Young Qatari Designers, an initiative by Qatar’s luxury retail destination Fifty-One East, was presented for the first time at this year’s Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition, which concluded on February 25. The project provided a free platform for six emerging jewellery designers to display and sell their wide-ranging creations. Here are some of the standout pieces and concepts.
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Bridal jewellery by Sarah Al Hammadi
The in-house designer of Sarah’s & Co specialises in extravagant wedding jewellery. From five-carat cushion diamond rings and classic heart-shaped solitaire necklaces to bracelets and necklaces with floral motifs and multiple strands, Al Hammadi seeks to create “rich but clean pieces that marry Arabian and western designs by creating jewels that would befit brides who are at once forthright, elegant and modern”. Pictured: Four-strand bridal necklace.
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Arabesque patterns by Noor Al Fardan
The founder of Noudar Jewels and member of the prominent Al Fardan family is known for her five-in-one ring sets and finger bracelets, although she has now expanded her collections to include chokers, bangles and stacked multicoloured cocktail rings. Al Fardan’s designs are greatly influenced by elements of Arabian and Islamic culture, such as lacy henna patterns, Omani daggers, evil-eye motifs and hamsa amulets. Pictured: Ring set and finger bracelet
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Sakura necklace by Nada Al Sulaiti
The founder of Hairaat Fine Jewellery travelled to Europe and Far Asia to take courses in gemmology and jewellery design. In 2015, she won the Golden Award at the A’Design Competition for her Sakura necklace, which is inspired by Japanese cherry blossoms and was displayed at the Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition this year. The cascading necklace has rotating flowers in various hues of pink, as well as green jewelled leaves. For Al Sulaiti, who is interested in the concept of wearable art, designing jewellery is “like miniature architecture — it needs science and art to make the perfect piece”. Pictured: Sakura necklace
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Clover designs by Fajr Al Attiyar
The designer and mum-of-five is enamoured with clover flower heads, and has even named her company, Trifoglio, after this symbol of good luck. Her three- and four-leaf clover designs span costume jewellery, semi-precious coloured gemstones and diamond-studded pieces in white and yellow gold. Al Attiyar also customises her designs by incorporating her buyers’ gemstones of choice, realising that the symbolism behind birthstones and other lucky charms plays a big part in the jewellery that we own. Pictured: Four-leaf clover designs
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Pride of Arabia by Nouf Al Meer
The founder of Nouf Jewellery is inspired by the symbolism and colours found in nature. She looks to create pieces that reflect originality and gallantry. Accordingly, Al Meer’s Pride collection includes pendants, bracelets and earrings featuring bejewelled Arabian horses, a motif she describes as “symbolic of chivalry, power and nobility”. Al Meer’s pieces are also available at Bloomingdale’s in The Dubai Mall. Pictured: Pendant and earrings from the Pride collection
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Pipes and fences by Ghada Al Bouanain
While gold, platinum and other sparkly materials form the base of her pieces, Al Bouanain always looks to incorporate unconventional materials in her creations. For her first collection, Pipe in Gold, she was inspired by the pipes found in a garage, using this rather rigid shape to dramatic effect in bracelets and earrings. Of her second collection, she says: “Although the new collection is called Digital Garden, it is only the fence I have incorporated, with a lone flower or two emerging from the slates.” Pictured: Bracelets from Digital Garden, left, and Pipe in Gold collections
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
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.”
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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