Over one in two UAE brides spend AED18,000-plus on wedding jewellery

Dubai, UAE, August 31, 2016:  Over a half (53%) of UAE women would spend more than AED18,300 (US$5,000) on wedding jewellery in this year’s Wedding Season according to research released today by L’azurde, a global leader in the design, production and distribution 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% and 68% of respondents ranking this in their top three priorities respectively.

Just 40% of UAE women responded that they are content with a budget of under AED 36,700 (US$10,000) for their entire wedding, while close to a fifth of women (17%) said that they would spend over UAE 110,200 (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.

“L’azurde has a strong heritage providing Arabic women with elegant wedding sets as part of the one million jewellery pieces it produces each year. We continue to evolve our wedding collection items to match the expectations and aspirations of brides across the region.”

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%), ranking higher in terms of preference than 18 carat white gold set with diamonds (51%), plain yellow gold set 21 carat (49%), and 21 carat yellow gold set with non-precious stones (48%). 

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.