GIA coming to Dubai in 2006

[Pearls Dubai]

When recently registering for the GIA Pearls course, I was informed that the GIA would be opening an extension here in Dubai at the end of 2006.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Middle East and Dubai, the appreciation for gold and fine jewelry in general is simply tremendous here. There is a huge Gold Souk in downtown Dubai in which hundreds of small gold shops lines streets offering a fantastic selection and pricing for 18kt, 22kt, and 24kt gold. There is also a small "mall" known as the Gold and Diamond Park that is currently expanding from 30 shops to 100 shops all focused on fine jewelry. On top of this, there are jewelry stores everywhere!

It is extremely exciting for this part of the world to finally be getting the acknowledgement and recognition of the GIA.

 

[PearlsAndJade.com]

That reminds me of Beirut. In the late 60's and 70's, prior to the war that tore Beirut apart, Beirut was a stop on our (Pan Am) round the world flight, and since I flew that route a lot I got to spend many layovers there.

Beirut had a huge gold market area with many jewelry stores selling every kind of jewelry, especially jewelry made of gold. At that time gold was around $30 USD per ounce. One of my fellow pilots loaded up on gold as an investment every time he went there. Unfortunately, I only bought a few pieces of jewelry for my wife during my trips. I didn't foresee the big gold price jump.

Beirut was a beautiful seaside city with great restaurants, delicious food, and it was always a pleasurable layover.

We flew past Dubai on the route but we never had a stop there. Someday I hope to visit Dubai.

Bill

 

[jshepherd]

I have only been in the airport on my way to Africa - but even the airport is beautiful. I hear Dubai is the 'Las Vegas' of the region. I read a story about that 6* hotel built on the water - amazing!
I have a question about Dubai, however. As Dubai is near present natural pearling areas, are natural pearls prevalent in the jewelry? I have several customers (jewelers) in Dubai, so I do know that cultured pearls are imported. But a customer once asked me whether a strand of pearls found in UAE would likely be natural or cultured, and I was not sure...

 

[Pearls Dubai]

Bill - I went to Beirut a couples of years ago for a short vacation. The city is rebuilt (for the most part) and is simply beautiful. At that time, they were celebrating the rebuilding with a exhibition in the downtown area of before and after photos of the streets and the most notable buildings. It was amazing. We purchased a book called "Beirut's Memory" by Ayman Trawi that showcased many of the photos. Maybe there is something about it online if you are interested.

Jeremy - The hotel you are referring to is the Burj Al Arab and is shaped like sailboat and built on a man-made island. The structure and interior are a bit over the top and so are its prices. I have only enjoyed drinks there.

In my opinion, as for the jewelry stores in Dubai, only a minority of them offer any sort of pearls at all and these would mostly be strands and simply earrings. I have seen freshwater, akoya and tahitian strands. The Tahitian pearls I saw earlier this week seemed to be highly flawed (sort of pitted) for the price they were asking - about $15,000 USD. I have not seen much for South Sea pearls here - only a single one that a jewelry I know was using for a special commissioned project. So far, I have not seen or heard of any jeweller offering natural pearls (but I haven't asked around either). Just today I saw several strands of large pearls from Spain - asking price around $730 USD. Generally speaking, pearls are not very prevalent within the jewelry. Gold and diamonds are by far the biggest markets here.

 

[PearlsAndJade.com]

Bill - I went to Beirut a couples of years ago for a short vacation. The city is rebuilt (for the most part) and is simply beautiful. At that time, they were celebrating the rebuilding with a exhibition in the downtown area of before and after photos of the streets and the most notable buildings. It was amazing. We purchased a book called "Beirut's Memory" by Ayman Trawi that showcased many of the photos. Maybe there is something about it online if you are interested...

Thanks, I'll see if I can find it.

Bill