Dubai Diamonds
Dubai Diamonds are fast becoming the flavor of the month. And when it comes to the price of diamonds, Dubai Diamonds are not going to be cheap!
Possibly because this little Persian Gulf city state has less oil than its neighboring Emirates, its billionaire Sheikh ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is investing heavily in building a trade, financial and tourist mecca like no other. This is the Singapore of the far east.
Dubai is setting itself up as the playground for the wealthy and examples of the attention being given include a big first ever Diamond sale by Christie’s, a market leader in diamonds and jewelry, at the end of January 2008 in Dubai.
And as Israelis and Arabs emerge from the Lebanese war, a booming diamond exchange in this Arab country 1,300 miles away is proof that when it comes to diamonds and money, all differences can be swept aside.
The two-year-old Dubai Diamond Exchange has put the Gulf emirate squarely inside a global business dominated by Jewish traders. And of course, that means trade ties with Israel, another world diamond hub.
“There has been no visible platform for Arab-Jewish cooperation since the 1960s,” said Chantal Abboud, Beirut-based representative of Antwerp’s diamond industry in the Middle East. “Now, Dubai has created it.”
Israeli Diamond Exchange president Avi Paz stated that diamonds and hospitality flow freely between Israel and Dubai. “We came there, they came here. There is no problem at all,” Paz said in Tel Aviv. “I wish that wherever I go, they’ll host me like they hosted me in Dubai.”
Dubai Diamonds are now on the world map and set to become one of the favored places to pop in and buy a diamond for that very special person, if you are well heeled that it.