Renowned Italian jeweller Damiani is adding some sparkle to a global congress for businesswomen in Bahrain, showing how it supports women entrepreneurs and noble causes while building business and cultural bridges.

Silvia Damiani, Vice President of the Diamiani Group, is attending the 63rd World Congress of Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales (FCEM), currently under way in Bahrain.

Held under the theme "Our Bridges to the World", the congress has brought together more than 500 businesswomen and entrepreneurs from all over the world and is being organised by the Bahrain Business & Professional Women International Federation (BPW).

Silvia will address international delegates and dignitaries from the Gulf and Middle East East and North Africa (Mena) region at the event's gala dinner tomorrow, where she will speak on the jeweller’s history and its socially responsible initiatives.

Damiani was born in 1924, and in 90 years of history has become an international company present and appreciated all over the world for its quality and craftsmanship.

Damiani has been able to export Italian style but at the same time reinterpret it according to the traditions and cultures of the different countries in which it distributes the jewels, creating solid links between seemingly different worlds but united by “love for the beautiful”.

“Damiani is active in building bridges and for nearly one hundred years we have been using the art of jewelry design to establish and promote cross border ties, co-operation and trade as well as cultural exchange,” says Silvia.

She continues: “Women have been a critical part of our success both in terms of the role they play as managers in our company and as our loyal customers globally.

“We are delighted to be supporting this important event and using this as an opportunity to further strengthen and develop our ties with leading women entrepreneurs and business leaders from around the world - especially those in the Middle East which continues to constitute one of our most important regions and where we see ongoing and significant potential for partnership and growth."

Damiani has a long tradition of supporting great causes including issues related to women, clean water and health initiatives around the world.

Here are some examples:

• In 2010, it received an award for valorising female workers, in the sphere of the project ‘Companies investing in women’. The initiative was started with the sponsorship of the Minister of Employment and Social Policies and analysed the data relating to staff, separated by gender, in companies with more than 100 employees. A group of ‘virtuous’ companies was thus found which had adopted human resources management formulae including a significant number of women on the staff and in senior management. Damiani was assigned the recognition “for the ability of knowing how to valorise the presence of women through real solutions and good transferable practices”.

• Damiani promoted significant charity work for Japanese victims of the March 2011 tsunami. Its boutiques offered a selection of Damiani collections, named ‘Damiani for Japan, and some must-have jewels. All the profits from the sale of the collections were donated to the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) and was intended for work in favour of the female population struck by the disaster. The JOICFP activities supported by the Damiani donation included health assistance, the supply of essential items for mothers and children, financial aid and the guarantee of post-natal support.

• Damiani supports the Clean Water humanitarian project, in collaboration with film star Sharon Stone, to construct clean water wells in Africa. Damiani has continued to build wells for years, also thanks to the sales of the Maji collection designed for that purpose with the actress.

• Damiani recently created a new collection with Japanese soccer star Hidetoshi Nakata to raise funds for the ‘Home for All’ charity project launched by Japan’s most famous architects in 2011. The project aims to help earthquake victims in the reconstruction of their cities and improve the daily life of the community.

Damiani is an Italian leader in manufacturing and marketing high end jewelry and luxury watches. Besides being distributed in 600 stores, Damiani operates in Italy and globally through boutiques and luxury shops. 

Damiani’s retail partner in Bahrain is Asia Jewellers.