Sharjah: A dizzying range of jewellery and accessories is being showcased at the Middle East Watch and Jewellery Show, which is being held at the Expo Centre Sharjah.
The show was opened on Tuesday by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Salim Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.
Visitors to the show, which concludes on Saturday, would like to look up a new offering called Luxury Frames — jewels you can wear as sunglasses. The concept replaces the normal side frames of spectacles with jewellery so that it dangles like earrings. It can also be worn around the neck like a necklace.
Maker Italy Tops said their concept, launched earlier this year, is going from “a micro-trend to a macro-trend.” The price for the range starts from about Dh4,000 for basic natural-stone frames to around Dh30,000 for the top-end diamond-set collection, said Italy Tops CEO Massimiliano Riolfo.
Designers can also customise the ‘frames’ on demand. The company also offers jewellery sets made with 365 different diamonds — symbolic of “one for each day of the year.”
Countless more items are being offered by more than 450 exhibitors at the show — now in its 34th edition — with country pavilions from Singapore, Thailand, Italy and other nations.
The show is held twice a year, in spring and autumn.
A new attraction is the chance to win a Mercedes Benz car as the mega prize, part sponsored by Gargash Enterprises.
“This is for the first time we are offering such an amazing prize, where a lucky shopper spending as little as Dh500 at the show can drive away in a Merc,” said Saif Mohammad Al Midfa, director general, Expo Centre Sharjah.
Apart from the mega prize, there will be also be daily prizes, he added.
Moreover, there will be four daily fashion shows from March 28-30, with models presenting jewellery creations.
According to a World Gold Council report, there was a six per cent rise in jewellery sales in the UAE, from $385 million (Dh1.41 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $408 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.
