The onset of summer always sees an increase in the demand for jewelry and wedding dresses as many families find it fit to marry off their near and dear ones during the summer season. And, as might be expected, this automatically results in cut-throat competition among traders to attract customers. As the demand for jewelry and wedding dresses grows, so does the demand for expert designers to create attractive, colorful designs. Those working in the sector spoke to Okaz/Saudi Gazette about the increased demand in the summer and the prices that differ from season to season. They also spoke about how difficult it was to deal with their female customers. Hussein Ahmad has been selling wedding dresses for five years. He says a normal wedding dress costs somewhere between SR5,000 and SR8,000, based on the material and embellishment, and on some additional requests like stones and tulle. Most materials are procured domestically but some are imported from Syria, India, Egypt and other countries, he added. Abduljaleel Thabet has been selling clothes for about 42 years. He says demand increases in the summer because the number of weddings and other ceremonies increase. “This requires us to provide everything that is new and of the highest quality, as well as items of different types to satisfy all tastes,” he said. “As far as possible, we try not to raise prices so that we can attract more and more customers.” There are many problems in the business as well. There are some cases, he said, when women choose the fabric and design and pay an advance. “They then go to several other shops and do the same thing. On the delivery day, they select the best and then go back to the other shops claiming the advance money they had given. On refusal, the women approach the police and then we are in deep trouble.” The police, he said, always side with the women. Ahmad Al-Ammari, a gold merchant who has been in the field for 25 years, said that private family occasions in the summer involve an exchange of gifts “and that results in an increase in the demand for gold”. Gold prices have shown an upward trend not only in the local market but across the globe, he said. Earlier, he said, almost all gold ornaments were imported, but factories in the Kingdom have increased, and now over 70 percent of gold ornaments are designed and manufactured locally. Asked about difficult situations, Al-Ammari related the incident of a young man and his fiancée who came to him to buy engagement jewelry – the Shabkah. “When the girl chose something that was apparently not compatible with the man's financial status, he gave me a sign from behind her that I understood to mean ‘do not offer jewelry in that price range.' I did as he requested and convinced her to buy something less expensive,” he said. “The two went away happily,” he added. Al-Ammari said the focus on jewelry shapes and designs in gold shops changes according to the time of year. During Haj, “we concentrate on plain gold chains and necklaces as pilgrims love them because they can benefit from selling them in their countries”. During holidays and Eids, “the concentration is on jewelry studded with stones and colors, and in Ramadan, we focus on bracelets and jewelry meant specifically for children”.
