| 04 Sep 2008 |
|
Dubai's rich splurge on diamond jewellery
- Text size
Thursday, Sep 04, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: Dubai consumers are willing to shell out more to purchase expensive and branded diamond jewellery, industry sources said yesterday.
Gold is still considered a better option in terms of investment, but the aesthetic value of diamonds is gaining popularity in the maturing jewellery market. Besides, the growing segment of upscale consumers, those with ample discretionary income, is driving diamond sales up.
According to Karim Merchant, managing director and CEO of Pure Gold Jewellers, the growth rate of diamond sales has outpaced that of gold jewellery, although the latter's sales output is still higher in terms of volume.
"I can't say that diamonds have taken over the gold jewellery sales, but for sure the growth rate for diamond jewellery is higher than gold jewellery, but in terms of volume, gold is much higher," Merchant said.
The Dubai-based jewellery group reported that its diamond sales this summer rose 60 per cent over a year ago.
The increase has topped the 50 per cent total growth for all of Pure Gold's jewellery sales during the first half of 2008.
"Middle East consumers in the last five years have become more brand conscious. They are willing to pay top dollar for design. Resale value of the jewellery is still an important factor, but not so much anymore, especially for the young buyers," Merchant told Gulf News.
Rolf Schneebeli, former head of the World Gold Council, confirmed there has been a shift in jewellery preference among consumers, a sign that the jewellery market is maturing and people's purchasing power has risen significantly.
He said diamonds are still not a better investment alternative compared to gold, but their artistic value is what attracts many consumers.
The number of super-rich residents in the region, those with net assets of at least $1 million, rose 8.3 per cent in 2006 to 9.5 million.
© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Loading ...
Post a Comment
Community Comments (1)
Dubai definitely has become a playground for the middle easts' super-rich and the increasing sales of high end designer diamond jewellery is proof of that.
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.