For a brand introducing Australian jade and a new generation of jade jewellery to the broader jewellery market, this was perhaps one of the most encouraging responses we could receive.
Creativity, Technique and Finish Stand Out
One message came through repeatedly in our conversations with visitors.
People were impressed not only by Australian jade itself, but by the creativity, craftsmanship, techniques and fine finish of the jewellery.
Most of the jewellery pieces presented at the fair were designed and crafted by Hu Junhou, Chief Designer of the Australian Jade brand, based in Zhenping, Henan Province. A smaller selection was created by the Zhuang Jia Jade team led by Zhuang Qingfang in Sihui, Guangdong Province.
Our objective has always been to move beyond traditional expectations of what jade jewellery should look like. Australian jade is an extraordinarily ancient natural material, but that does not mean its design language needs to belong to the past.
We want to explore what happens when this ancient stone is placed in the hands of contemporary designers and skilled craftspeople—combining traditional knowledge with new ideas, forms and techniques.
This philosophy is captured in our brand motto:
Ancient Stone. Modern Spirit.
At Sydney, we were able to see that philosophy resonate with jewellery retailers, designers and industry professionals in person.
Geometric Earrings Become the Fair Bestseller
Among the many designs presented at IJF, our geometric earrings emerged as the biggest seller of the fair.
Their clean, architectural forms and contemporary proportions demonstrated how naturally Australian jade can sit within modern jewellery design.
One design, however, attracted particularly strong praise:
Nocturne Leaf Earrings
The Nocturne Leaf Earrings received some of the highest praise from visitors to our stand, with their balance of organic inspiration, contemporary form and refined craftsmanship attracting attention throughout the fair.
The response to these pieces reinforces an important direction for Australian Jade: allowing the material to retain its natural identity while exploring increasingly sophisticated and unexpected forms.
From Jewellery to Art: A New Opportunity for Australian Jade
At IJF Sydney, our focus was entirely on Australian jade jewellery, including contemporary pieces crafted by skilled jade artisans in Zhenping China.
However, something unexpected happened after the fair.
As visitors continued their journey with Australian Jade online, many explored deeper into our website and discovered our collection of Australian jade artworks created by Chinese jade artists and masters.
This resulted in multiple enquiries about these one-of-a-kind artistic pieces—despite none of them being physically displayed at the Sydney fair.
The response has been particularly exciting for us. It suggests that the Australian jewellery market is interested not only in Australian jade as a wearable material, but also in its potential as a medium for collectible art and contemporary jade carving.
These works bring together two very different worlds: an ancient Australian material and the extraordinary jade-carving traditions and artistic skills of China. Australian jade provides the canvas, while artists from renowned jade centres such as Zhenping bring their individual techniques, cultural perspectives and creative interpretations to the stone.
The level of interest following IJF has encouraged us to think bigger.
For IJF Sydney 2027, we are now considering bringing a curated selection of these Australian jade artworks to the fair for the first time.
This would allow visitors to experience another dimension of Australian jade—moving beyond jewellery to explore the stone as a material for sculpture, artistic expression and collectible works.
For Australian Jade, this is exactly the kind of dialogue we hope to create: taking a material formed in Australia over immense geological time and giving contemporary artists the freedom to interpret it in entirely new ways.
Ancient Australian stone. Centuries of jade craftsmanship. Contemporary artistic expression.
Interest Continued Beyond the Exhibition Hall
The increased attention was not limited to our stand.
During and immediately following IJF Sydney, traffic to the Australian Jade website increased significantly, as visitors continued exploring our collections and learning more about the origin, jewellery and artworks after meeting us at the fair.
For us, this is particularly meaningful.
Australian jade is still a discovery for many people. Seeing someone encounter the stone at the exhibition and then continue researching the material, exploring our designs and contacting us afterwards shows that the story is resonating beyond the initial encounter.
The enquiries about our artist-created works are a particularly good example of this. Visitors came to the fair to see jewellery, but their curiosity led them to discover an entirely different side of Australian Jade online.
From a South Australian Mine to Jewellery Stores Across Australia
The Sydney International Jewellery Fair marks an important new chapter for Australian Jade.
Our journey begins with natural jade from South Australia. From there, the stone passes through the hands of cutters, designers, craftspeople and artists before emerging in an entirely different form.
Now the next stage of that journey is beginning.
Following the strong response in Sydney, we are continuing discussions with retailers and expect to welcome more and more Australian Jade stockists across Australia in the months ahead.
Our ambition is to make it possible for customers—from Australia's major cities to regional communities—to walk into their local jeweller and discover Australian jade: to see it, touch it, learn where it comes from and experience what contemporary designers and artists can create from this remarkable Australian stone.
From our South Australian mine, to the hands of craftspeople and artists, to jewellery stores across the country, a new chapter for Australian jade is taking shape.
And Sydney showed us that this journey is only beginning.
Australian Jade
Ancient Stone. Modern Spirit.
See you next year, Sydney!
