Xpress: News | Man of gold: The Midas touch Page 1 of 3

Sunday, January 13, 2008 Search

Home News Life Sport Photos My Xpress

news | uae | dubai What Is RSS?

file://E:\Xpress News Man of gold The Midas touch.htm 1/13/2008

Xpress: News | Man of gold: The Midas touch Page 2 of 3

Published: January 03, 2008,

08:57

Man of gold:
The Midas
touch
By Jay B. Hilotin, Chief Reporter
Add comment>
View photo gallery >>
© XPRESS/Pankaj Sharma
The US-educated jeweller is happy to Near record-high prices won’t stop
work from a modest desk at the corner of Dubai’s gold trade from growing,
an open-layout shop that looks like a the city’s gold mogul says. Tawhid
warehouse. Abdullah, Managing Director of
Damas Jewellery LLC, whose 141
stores across the UAE account for about 12 per cent – 170 kg – of daily gold sales,
says the spike is temporary and won’t dislodge Dubai’s status.

"Our customers come from around the world. We think gold trade will continue to
grow by 10 per cent in the next five years. Whether Dubai stands at No. 1 or No. 2
in the gold trade, it won’t matter. It’s already a big player."

After India, the UAE is now the world’s biggest bullion trading point, selling about
1.4 tonnes of gold a day (of which 700 kg are gold bullions), 50 per cent higher
than in 2000, says Abdullah.

*How often do you buy gold? Vote in our poll.

Gold prices reached a 28-year high recently, shrinking Dubai gold sales by six per
cent in October. It peaked at $845.40 (Dh3,122) an ounce in early November last
year, $5 (Dh18.3) away from its all-time high of $850 (fixed in London in January
1980). On January 1, 2008, gold slipped to $833.30 (Dh3,060).

SIMPLE SPARKLE

Despite the glitter all around this goliath of the gold trade, Abdullah lives a bit of a
spartan life. He does not wear a single gram of gold or carat of diamond, though
his 346 stores worldwide carry about 100 times his body weight in gold.

Abdullah, who turns 50 next month, runs the multi-billion dollar company from an
unassuming office overlooking Dubai’s fish market.

Some of his underlings carry fancier mobile phones than his three-year-old Nokia
6230. The only fancy gear in his workplace is a Reuters terminal that shows gold
price movements. The US-educated jeweller is happy to work from a modest desk
at the corner of an open-layout shop that looks like a warehouse.

White trays carrying jewellery worth tens of millions of dollars are stacked all over
the place. Not far from his desk, dozens of long-sleeved Indian assistants work
file://E:\Xpress News Man of gold The Midas touch.htm 1/13/2008