Dazzling Designs: Jewellery in Qatar

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Dazzling Designs: Jewellery in Qatar  Join Qatar 365 as the team explores Qatar’s luxury retail sector at the 21st edition of the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition and admires the timeless craftmanship on display at Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art, where some jewellery pieces trace back centuries.  In partnership with Media City  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/28/dazzling-designs-jewellery-in-qatar  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Qatar is already well-established market in the luxury business in general and watches and

00:06jewelry of course part of this luxury industry. Middle East is an incredibly important market

00:12because of the passion, the knowledge, the history that really is born from the Middle East.

00:17Luxury is a way of life here.

00:22Hello, welcome to Qatar 365 with me, Adil Halim. On this episode, we're back at the

00:28Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition. The world-renowned luxury event has returned to Qatar for its 21st

00:35edition. I'll explore how watches can be both functional and fashionable as I try on some of

00:40the most cutting-edge and high-end designs on the market. But first, Ioana Hu's goes window shopping

00:46at some of the most established international jewelry brands.

00:51It's glitz, it's glamour, but above all, the Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition is a treasure trove

00:57of craftsmanship and some of the world's most dazzling designs. Once a diamond in the rough,

01:03over the past two decades, the prestigious event has grown into one of the most celebrated exhibitions

01:07in the market, cementing Qatar's position as a luxury tourism destination.

01:13Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition hosts more than 500 brands from all around the world,

01:19from about 32 countries. And we are talking about Qatar. We are talking about not only a destination

01:26attraction when it's come to the entertainment and festival, but also we are talking about the

01:30luxury tourism. We want to showcase the readiness of our infrastructure, hosting such kind of a mega

01:36project that definitely brings visitors and those who have the enthusiasts to learn more about the

01:42luxury that awaits them inside.

01:44There are plenty of up-and-coming designers here hoping to bedazzle visitors and make a name for

01:49themselves in the jewelry industry. But some of the biggest stands have been reserved for brands

01:54that have been around for decades and some even centuries.

01:59One of the exhibition's crown jewels, the Tiffany & Co. Pavilion,

02:04an American luxury jewelry house founded in 1837.

02:08Middle East is an incredibly important market because of the passion, the knowledge, the history

02:13that really is born from the Middle East. Luxury is a way of life here. Tiffany & Co. has been a great

02:19part of it and it's a very important market to us because of the incredibly important clients that we

02:24have here. So this is really about showcasing the best of what Tiffany & Co. has, which are exceptional

02:30diamonds, colored gemstones and of course pearls.

02:33The highlight of the Tiffany & Co. Pavilion is this display, a collection of jewelry that is all about

02:39celebrating the natural heritage and pearl diving traditions of the Arabian Peninsula.

02:45We are extraordinarily proud to be featuring some exceptional pearls that are really we're bringing

02:51back home. They're from the Gulf, they're in incredible creations featuring diamonds inspired by the

02:57great Jean Schlumberger who's one of our iconic designers at Tiffany & Co. and really features

03:03incredible silver, near white, large beautiful pearls that really highlight the unique nature of these

03:10beautiful gemstones. While many of the exhibition's jewelry pieces are unique and exclusive, the yearly

03:18event is accessible for all free of charge. Meaning that for five days visitors can come to admire the

03:24beauty on display at the Doha National Convention Center, whether you're here to spend big or just have a

03:29little browse like me.

03:35Now from an annual temporary exhibition to a permanent collection, I've come to the Museum of Islamic Art to

03:41check out some extraordinary pieces of jewelry. To help us understand the significance of these precious

03:46stones, I sat down with Dr. Muniya Shekhab-Abudaya, Mia's Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs.

03:52Some of those daggers and that's the finial.

03:57Dr. Muniya, the museum hosts an expansive jewelry collection with pieces that come from all over the

04:02world. In terms of numbers, how many pieces do you have here and where do they come from?

04:06So the Museum of Islamic Art holds a collection of approximately 500 jewelry pieces, which is actually a

04:13fairly small part of the collection. If we think of the total number being approximately 12,000 pieces.

04:21On display, there's around 150 pieces of jewelry from Morocco, Spain, all the way to Southeast Asia,

04:29Indonesia, the Philippines even. So it really shows the diversity of pieces that are being produced in the

04:36Islamic world from the 9th century all the way to the 20th century. So it's a wide range of the Islamic world.

04:45Are there some commonalities or stark differences you see when you kind of compare the pieces?

04:50There's actually a lot of differences because it shows that there's a syncretism between indigenous techniques and

05:00any of the jewelry that would have been already produced in specific regions of the Islamic world and

05:08how it's been reused and refined in the Islamic period. So for example, if we look at Spanish jewelry from the

05:17medieval period, it shows very much an influence of what was produced in Europe and same in Indonesia. For example,

05:25you have a lot of use of techniques that already belonged to Southeast Asia and to Indonesia in

05:31particular in previous periods before Islam was introduced in these regions. So some of the pieces

05:38come from the Islamic world from the 8th to the 13th century, around the time when Iran was expanding

05:43its political influence and becoming a key player. How did this influence Iranian art? The 8th to the 13th

05:51century was a very pivotal period for not just Iran but also Iran and Central Asia in terms of jewelry

05:59making and I would say that it's very close to what has been produced in Egypt and Syria between the

06:069th and 12th century in terms of techniques at least because they would have been using some of the

06:12antique techniques but would have refined them. So you find a lot of gold that would have been used at that

06:19time with a little bit of enameled metal work as well which would have been combined with precious stones

06:26and jewelry making. So of course this is the medieval period for the the entire Islamic world is a time

06:35when the techniques and the production of jewelry has been very influential I would say for the later

06:43centuries. Now we're in the South Asian Gallery. One of the most famous pieces here is the Varanasi

06:49style diamond necklace. Varanasi necklace has been done in North India it's really representative of

06:56South Asian jewelry during the Mughal period so it is set with very precious stones including

07:02diamonds and diamonds were really part of the the the production in India. In general South Asia has been

07:10very prolific in jewelry making using precious materials such as jade that would have come from

07:18China and Eastern Asia. They would have been using as well emeralds that come from Colombia that were

07:25coming from through the Portuguese trade and later on with the British trade and then you have the use of

07:31spinels. We have a few pieces here in this gallery which people confuse with rubies because they are a bit red but

07:39they are actually pinkish red they're not exactly as red as rubies and spinels would have come from

07:45present-day Bangladesh or present-day Sri Lanka which were also somehow part of South Asian dynasties and so

07:53this would have been traded into into present-day India to make those jewelry pieces.

07:59The hope is by hosting a platform where a diverse range of exhibitors are under one roof Qatar will

08:07continue to establish itself as a leading destination for luxury shopping. I got a chance to check out some

08:13incredible timepieces on display. For Maha Al Ferdan the Doha Jewelry and Watches exhibition has a special

08:21place in her heart. She fondly remembers visiting every year as a child. The exhibition is quite literally

08:29part of the family business and now so is she. Since I was a kid they've been bringing us every year

08:37I was young and I would come I would come walk around see the jewelry since I was younger and my

08:44cousins my siblings as well so every year we learn more we know more we understand it more and finally

08:52this year I joined the family business. Along with four of her cousins Maha is part of the third generation

08:58of Al Ferdans bringing an injection of youth to the company and what better place to leave their mark

09:03on the legacy brand than at an international exhibition. And it started 20 years ago when my

09:09grandfather Hussein Al Ferdan decided that he wanted to have a showcase to show the diamonds the jewelry

09:16and so every year we're here we have one of the biggest pavilions actually in the Doha Jewelry Watches

09:24exhibition and we show all the brands that are under Al Ferdan Jewelry. There are more than 500 brands

09:33from 30 countries represented at this exhibition. This is the 13th straight year Ayd Adwan has been

09:39coming to the DJWE on behalf of 140 year old Swiss luxury watch brand Breitling. Middle East region is

09:47very important region for Breitling globally and Qatar is one of the most important market for us here and

09:54this is one of the reason why we are coming here of course to meet with our local retail partner and

10:01in the same time to meet all our clients our friend of the brand our partners here in the country.

10:09Adwan remembers the exhibition's early days he's seen significant growth in the size and scope of what

10:15he calls a global gathering. It was a smaller and less brand and as we said before Qatar become more

10:22and more destination for luxury brands and we see the growth of the exhibition we see a lot of new

10:28brand which myself even I don't know so it's good chances for us as I said to to show our product but

10:34also to learn about the watch and jewelry industry in general. Another Swiss luxury watch manufacturer on

10:41full display here is IWC Schaffhausen. Originally founded as the international watch company the brand has been

10:49around since 1868. More than 150 years and since then we are very well known for being the engineers of

10:58time and also for our craftsmanship and for our innovation. For many international brands this

11:05exhibition not only allows them to showcase their luxury craftsmanship to their Gulf clientele but

11:11also to foster growing cultural exchange. Our presence in the region is extremely important for us and

11:17Qatar is one of the most key country in the region and of course we want to spread the world but we want

11:24to show also to show the region how much it is important for us at an international level.

11:36From glitzy jewels to elegant timepieces we hope you enjoyed discovering how the luxury retail sector

11:41continues to grow in Qatar from here at the 21st Doha Jewelry and Watches exhibition. But that's all the time

11:48we have for now. For more check out Euronews.com and connect with us through our hashtag. Thanks for

11:52watching and we'll see you next time on Qatar 365.

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