UAE: Big fat Indian weddings drive gold jewellery demand in Dubai

Weddings, especially big fat Indian ones, are driving massive demand for gold and jewellery in the UAE as gatherings and celebrations are on a much larger scale than during the pandemic period.

Jewellers in Dubai said the drop in gold prices, which have come down to nearly 7-month lows recently, as well as recovery in seasonal demand are helping boost demand for jewellery in Dubai by around 20-30 per cent in September as compared to the previous month.

In the UAE, the 24K variant of the yellow metal closed the week at Dh233.75, 22K at Dh207.25, 21K at Dh200.75 and 18K at Dh172 per gram on Friday.

The UAE (especially Dubai) has been emerging as a major wedding destination, as tourism authorities are promoting the emirate as a dream wedding destination for its ultra-luxurious hotels and venues, world-class expertise in hosting such events and plenty of sights and attractions for new couples and attendees.

The UAE has recently seen some large-scale South Asian weddings taking place, including that of a relative of the LuLu Group family. Dubai will see another big fat Indian wedding in the coming weeks (thrown by the family behind the famous jewellery group Popley), which will be celebrated in the sky with 300 people onboard an aircraft.

Arjun Dhanak, director of Kanz Jewels, said a lot of marriages are happening in the UAE as the country is emerging as a major wedding destination.

“Weddings are getting bigger and crazy. The general perception is that people are moving to lighter weight and more minimalist jewellery. I don’t think that is the case. As weddings get bigger, people want bigger and crazier jewellery,” said Dhanak.

“From Mehndi to all the way to reception, jewellery plays a big part. During Covid-19, people were more interested in having closed-knit weddings where they didn’t require that kind of jewellery. But that is not the case anymore,” he added.

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