Revealed: What jewelry brides want and how much they spend on their big day

Over a half (53 percent) of UAE women would spend more than AED 18,300 ($5,000; SAR 18,750) on wedding jewelry in this year’s wedding season, according to a newly-released research.
The survey found that the primary deciding factor, when it comes to purchasing a wedding set, is value for money, closely followed by eye-catching design, with 77 percent and 68 percent of respondents ranking this in their top three priorities respectively.
Around 40 percent of women responded that they were content with a budget of under AED 36,700 ($10,000; SAR 37,500) for their entire wedding, while close to a fifth of women (17 percent) said that they would spend over AED 110,200 ($30,000; SAR 112,500) on their big day.
When asked to rank the top three desirable wedding jewelry sets, the results demonstrated that the classic solitaire diamond ring was still in vogue (67 percent), ranking higher in terms of preference than 18 carat white gold set with diamonds (51 percent), plain yellow gold set 21 carat (49 percent), and 21 carat yellow gold set with non-precious stones (48 percent).
However, the tastes of modern contemporary women reflect the gradual shift from traditional gold jewelry items, to a modern style which incorporates diamonds and semi- to non-precious stones. Beneath the findings underlies the change in culture and taste of the Arab women, where diamonds are valued higher than gold, silver and all other stones, specifically in wedding jewelry.
L’azurde CEO Sélim Chidiac stated wedding jewelry has a primary role for UAE women when planning one of the most important days of their lives.
Chidiac said: “It is clear that women in the UAE want to look and feel their best for their wedding day and they seek eye-catching design of jewelry to ensure they stand out, while also seeking value for money.
The survey, released by jewelry designer and manufacturer L’azurde, was conducted by YouGov among 450 women across the UAE.