00:01To dla mnie, to jest życie.
00:04To dlatego, że chcę, żeby pokazać coś, co nie znajdziecie,
00:10jak nie znajdziecie, jak to, jak to.
00:14To zrobić to dla mnie 7 lat.
00:17How long?
00:187 lat to zrobić.
00:24To Hussein Al-Fardan, one of Qatar's best-known businessmen and jewelers,
00:29pearls are personal.
00:31They're part of his family history, and Qatar's.
00:34Before oil and gas transformed the Gulf,
00:37pearls were a major source of income here,
00:39traded from the region to markets around the world.
00:42When I was about maybe eight or less than that,
00:47but I opened my eye, my father working only with the pearl,
00:50our neighbor with the pearl, our relatives with the pearl,
00:54the whole region with the pearl, buying, selling.
00:57So I loved it.
00:59A lot has changed since then.
01:02Now in its 22nd edition, the Doha Jewelry and Watches exhibition
01:05brings together 49 exhibitors and more than 500 brands from 30 countries.
01:10This year, that includes Manish Malhotra,
01:13one of India's best-known fashion designers.
01:16After more than three decades creating looks for Bollywood,
01:19he's now bringing that same eye to jewelry.
01:23You could wear a plain outfit, but it's the piece of jewelry
01:26that actually speaks about the style.
01:28It actually speaks about your taste.
01:31And I think a look for me is incomplete without jewelry.
01:35So it's diamonds, and it's called the hat full.
01:39Hat means hand in Hindi, and full means flower.
01:45Traditionally worn by Indian brides,
01:47the piece has been reworked in diamonds and taken into contemporary fashion.
01:51And it's already found some famous fans, including Rihanna.
01:56There's plenty of luxury on display here, but look a little closer,
01:59and some of these pieces tell a much more local story,
02:02drawing on Qatar's past and reimagining it for a new generation.
02:09I use this beautiful pearl to represent our legacy in loving and appreciating the pearls.
02:17Qatari designer Noora Al-Ansari founded Papillon Jewelry 15 years ago,
02:22but her connection to the exhibition goes back even further.
02:25Now, she's exhibiting here herself.
02:27This is our ninth time to be part of the DJWE.
02:33I'm really proud of myself.
02:35This piece takes its shape from the distinctive spiral of the Fanar Mosque.
02:40Part of the proceeds go to Education Above All,
02:43a foundation working to expand access to education.
02:46But beyond design and craftsmanship,
02:49there's also the question of exactly what you're buying.
02:51To the untrained eye, telling diamonds apart isn't always straightforward.
02:55That's where Qatar's Kimberley Laboratory comes in,
02:59using technology to distinguish between natural and synthetic diamonds.
03:03And so how quickly can you guys here find out if it's natural or synthetic?
03:08Two minutes.
03:10Or less than two minutes.
03:12The lab looks at everything from color and clarity to cut and weight.
03:16And for someone spending serious money on a stone,
03:19the reason for doing it is pretty simple.
03:21Knowing what you're buying.
03:25For all the international names here,
03:28there's also a clear effort to give homegrown designers a bigger platform.
03:32Visit Qatar says putting them side by side gives local talent greater visibility,
03:36while keeping Qatar's own jewelry traditions part of the story.
03:40Jewelry is really a family like, you know, history.
03:44It comes with heritage.
03:45It comes with the story and local narrative as well.
03:47When we are talking DJWE, we always bring back the history of the pearl,
03:52the history of the essence of our ancestor,
03:55collecting these kinds of treasure and experiencing the story behind it.
04:01And that brings the story back to where it began.
04:04Hussein Al-Faddan grew up surrounded by the pearl trade.
04:07He went on to build an empire that stretches far beyond jewelry.
04:10But his first passion has never really left him.
04:14What I see, I see the real sea.
04:16Very rare to find the pearl.
04:18My love is with the pearl.
04:21Because it's my root and I start seeing a thing when I was young.
04:25My family is working in that.
04:29There's no shortage of expensive jewelry in this room.
04:31But talk to the people behind it,
04:33and the value isn't always measured in diamonds, gold, or pearls.
04:37Sometimes it's a childhood memory, a family business,
04:41a tradition that has been handed down, or one that's being reinvented.
04:45And more than a century after pearl divers went out into the Gulf
04:49searching for their fortune, that connection to the sea is still here.
04:53Finding its way into what Cutter's jewelers create today.
