With local sourcing, Meher Jewellery is a proud UAE brand from start to finish

The brand believes that today’s woman has her own birthright, her own hallmark, and effectively, her own brand.

Tell us about your brand. When did it start and how has the journey been?

Meher Jewellery was launched in 2017 and is named after its founder, Meher Iqbal, a Dubai-based designer. As a woman of fiery and deep-rooted passions, Meher‘s persona and craft are both imbued with the self-same sound – sentiment is strength.

Talk to us about your operations in the Middle East.

– We source and manufacture everything locally here in the UAE. We are proud to be a UAE brand from start to finish, but we have clients all across the globe.

Are there any specific trends that you notice in the Middle East? What kind of designs do you concentrate on to cater to this need?

The Middle Eastern customer is versatile and unique. We have a large expat community which brings with it an eclectic taste and at the same time there is a great appreciation for the value of gold also. We believe today’s woman to be her own birthright, her own hallmark, and effectively, her own brand. Thus, every MEHER JEWELLERY piece is exclusive; a meticulously personalised composition, without exception. Created in 18 carat gold and both precious and semi-precious stones, but most essentially with love; each one stands artifact to a client’s individual sensibility.

The Middle East is the hub of jewellery. How has your brand worked here and how do you plan to branch out?

Being based in the Middle East is in many ways strategic for our business, as Dubai is positioned perfectly between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Meher Jewellery has been focused on going global and to this end we have hosted events in London, Geneva and Paris, while we retail in Turkey and locally with Boom and Mellow in the UAE. But at our core we remain an online business and continue to push online sales as we would like to be available to customers everywhere.

Talk to us about your collections. Which of these have done especially well in the pandemic scenario, especially in the Middle East? What price points do well here?

Alsawah, The Awakening, is a prequel of sorts to my previous collection ‘Kun’ (The Manifestation/ being). While Kun represented a brave ascent into a new world born of 2020, Alsawah explores the emergence of that ascent. For me, it symbolically represents the first shard of light that cut through the darkness and imbued us with hope. The Alsawah collection draws strongly on the straight lines favored by Art Deco and is a literal representation of that first ray of light which brings hope to the world.

Is there any precious stone or metal that finds itself as a signature in your designs?

We focus on gold, as gold will always hold value. We accent our pieces with diamonds, mainly white ones but you will find Champagne and black diamonds there as well.

What kind of jewellery, metal and precious gemstones, in your opinion, have done well in the Middle East?

Gold will remain a top favourite for a long time to come as it holds universal allure and has a deep and long-standing cultural hold in the Middle East. Of course diamonds remain very popular also. But it is interesting to see some lovely and overlooked semi-precious gemstones, such as morganite, spinel, opal and malachite, attracting more attention as buyers are more interested in creating a distinctive and personalised look for themselves.

Are there any roadblocks you face while operating in the Middle East? If yes, what are they and how would you want the administration, retailers, manufacturers, and the whole of the jewellery fraternity to address them?

Being an entrepreneur has its obstacles in every country. Running a business in the UAE can come with high running costs – rentals, visas, business licenses, retailer commissions – but over the years we have seen huge changes taking place which have provided more support for the private sector and this is extremely encouraging.

What are your plans in the Middle East?  Do you see any difference in the operational measures pre and post pandemic? If yes, how have you changed and evolved

As an online business our process has not changed dramatically but our client base has become more online focused. That was a trend that was already well underway before the pandemic but it has accelerated since in the world on online fine jewellery retail. 

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller World News