Diamonds sparkle as Valentine's Day gifts

Dubai: With Valentine's Day considered a key date on the local retail calendar, jewellery retailers are casting their net wide to catch all manner of shopper preferences. Keeping the cash-straitened circumstances in mind, pendants can be had for just over Dh300, and there are no limits at the opposite end of the price spectrum.

The key takeaway for the retailers is to get the shoppers into their outlets in the run-up to and on the day itself. Pure Gold Jewellers chief executive officer Karim Merchant confirmed the retailer had a 25 per cent increase in sales during the period compared with the year before, largely as a result of having a wider dedicated collection to mark the occasion.

And diamond jewellery, rather than gold, is the preferred choice for most shoppers. That also pushes out the gold prices — currently in a subdued state — as a consideration.

"We are noticing that sales have picked up in the last week or so ahead of Valentine's, and these are about equal, if not exceeding, last year's sales to date," said Raj Sahai, director of retail at Damas.

"Customers are looking for jewellery that tells a story — with emotional significance. This doesn't necessarily have to do with value. For instance, a lot of customers prefer to purchase the special collections that jewellers unveil for Valentine's Day compared to the usual selection criteria they might have, due to the emotional relevance attached to the pieces. The share of diamond jewellery in the mix would be around 50 per cent."

But a marked interest in diamonds is part of a wider pattern.

"With respect to the gold-versus-diamond debate over the past couple of years, we have seen increased demand for diamond jewellery during the recession period," said John Paul Joy Alukkas, executive director at Joyalukkas Group.

"The initial trends for this year seem to be the same. But we don't see demand for gold jewellery [subsiding]; there is no replacement to gold as an investment today."

True enough, but the local trade would welcome any event that would spark off some retail activity, even if it is limited to a single day. It would be some compensation for the less than stellar sales during the recent DSF.

"Yes, gold jewellery sales did not break the usual record this year. However, based on the economic situation and gold price fluctuations, this was expected," Alukkas said.