The Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition (DJWE) opens today featuring over 500 brands through 40 exhibitors from ten countries. 

Now in its 14th edition, the luxury exhibition runs from February 20 to 25 at the new Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC) in Qatar.

Held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the show is organised by Auditoire on behalf of the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA).

The DWJE is designed to be a glamorous tale in which exclusivity, beauty, art, legacy and craftsmanship combine to tell the unforgettable story behind each jewel. 

The new Young Qatari Designers initiative will highlight local talents including Noor Al Fardan, the owner of Noudar; Nada Al Sulaiti of Hairaat; Sarah Al Hammadi of Sarah’s & Co; and Fajr Al Attiya of Trifoglio. These designers will exhibit their works and introduce their brands in a delicately ornamented 206-m space inside the main exhibition hall. 

The Young Qatari Designers will be sponsored by Fifty One East, a leading Qatari luxury retailer owned by Darwish Holding, for the next three editions. 

The exhibition also promises a series of glamorous experiences akin to fairy tales, including the opportunity to have photos taken by Harcourt Studio; workshops offering a deeper knowledge of craftsmanship essentials in jewellery, and of the art of making clocks and watches with Objectif Horlogerie. 

The exhibition will also feature an indoor/outdoor garden café in which visitors can relax between viewings, and a special exhibition of vintage pieces.

Major brands at the event – many of whom will be seen along with their local partners – include Chanel, Chopard, Piaget, Dior, Chaumet, David Webb, Christopher Claret, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Mouawad Jewellery, Vacheron Constantin, A Lange & Sohne, Breitling, De Bethune and Al Zain Jewellery, among others.  

Here is a look at some of the creations and brands on show:


RIVIERE 

Italy’s Riviere will launch its new collection, Savoir Vivre, at the show. In this collection, innovative creations, linear and organic, come to life from combinations of emeralds, rubies and sapphires with shiny diamonds. In Savoir Vivre, contemporary forms meet the charm of timeless stones.


BUSATTI

Haute joaillerie Busatti, which has been around for seven decades, will showcase its new collections at the fair. The maison was established in 1947 by Antonio Busatti and today six cousins continue to build on their founder’s intuition, designing jewellery of the highest level. Enchanting masterpieces that tell the tale of original and innovative goldsmith techniques belonging to the family’s heritage, that are refined through the elegance of contemporary beauty.


VESCHETTI

For over 70 years, Veschetti has been synonymous with exclusive handcrafted jewellery, where each jewel is unique and one of a kind. Today, thanks to the efforts of Marco and Laura Veschetti, the Italian brand has achieved recognition internationally.


DAVID WEBB

David Webb founded his company in New York’s diamond district in 1948. The gifted designer soon became known for his distinctive gold work, signature animal jewellery and bold creations that celebrated colour. Above all, he was acclaimed for creating jewellery that elevated design to the lofty platform of elegance and luxury.

Today the company draws from the vast archive of over 40,000 renderings, records, and design ideas, and produces jewellery handcrafted in the company’s New York workshop.

In addition to the flagship boutique in New York, David Webb also has a boutique at the historic hotel Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California.


BAUME & MERCIER

Swiss luxury watchmaker Baume & Mercier will display its new Clifton Perpetual Calendar, which embodies one of the most successful and fascinating complications of distinguished watchmaking.

Nestled within an 18-karat red gold case, this subtle mechanism negotiates all the particularities of the Gregorian calendar with its 31, 30 or 28-day months and the periodic return of February 29th.

The perpetual calendar is a symbol of human ingenuity for tracking the earth and its moon as they orbit within the solar system. By indicating the date, the day of the week, the month and the phases of the moon, and by automatically keeping track of the variable length of each month and the cycle of leap years, the Clifton Perpetual Calendar establishes itself within the lineage of the most complicated date-tracking watches - those which do not require any date correction before March 1, 2100, a non-leap year that appears three centuries out of four.


ANTOINE HAKIM

Antoine Hakim is a cosmos of timeless jewellery, constantly growing in design flair, technical craftsmanship and pioneering skills. Each collection is designed and crafted to tell a whole new story in the universe of gems. Antoine Hakim is also the exclusive agent for international brands such as Marco Bicego, Giovanni Ferraris, Annamaria Cammilli, Talento, Corum watches and the world renowned American jeweller Tiffany.


CHOPARD

Chopard will display an array of exquisite jewellery and timepieces for ladies and gents at the exhibition. The exceptional novelties on display will include the Haute Joaillerie collection Precious Chopard, the iconic Happy Diamonds collection comprising the Happy Dreams novelties along with the masterpiece addition to the Imperiale collection, the Imperiale Joaillerie and the LUC XP 35mm Esprit de Fleurier Peony. The gents’ collection will see the arrival of the LUC Perpetual Chrono, the LUC Perpetual Twin and as well as the distinctive LUC XPS 1860 and the Mille Miglia GTS Automatic Speed Black.


VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Van Cleef & Arpels will showcase creations from its Émeraude en Majesté collection, and signature creations and poetic timepieces. Over 1,400 carats of emeralds were carefully selected by the French maison’s gemologists to make up the emeralds collection. It took over ten years to assemble the treasures that have inspired this collection, and which reflect all the maison’s high jewellery expertise.


AL FARDAN JEWELLERY

Al Fardan Jewellery’s pavilion will welcome more than 70 participants from around the world under its umbrella including Chopard, Piaget, Dior and Chaumet. A one-of-a-kind pair of earrings set with a matching pair of natural pearls from the Gulf will also be displayed. The earrings weigh 1,960.4 chow and 1,998.52 chow and have six round diamonds and two pear shape diamonds, with a total weight of 17.68 carats, set in white gold.


CHANEL

Chanel’s Constellation Du Lion Necklace will be one of the highlights of the show. The necklace in 18-karat white and yellow gold is set with 159 baguette-cut diamonds with a total weight of 34.6 carats, 878 brilliant-cut diamonds with a total weight of 10 carats, a 32.9-carat cushion-cut yellow diamond, 32 round-cut yellow diamonds with a total weight of 5.9 carats and a 307-carat carved golden rutilated quartz.


SARAH’S & CO

Qatar’s Sarah’s & Co will display its latest collection of exclusive diamond jewellery designed by Sara Al Hammadi. The collection of fine jewellery is forthright, fresh, elegant, modern, stylish and diverse. Each piece is created keeping in mind its bespoke clientele, from five-carat cushion diamond rings to the classic heart shape solitaire necklaces and extravagant bridal jewellery.


ROBERT WAN

Robert Wan will present an exquisite assortment of pearls and mother-of-pearl jewellery under The Muse collection. This collection is inspired by the exotic and wild spirit inside every women. A signature in The Muse collection, the mother-of-pearl transforms a classic pearl into a dazzling statement piece. It features intense white diamonds alongside Tahitian pearls.


BALTHAZAR 

Balthazar, a sophisticated high-precision robot clock made by Swiss manufacture L’Epée 1839 in collaboration with MB&F, will make its Doha debut. The clock displays jumping hours, retrograde seconds and a 35-day power reserve. Weighing over 8 kg and standing nearly 40 cm tall, Balthazar is composed of 618 beautifully finished, micro-engineered components. But beware, there is also a dark side to Balthazar. Rotate his torso 180 degrees and discover a terrifying Balthazar, along with a dual hemisphere moon phase indicator. 


FABERGÉ

Fabergé will unveil its latest addition to its Fabergé Visionnaire gentlemen’s collection with a watch dedicated to presenting dual time zones, the movement for which was exclusively developed by master watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and his team of horological experts at Agenhor. This relationship proved to be a winning partnership once again, as Fabergé won the prestigious 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) in the ‘Travel Time’ category with the Fabergé Visionnaire DTZ.


FIFTY-ONE EAST

Qatar’s leading department store Fifty One East will bring an array of creations under one roof from Rolex, Boucheron and Chanel, in addition to trendy names like Azza Fahmy, Bremont, Christian Bernard, Deaken & Francis, H Moser & Cie. Hueb, LeBebé, Lelune, Pandora, Pasquale Bruni, Speake-Marin, Takara Pearl, Tudor, Yvan Tufenkjian and Zeades.


BOUCHERON

The Serpent Boheme collection has an air of mystery, a captivating aesthetic that appeals to strong women and fires their femininity. Since first emerging from the maison's workshop in 1968, Serpent Boheme has endured over the years to become a Boucheron classic. The snake is created in gold, its head a droplet crowned with beading, its body chased into sensual undulations. Nearly 50 years after its launch, the collection is being reinvented using transparent coloured hard stones. In addition to its diamond creations, the collection now features pieces in amethyst, citrine, onyx, white mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli set on rings, pendants, long necklaces and bracelets made from white, yellow and rose gold.


A LANGE & SOHNE

A Lange & Söhne will focus on horological masterpieces including the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, sporting a flyback chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a stop-seconds tourbillon, the Richard Lange Jumping Seconds with its rare combination of jumping-second mechanism and constant-force escapement, as well as the understated yet sophisticated Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar in white gold with grey dial. 

Visitors will also get the chance to witness the brand’s excellence in the field of haute horlogerie through an engraver from the Glashütte-based manufactory, who will perform a live demonstration of the traditional craft by cutting the floral pattern into the balance cock, a detail that makes every Lange timepiece a work of art. Selected models from the emblematic Lange 1, the elegant Saxonia and the classical 1815 watch families will round out the appearance of the German brand at the show.


BREMONT

A Bremont 2016 Limited Edition celebrates the de havilland DH-88 Comet, Grosvenor House, an aircraft that captured the world's imagination with a record-breaking flight in 1934. Fighting exhaustion and significant mechanical challenges whilst barely stopping for over three days, two men in their pioneering British racing aircraft won the incredible air-race from England to Australia. To commemorate this feat and to raise funds for the Shuttleworth collection, Bremont introduced the Bremont DH88 Comet Limited Edition chronometer, a special timepiece which has been handcrafted in the company's workshops in England and in an elegant style reminiscent of that wonderful 1930s era. The 282 stainless steel and 82 rose gold cases house the beautifully finished Be-54ae chronometer rated chronograph movement with GMT functionality. Constructed ensuring the durability and precision Bremont is renowned for, the timepieces also incorporate original spruce plywood from the undercarriage assembly of this winning aircraft.


AL ZAIN

Al Zain not only represents a very personal Bahraini success story, but also one of passion, dedication and deep pride in the craft of jewellery making. While extremely proud of their heritage as a family-owned business, Al Zain family is even fonder of the quality and intimacy of each of their pieces. The current management team is a dynamic group of professionals in their respective fields, and the fourth generation of the family to uphold a legacy of success.


AMWAJ

Amwaj is renowned amongst local and international clientele for its refined collection of ladies' designer jewellery. Amwaj is a name that has become synonymous with innovative and luxurious jewellery. The boutique specializes in exclusive pieces that can be passed down through the generations, from exquisitely handcrafted bridal sets, wedding bands and solitaire rings to earrings and bracelets. Established in 1999 by Ali & Sons, one of Abu Dhabi's most prestigious family businesses, Amwaj is today led by the CEO and head designer Fatima Bint Ali Al Dhaheri.


BELL & ROSS

Bell & Ross will show off its latest ultra-sophisticated BR-X1 line and the new AeroGT car, an exclusive concept in between an aeroplane and a GT car, which comes with its two limited editions. Ladies who are looking for a poetic timepiece that enhance their femininity will admire the new BR-S Diamond Eagle, a mini Milky Way encapsulated in a watch.