Exclusive gold and diamond jeweller shines for VIPs only

The country's VIPs are used to visiting the likes of Abu Dhabi's The Avenue to shop, but an exclusive new outlet is opening in a place people usually go to haggle for a bargain.

The Aastha Jewellery Lounge will open its doors to customers on Sunday in the heart of the Dubai Gold Souq.

But do not be too quick to mark the date in your diary. It will be open only to the UAE's wealthiest.

"There will be no walk-in clients," said Kamlesh Parekh, the man behind the venture. He is a founder of Shree Ganesh, an Indian jeweller that earns more than 95 per cent of its revenue from exports to the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The lounge, which claims to be the first of its kind, will sell diamond jewellery ranging in price from US$5,000 (Dh18,365) to $4 million and offer its customers a range of services such as limousine transport.

"There is nowhere else in the world like this," said Mr Parekh.

The lounge, which is Mr Parekh's personal venture and named after his daughter, includes a stage for fashion shows.

"There are lounges which promote designer clothes or an art gallery, but none for jewellery. If there is any lounge that is existing in the world it is only for one collection and not promoting any other jewellers or designers under one roof," he said.

Shree Ganesh's sales were $1.5 billion last year, up from $1bn in 2011.

"Demand has increased, so my imports have increased and so have the sales," said Mr Parekh, who claims to supply for the majority of the UAE's jewellers.

"We started on a very small scale and over the period of 14 years the turnover has come to this."

About 70 per cent of the jewellery he sells to retailers in the UAE comes from India, with the rest from Thailand, Hong Kong and Antwerp.

Jewellery on sale in the lounge will be imported from Hong Kong, Bangkok, Antwerp and India. The showpiece is a 20-carat, flawless loose diamond on sale for Dh4m.

gduncan@thenational.ae

Teams in the EHL

White Bears, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai Mighty Camels, Abu Dhabi Storms, Abu Dhabi Scorpions and Vipers

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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