Tawfique Abdullah weaves between workstations at the Damas Jewellers workshop floor in Dubai, and tilts his tall frame over a goldsmith's shoulder to offer a quiet word of advice.
Unlike many at the helm of a multimillion-dirham public company, Mr Abdullah, 52, can still work the factory floor.
The goldsmith-turned-chairman was just seven years old when he began visiting his father's workshop, then in Dubai's Gold Souk, after school. Initially, he toyed around with scrap metal. When he was trusted with real gold, he created pendants. One, in the shape of a passage from the Quran was his first finished jewellery piece.
"I was this little child intrigued with these machines," he says. "Basically, it was like going to art school or art class."
Jewellery making was a family tradition that started with his grandfather, Mohammed Tawfique Abdullah, who founded a design and manufacturing business in Dubai before moving it to Syria in 1907. His son, Mohammed Taher Abdullah, joined the family business and by 1955 had moved it back to Dubai.
This time, under the name Al Abdullah Jewellery Traders, the business focused on wholesale jewellery sales. The company opened its first retail store in the Gold Souk in Dubai in 1959, 100 metres away from the family home.
Fifty years later, the small Dubai jewellery store has become an international chain serving clients all over the world. Yet one aspect about the business remains constant: the tight bonds of the Abdullah family.
Back in the 1960s, Mr Abdullah and his two younger brothers, Tawhid and Tamjid, regularly dropped by the workshop after school. During those afternoons, jewellers would take the boys through the step-by-step process of making pendants, earrings or necklaces. They learnt how to hold the blade at the right angle and how to handle the metal.
"What's unique about jewellery manufacturing is it combines a lot of trades," Mr Abdullah says. "A jeweller is a mechanic, a carpenter, a designer and a welder."
Tamjid, the youngest Abdullah son, says that even as a teenager his oldest brother showed a keen eye for jewellery design. At just 13 or 14, he says, his brother was already sketching designs for bangles, and had learnt how to use the company's first diamond-precision cutting machine.
"He sketched some things, then adjusted the machine to do these patterns. And the
designs came out so beautifully," Tamjid says.
Although the elder Mr Abdullah never forced his sons to learn the family business, the boys found the workshop was a childhood playground where they could engage their curiosities. The token dirham they received in payment for each completed piece did not hurt either.
In the late 1970s, the Abdullah family introduced the Damas brand to market its jewellery products. The family took the name from the Greek word, adamas, which means diamonds or indestructible, says Tawfique Abdullah. Damas was also easy to pronounce for people across many languages, he says.
He continued to work after school at the Damas workshop until he graduated from Dubai Secondary School in 1975. Enrolled at Portsmouth University in the UK, he decided to branch out and studied computer science.
"But I never finished it," he says. "Always, the jewellery pulled me back."
As did family. He craved the daily interaction with his brothers, so he switched majors to gemology and returned to the UAE, completing his diploma via correspondence.
Damas's business was booming then, and the extra help was essential. Mr Abdullah rejoined Damas's workshop, creating and repairing jewellery and watches.
"Normally when people start a job, they do the boring routine stuff," he says. "Repairs was one area where you don't get two things that are the same."
Mr Abdullah was soon working behind the counter selling mainly to Emiratis and Arab expats. During his 15 years behind the counter, Damas grew. In 1985, the jewellery retailer began selling international brands, and launched its own branded jewellery line three years later.
The elder Mr Abdullah was the head of the business, but stepped back when the three brothers were in their late teens to let them run the show. He then appointed them to different jobs based on their talents, Tawfique says. To keep the family spats to a minimum, his father clearly defined each brother's role.
Tawfique Abdullah's niche was to manage human resources and IT functions, and manage customer relationships; his younger brother was designated the managing
director, and the youngest brother became the deputy managing director.
Under their direction the company expanded further into the Middle East, and by 2000, had opened stores in Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain. Five years
later, the group expanded its network to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Italy, India and Japan.
In 2004, Tawfique Abdullah became the chief executive of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. He was also knighted by the Belgian government in appreciation of the amount of diamonds Damas had imported from the country over the years.
Shortly thereafter, Damas opened a 30,000 sq metre workshop in the DMCC and the company launched an initial public offering, which raised US$270.6 million (Dh993.7m) on the NASDAQ Dubai stock exchange last year, helping to fuel its growth to more than 450 stores in 18 countries today.
Amid all this growth, his father died in 2005, and Mr Abdullah became the chairman and long-term strategist of the company.
Damas's success has been a joint effort, he says. The Abdullah brothers remain close, living with their families in adjacent houses in a compound in Jumeirah. "When we were bachelors, we lived in the same house. When we got married, we moved next door. Not far away. Not another street even. Next door," he says.
Tamjid Abdullah says everything is shared among the brothers. For example, he has their house and car keys in his glove box. "The way we have been brought up in this family is, what is good for you must be good for your brother."
That tight bond also makes it easier and faster for Damas to adjust its business strategy, especially in tough economic times. "Our organisation can really deal with the situation because we are not such a hierarchy," Tawfique Abdullah says. "We can meet and make a decision on the same day."
He would not talk about Damas's performance or expansion plans, but says the company has not been immune to the slowdown in consumer spending. He says he prefers not to get lost in figures and targets. "It is more than that. Because you're dealing with luxury - and with luxury, things are related to emotions, special occasions. You're dealing with people at the end of the day."
These days, Mr Abdullah spends most of his time on corporate strategy. He no longer has the time to tinker in the workshop.
Of the hundreds of pieces he's designed over the years, though, one remains his favourite. In 1995, he created a gold heart pendant, with a design that is more symbolic than decorative. The piece consists of a half-inch thick solid 24-carat gold heart that comes with a separate necklace.
The necklace has a loose clasp made of a thin gold band that fits around the edge of the heart and keeps it in place at the end of the chain. The recipient of the gift gets both pieces and can decide how it is worn.
"If your partner accepts your pure heart, and your pure love and your pure commitment to the relationship, then they ask for the rest of the pieces, which is the lock," he says.
Only about 50 limited-edition pieces were made, and he does not know how many were sold. The numbers do not interest him, as it was more a labour of love, he says. Mr Abdullah gave one of them to his only daughter, Justine.
aligaya@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MO
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
SCHEDULE FOR SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - from 4pm (UAE time)
Angelique Kerber (1) v Irina Falconi
Martin Klizan v Novak Djokovic (2)
Alexandr Dolgopolov v Roger Federer (3)
Court One - from 4pm
Milos Raonic (6) v Jan-Lennard Struff
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Evgeniya Rodina
Dominic Thiem (8) v Vasek Pospisil
Court Two - from 2.30pm
Juan Martin Del Potro (29) v Thanasi Kokkinakis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Jelena Jankovic
Jeremy Chardy v Tomas Berdych (11)
Ons Jabeur v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
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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
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