From December 5 to 9, a festive revival reigned in the Exhibition Center of Dubai International Airport (Airport Expo Dubai): gold sparkled, sparkled diamonds, and the eyes of the visitors shone. The annual Watch and Jewelery exhibition, dedicated to watches and jewelry, was held here. Every year, it becomes an integral part of the business and cultural life of the Middle East and is of increasing interest among participants and visitors.
The dry statistics for this year are as follows. More than 400 foreign companies placed their stands at the exposition. Their products were available in the halls of Belgium, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Korea and Thailand. The Turkish pavilion alone was represented by more than forty companies. The total number of firms exceeded four and a half hundreds.
The interest in this event is also evidenced by the growth in the number of guests - this time they came by 20% more than last year. It was especially crowded in the last two days that fell on the weekend. (I’ll tell you a little secret: if you visit the exhibition with the goal of buying something shiny, you need to do this on the last day before closing, when sellers are most willing to discounts.)
The exposition included jewelry made of gold and platinum - with diamonds, colored precious stones and pearls. Equipment and tools for jewelry enterprises were also presented. The watch industry was not deprived of attention either - which is not surprising: about 10% of the total number of brand models are sold in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates alone occupies 11th place in the list of importers of luxury models of watches.
The organizers were extremely interested in the further growth of the jewelry market of the United Arab Emirates, the retail turnover of which is now 11 billion drx ($ 3 billion). Despite its modest size, the Emirates are among the ten countries with the highest gold consumption. At the same time, Dubai is considered the most dynamically developing world center for trade in this metal, precious stones and luxury goods. Currently, it imports more than 500 tons of gold annually, most of which is re-exported to other regions. In 2004, a UAE domestic market showed a 9% increase in gold consumption, reaching 96 tons.
A number of seminars and symposia were held within the framework of the exhibition. Among them, the presentation of the DTC (Diamond Trading Company), dedicated to the development of the industry and the strategy for promoting diamond jewelry to world markets, deserved special attention. The report on the importance for the UAE diamond market of the country's joining the agreement in the framework of the Kimberley Process - and, of course, a seminar conducted by representatives of the Gemological Institute of America on the parameters of certification of diamonds seemed extremely interesting.
Let's go back to the direct participants of the show. Along with foreign companies, local jewelry manufacturers (Damas, Bin Hendi, Istana, Chatila, Scintilla, Amwaj, Pure Gold, Salem Al Shueiby, Dhamani, Nabil Cheail, Hatta New World, Hanna Freres), as well as companies from Qatar, were also noted on it. , Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. I would like to note that the level of technical skill of the jewelers of these companies is constantly growing. Great progress is noticeable in the variety and originality of the models and materials used.
For those who could not attend the exhibition, I wish you not to miss this opportunity next year. He promises to please us with an even more grandiose and exciting spectacle.
Dmitry Kuznetsov
