How diamonds became Syrians’ best friends

DAMASCUS — Louay al-Zahid, owner of Al-Malaka jewelry shops in the Syrian capital Damascus, told Al-Monitor that diamond price have fallen for a second week in a row in the Damascus markets, reaching 10% below the previous prices.

Zahid said that the drop in diamond prices has accompanied a drop in demand for gold. He said that his stores across the capital serve about 100 diamond buyers per day as the demand for diamonds in Damascus has increased dramatically.

“Sales are up for the second week in a row. Gold and diamond dealers expect their diamond revenues to increase significantly for the first time since the Syrian crisis as demand has risen by more than 30%,” he added.

Jamil Qaisar, owner of the Qaisar jewelry shops located in several Syrian cities, told Al-Monitor that the price of a carat of diamonds in the Syrian market reached 160,000 Syrian pounds (about $50) this week.

Al-Monitor met with Salma al-Fayez, who was browsing shops in the Damascus gold market. She said she bought diamond bracelets, rings and earrings after the price of diamonds dropped and the price of gold rose.

“Diamonds were previously the preserve of wealthy families because they were expensive. However, many Damascenes are buying up diamonds,” she said.

“My daughter got married three days ago and her husband offered her 10 million Syrian pounds [$6,000] worth of diamond jewelry as a wedding gift. Syrian men, as is widely known, traditionally offer a set of gold jewelry to their bride, but after the diamond prices fell, the groom went for diamonds,” she added.

The Handcraft Association of Goldsmith and Jewelry in Damascus posted on Facebook Jan. 24 that the price of gold has dramatically increased. The association attributed the increase to rising global gold prices.

The head of the Handcraft Association of Goldsmith and Jewelry in Aleppo, Abdo Moussaly, told Al-Monitor over the phone that there is a lack of experienced workers to cut and polish diamonds. He explained that local jewelry designers repurpose diamonds from old jewelry to make new pieces. “For example, a ring encrusted with 15 diamonds can be repurposed and the 15 diamonds are used to create 15 different rings. This process is not difficult, which is why the workforce is cheap, unlike for gold, which is more expensive as designing gold jewelry requires more work and effort.”  

In addition, diamonds come with certificates for their quality, which gives buyers greater confidence in their purchase, he said.

Zahid said that Syrian diamonds are typically traded in the domestic market but they could eventually be exported alongside gold if conditions improve in Syria.

Arab and foreign traders, including Iranians and Iraqis, have been importing gold jewelry from Syria during the war, and exporting it to the UAE and Iraq, where demand is high.

In 2019 press statements, Ghassan Jazmati, head of the Handcraft Association of Goldsmith and Jewelry in Damascus, said that the diamond industry had not been affected by the war in Syria. He said that before the war, Syria imported rough diamonds from Belgium, but as a result of the sanctions on Syria, imports have come to a halt since 2012.