Consumers in Dubai are making the move away from gold and towards diamond jewellery, industry executives said at a press conference in Dubai on Monday.
“Over the last six or seven years the shift has been happening from gold to diamonds,” Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), said as he announced the 7th Dubai City of Gold Conference, which will take place on May 2.
This was backed up by Chandu Siroya, vice-chairman of the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DGJG), who said that historically retailers in the emirate have seen a “steady” shift from gold to gems.
“If you look historically there was hardly any diamond jewellery [in Dubai]. Today the shift is towards diamond jewellery and high carat jewellery. There is a demand among consumers so we have adjusted our stocks accordingly,” he told Arabian Business on the sidelines of the event.
“The jewellery sector is the third biggest contributor to the UAE economy and a supporter of national wealth creation,” Sulayem added.
However, figures from the World Gold Council (WGC) found that demand for gold jewellery in the UAE in the fourth quarter of last year declined by 33 percent year-on-year.
“Jewellery sales in the UAE and Dubai in particular are continuing to suffer,” the WGC’s report said.
In its third quarter report, the WGC said that if the slump in demand for gold does not improve in Dubai the closure of some of the city’s legendary jewellers is ‘inevitable’.
While Siroya acknowledged that there had been a “reduction in the business and figures have gone down,” he said there had not been any major store closures in the sector.
“I still think the jewellery trade is very strong and I don’t see many shops closing down. If you go to the gold souks the shops are still open,” he added.
In terms of the price of gold, Alison Burns, regional head of precious metals at Standard Bank, told reporters at the conference that she believes that the price will continue to be volatile but that gold prices were likely to rise towards the end of the year, due to slow supply coming into the market and high investor appetite.
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