Over 30,000 visitors expected at Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition 2016

With the much-awaited Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (DJWE 2016) set to unveil in a few weeks from now, it will be hard to keep your eyes from popping out of your head.
Organised by Qatar Tourism Authority, Fira Barcelona and Elan Events, the five-day exhibition, starting on February 23, expects to draw upwards of 30,000 visitors. To make this possible, the venue for the event is the newly-built Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre. DJWE 2016 boasts of a super-premium collection in the offing for “high net-worth individuals to learn about and buy fine jewellery and unique watches, gemstones, and diamonds – all represented by more than 500 renowned brands.”
Sprawled across nearly 29,000sq m, the event will bring together around 45 companies, involving more than 550 brands, from 27 countries. At a press conference earlier this month, Hamad al-Abdan, QTA’s head of exhibitions, said, “I am delighted that the global calendar of the expos of watches and jewellery in 2016 begins with the Doha exhibition. Qatar is undoubtedly the pre-eminent location in which to appreciate the highest quality of products, and I call on exhibitors to take on this opportunity to showcase their creations in this unique setting.”
For the first time since it started, the DJWE will feature jewellery and watches workshops for enthusiasts and designers to learn from experts on creating their own pieces. The exhibition also offers free, on-the-spot, gem assessment provided by the International Gemological Institute, the DJWE’s laboratory and education partner, for visitors looking to validate the quality of their stones.
Some of the unique surprises of the previous edition had thrilled the visitors. At DJWE 2015, Bvlgari, known for its Italian excellence in exquisite craftsmanship, for instance, floored the visitors with its large ensemble of exceptional and rare contemporary coloured gems, apart from their range of striking watches and designer accessories. While Montegrappa, the famous Italian manufacture of high-end writing instruments, launched its signature collection of Gibran Kahlil Gibran, in honour of the world renowned writer; it also brought in the Pele Limited Edition pen to the event.
Among the most enchanting pieces were the Sword of Qatar by Al Bidaa made of 21-karat gold with 200 pieces of small precious stones and the Tour Eiffel timepiece of Saint Honore which is a collector’s timepiece that marks the brand’s 130th anniversary.
At DJWE 2016, there will be fine jewellery such as diamonds, fine gold, precious stone, platinum, pearl, and white gold; diamonds, precious Stones and gemstones such as white diamonds, coloured diamonds, emeralds, jadeite, rubies, amber, coral, opal and turquoise; other finished jewellery in categories such as antique, amber, bridal, colour gemstone, coral, enamel, pearl and opal. Pearls and men’s watches will feature prominently, “with specially crafted visitor routes to facilitate easy navigation between exhibiting brands.”
To bolster the event’s success story, Fira Barcelona, one of the most important trade fair organisations in Europe, and Spain’s market leader, is also involved with putting the event together. Miquel Serrano, Fira international business development director, had said at the recent press conference, “We are delighted to be part of the organisation of DJWE 2016 in association with QTA and ELAN, and with our Qatar partners, we are working hard to create a magnificent event for February.”
Reputed especially for setting up trade and industrial shows, Fire de Barcelona has a portfolio of over 80 shows of different frequencies with 30,000 exhibitors, both direct and represented, and receives two million visitors from over 200 countries. As for ELAN Events, a vital player in the MENA region’s MICE industry, it is an established events and venue management firm that specialises in delivering new-to-market exhibitions, conferences, and live festivals. Some of their flagship events such as the Qatar Motor Show, and City Scape Qatar, have become major successes and highly anticipated year round by exhibitors and visitors alike.
The number of exhibitions held in Qatar between 2013 and 2015 has grown by 35 percent, according to QTA, which expects a 5 per cent increase next year with 58 confirmed events on the QTA calendar.

Get free training on selected engineering, technology online resources
By Anand Holla


As part of its continuous efforts to engage readers, students and researchers across Qatar, Qatar National Library (QNL) is offering free hands-on training sessions on the effective use of selected engineering and technology online resources: ASTM International, ASME Digital Collection and IEEE Xplore Digital Library.
These online resources contain scientific journal articles, ebooks and reviews in various areas of engineering and technology. The training is open to all and certificates of attendance will be awarded.
On January 19, at the Computer Laboratory 1, HBKU Student Centre, Education City, from 9am to 10am, the session will be on ASTM International: The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International), which is a vast collection of industry-leading standards and technical engineering information covering a broad range of engineering disciplines.
Following a 15-minute break, from 10:15am to 11:15am, there’s a session on ASME Digital Collection: The American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection, which provides access to its repository of current and archival literature including some of the most prestigious journals, conference proceedings and books.
An hour’s break for lunch later, from 12:15pm to 1:45pm, there will be an Arabic and English session on IEEE Xplore Digital Library: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Xplore Digital Library, which provides access to full-text documents from some the world’s highly cited publications in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics.
For more details, check out www.qnl.qa. Since the seats are limited, RSVP before January 14 to Christine Afinidad at [email protected]
Driven by a very user-friendly interface and an extensively stocked collection, the QNL website offers more than 150 online databases, which are well diversified and cover a range of subjects such as medicine, engineering, science, technology, and so on. A non-profit organisation under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation of Education, Science and Community Development, QNL is supporting Qatar on its journey from a carbon-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, by providing resources to students, educators, researchers, and the community in Qatar.