The finished product. Courtesy Ann Marie Mcqueen
The finished product. Courtesy Ann Marie Mcqueen
The finished product. Courtesy Ann Marie Mcqueen
The finished product. Courtesy Ann Marie Mcqueen

The silver workshop now available in the UAE


  • English
  • Arabic

I appreciate every piece of jewellery about 100 per cent more than I did before I took one of Don Sankey’s five-hour silversmithing workshops on a recent weekend in Abu Dhabi. The man was spot on when he said we would need to start “breaking down the creative barrier”. While he finds most people get insecure at the design phase – a pencil and rectangular piece of paper is all that is involved – my severe doubts came during execution.

What I had wanted to do was bend the silver into a band, having first weaved and then soldered three delicate silver wires around it. Sankey gave my plan a confidence-bolstering “cool” and I was on my way.

My co-amateur silversmiths were soon merrily sawing and filing away on their amazing-sounding creations – one was crafting an impressive skyline of the city, complete with mosque; another was bending much bigger wire into a funky flower. Yet while they were silversmithing up a storm, I was floundering, given the allotted time, my beginner status and fingers that had suddenly started to feel as big as Subway sandwiches. I am an optimist, but the required filing of divots on both the top and bottom of each wire, in corresponding places where I wanted them to cross, was proving impossible.

And so I spent a silent half-hour slowly wilting, wondering if I could give up and slink away without anyone noticing.

Once I decided leaving wasn’t an option, it took everything I had to ask for Don’s help. Time was a-wasting, so he suggested forgetting the criss-crossing, dropping a wire, and arranging the remaining two wires to lay flat, in waves, on the band.

After making sure the two wires had one side sanded onto a flat surface, to adhere to the ring, Don helped me use a material called flux to join the wires to the band and guided my hands with the solder gun.

With the wires attached, the silver was very tough to bend into a band and so I had to enlist Don’s strength to bend it into a ring. He helped later on, too, when I needed to solder the join together. I pounded that all into a ring shape on a mandrel, filed and sanded all signs of the join away, and popped the whole thing into a gentle acid bath – it’s called pickling and it’s done to clean the silver and remove any impurities – before treating it to a nice polish.

The result was gorgeous, and appreciated so much more because I (and, well, Don) had made it.

For more information about Don Sankey and how to book the class click here

UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

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

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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AWARDS
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Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results

2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m

Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).

2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m

Winner: Mamia Al Reef, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.

3.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m

Winner: Jaahiz, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.

3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m

Winner: Qanoon, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.

4.15pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Cup Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 1,700m.

Winner: Philosopher, Tadhg O’Shea, Salem bin Ghadayer.

54.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m

Winner: Jap Al Yassoob, Fernando Jara, Irfan Ellahi.

Ain Issa camp:
  • Established in 2016
  • Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
  • Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
  • Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
  • 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
  • NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
  • One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Profile Idealz

Company: Idealz

Founded: January 2018

Based: Dubai

Sector: E-commerce

Size: (employees): 22

Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)

Florence and the Machine – High as Hope
Three stars

RESULT

Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2
Huddersfield: Otamendi (45' 1 og), van La Parra (red card 90' 6)
Man City: Agüero (47' pen), Sterling (84')

Man of the match: Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town)

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
Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm

Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm

Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm

LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Stoke City v Tottenham

Brentford v Newcastle United

Arsenal v Manchester City

Everton v Manchester United

All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.

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SPECS
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Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

Ticket prices

General admission Dh295 (under-three free)

Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free

Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets

Sri Lanka's T20I squad

Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.

MATCH INFO

Everton 2 Southampton 1
Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
Southampton: Ings (54')

Man of the match: Theo Walcott (Everton)

Qosty Byogaani

Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny

Four stars

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets