One in two UAE brides spend Dh18,000+ on wedding jewellery
More than a half (53 per cent) of UAE women will spend more than Dh18,300 (US$5,000) on wedding jewellery in this year’s Wedding Season according to research released by L’azurde, a design, production and distribution house of jewellery.
The results of an independent YouGov survey seeking the views of over 450 UAE women found that despite this, a primary deciding factor, when it comes to purchasing a wedding set, is value for money, closely followed by eye-catching design, with 77 per cent and 68 per cent of respondents ranking this in their top three priorities respectively.
Just 40 per cent of UAE women responded that they are content with a budget of under Dh36,700 (US$10,000) for their entire wedding, while close to a fifth of women (17 per cent) said that they would spend over Dh110,200 (US$30,000) on their big day.
Commenting on the findings, Sélim Chidiac, CEO of L’azurde, said: “As we reach the peak of Wedding Season, this independent research confirms that wedding jewellery has a primary role for UAE women when planning one of the most important days of their lives. It is clear that women in the UAE want to look and feel their best for their wedding day and they seek eye-catching design of jewellery to ensure they stand out, while also seeking value for money.
When asked to rank the top three desirable wedding jewellery sets, the results demonstrated that the classic solitaire diamond ring was still in vogue (67 per cent), ranking higher in terms of preference than 18 carat white gold set with diamonds (51 per cent), plain yellow gold set 21 carat (49 per cent), and 21 carat yellow gold set with non-precious stones (48 per cent).
However, the tastes of modern contemporary women reflect the gradual shift from traditional gold jewellery items, to a modern style which incorporates diamonds and semi- to non-precious stones. Beneath the findings underlies the change in culture and taste of the Arab women, where diamonds are valued higher than gold, silver and all other stones, specifically in wedding jewelry.