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Branded jewellery wins acceptance in UAE

Leading brands which glorify every mall in Dubai have now agreed that branding of jewellery is important since it defines brand strategy and quality of service provided to the customers. A quick glance at various prominent new line of jewellery collections of branded jewellery that were launched in first quarter of 2004, included brands such as Damas, Pure Gold, Intergold, Alukkas and Atlas.

Recent statistics from World Gold Council (WGC), indicate that UAE's gold consumption in first quarter in terms of jewellery touched 26.9 tonnes as against 22 tonnes in 2003 indicating a rise of 22 per cent.

Retail gold sales in UAE shot up by 41 per cent in first quarter of 2004. The total gold retail sales touched Dh1.6 billion in first quarter of the current year as against Dhs1.13 billion in 2003.

Moaz Barakat, Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, World Gold Council said: "Jewellery sector in the UAE is broadly classified in two segments. First category, defines gold as an investment tool and little importance is given to it as a piece of adornment. The second category includes customers who buy jewellery only for adornment and not as investment tool. The UAE market has witnessed the new trend in gold jewellery which is being treated more like a fashion accesorry rather than important possession of value. The branded jewellery is gaining more poularity as it cashes on human emotions which touch the sentimental aspects of customers and hence have wider reach."

Further Barakat added, promotional activities such as Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises have added to ever growing number of tourist and these tourist expect the presence of international brands. Hence branding of jewellery is now getting more acceptance in UAE markets.

Prominent gold traders in UAE say that increase in visitors in Dubai during DSF, coupled with local jewellery demand has aided the rise in jewellery sales. Further 'branding' of gold jewellery from all over the world is launched in Dubai and hence the jewellery consumption remains high in UAE.

Karim F Merchant, Managing Director, Pure Gold, said: "When we scheduled the launch of Pure Gold jewellery line UAE, we had clearly targeted the younger segment which is not very keen on buying gold jewellery as an fashion accessory. This is purely due to the myth that gold jewellery is expensive. We are making efforts to break this myth so that we can tap even the younger generation. The younger generation segment usually covers age bracket betwenn 16-25 years. We launched our collection in January 2004 with 22 carat jewellery. We are now concentrating more in changing our focus to the younger generation. Branding has helped us to boost our sales."

The Annual Jewellery Consumption (AJC) in Middle East has been on roller coaster ride. Statistics reveal that total consumption of Jewellery in Middle East was at a high of 650 tonnes in 2000 which dipped to 512.6 tonnes in 2001. The consumption further crashed to 414.6 tonnes in 2002 and in 2003 the consumption recovered to 537.30 tonnes.