A portal to riches

Dubai is luxury grand central, but so are its up-and-coming neighbors

The City of Gold, as Dubai, the most glamorous of the United Arab Emirates’ seven sheikhdoms is known, has much to recommend it as a jewelry hub. Centrally located at the nexus of Asia, Europe and Africa, the region boasts a pearling legacy that dates back centuries. With its density of luxury hotels and shopping malls, wealthy tourists from the earth’s four corners flock here to spend their money, which is to say nothing of the locals (well, at least the ones who were born locally). The eagerness with which the Emiratis consume jewelry hardly requires mentioning. It’s practically an axiom that beneath even the most modest burka, you’re likely to find a fortune in stones. While the world-famous Gold Souk is where Dubai’s obsession with gold is most evident, the luxury boutiques in the Wafi Center or Mall of the Emirates are where that obsession is cultivated. Whether it’s the hip, prestigious selection of jewels at Harvey Nichols Dubai or a stroll through brand name heaven at the BurJuman mall — home to a sleek and service-oriented Saks Fifth Avenue — Dubai’s privileged classes don’t have far to go to find the best of the best in high jewelry. Much like in Moscow, the beneficiaries of all that business are luxury groups. Damas is among the most powerful entities. Founded in 1907, the company has grown from a locally based jeweler into a global fashion and jewelry network spanning throughout the U.K., Italy, Libya, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Maldives, India, Lebanon and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. At its more than 386 global sales points (most of them concentrated in the UAE, where the company’s branding campaign is ubiquitous), Damas houses internationally acclaimed jewelry and watch brands such as Tiffany & Co., Mikimoto, Daniel K, Gucci, Faberge, Carrera y Carrera, Paspaley, Pasquale Bruni, Roberto Coin, Fope, Chronoswiss and Parmigiani.

Courtesy of the Government of Dubai, Dept.of Tourism and Commerce Mktg.

But that’s hardly enough to sate Dubai’s luxury-mad consumers. Al Tayer, a three-decades-old family business, is a local partner to Asprey, Boucheron, Bulgari, Damiani and Pomellato, while Samra Jewellery is the exclusive agent for brands such as France’s Korloff, which recently opened a boutique in the BurJuman center. What all of these brands and groups have in common is their growing belief that Dubai is a gateway, not only to the other emirates — whose ruling sheiks are keen on diversifying their economies by weaning themselves off oil in lieu of other less volatile moneymakers, such as tourism — but also to the Middle East’s up-and-coming destinations. Bahrain, the archipelago nation in the Persian Gulf accessed by the King Fahd Causeway from Saudi Arabia, has remade itself into an international banking hub, while its peninsular neighbor, Qatar, and its capital, Doha, in particular, are beginning to attract wealthy Middle Eastern tourists and, therefore, the luxury trade’s attention. Then there’s the enormous oil-drenched wealth that lies in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, in Saudi cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah. Dubai is the region’s role model, thanks to its spectacular interpretation of what constitutes a modern Middle Eastern metropolis. But that’s only convinced neighboring locales they now have something to prove.

Golden girls The 18-karat yellow gold and diamond Ava bracelet, $53,570, by Carrera y Carrera, and the Meteorite earrings in 18-karat white gold with cognac diamonds, $73,380, by Roberto Coin are typical of the jewels seen on burka-clad women in the “City of Gold,” Dubai, the most glamorous of the United Arab Emirates.