Gold Souk Dubai

This post is a brief description of the Gold souk in Dubai.Gold souk is in the heart of  Dubai. It faces the Dubai creek and is approximately a 20 minutes drive from the Dubai airport. For someone coming directly from the airport by metro should get off at the AL RAS metro station. You will need to change from Red line to green line at the Union station.

The Gold souk is a market where mainly gold jewelry is sold in all its various forms. Finished products of jewelry, gems, unset jewelry, workshops, manufacturing, all is done in the gold souk. You will find diamond jewelry, precious stone jewelry, plain gold jewelry, bars, coins, designer jewelry, branded jewelry, jewelry produced locally and internationally. Gold souk is one of the main hubs for gold jewelry trading and retailing.

All karat-age of jewelry is sold: 14KT, [ not commonly though], 18kt,21kt , 22kt, 24 kt. Gold comes in white gold, rose gold, yellow gold, white gold, copper colored and all various colors including green. Usually this colored gold in is 18kt purity. [ Gold is colored by changing the percentage of alloys mixed in gold but maintains the 18KT purity of gold.] When buying such jewelry always look for the 750 or 18kt mark or ask the sales person to show you the purity marking.


The jewelry stores sell a vast variety of jewelry. Besides gold  jewelry, there are stores selling luxury watches, second hand watches, certified diamonds, loose gemstones and un-setted jewelry [jewelry without stones for other jewelers to buy] and silver jewelry.

There are shops in the gold souk that will exchange your old gold jewelry against your new purchase. Some will purchase for cash [ very few] . The stores that purchase jewelry against cash, usually ask for receipt and contact details to prevent fraud and reselling of robbed jewelry. So make sure you ALWAYS retain your jewelry receipts.

Besides being the heart of jewelry stores, the area around gold souk has plenty to offer locals and tourists. From the famous spice souk where a dearth of loose spices are to be found to stores selling cloth , perfumes, oud, cutlery and crockery stores, stationery, scarves, abayas, electronic stores, laces, toys, footwear ..and the list goes on. The Gold souk area has plenty to offer everyone.

If you get tired of looking around there are plenty of small cafeterias and famous shawarma booths to be found at nearly every corner. Do try their cocktail and fresh juices too. There is also a Baskin Robbins to be found in the Gold souk. This is in fact one of the first few Baskin Robbin shop that opened in Dubai and is roughly 20 years old or more.

Do not forget to pay for your parking it is 2 Dirhams for one hour, 5 Dirhams for two hours, 7 dirhams for three. hours and 11 Dirhams for four hours.

If you are in an adventurous all out exploration mood you can walk to the creek, take the famous abra [boat] ride , cross the creek and explore the opposite side called Bur Dubai.....

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. I would love to answer any questions you may have about the gold souk....

Thank you :)

Education for the Jewelry Field : G.I.A

G.I.A Gemological Institute of America is one of the most established , well known and well recognized institutes in the jewelry Industry whether it be education or their expertise in gemstones and certification. If you are looking to entering the jewelry field but lack knowledge, or just looking to gain some education in the vast world of jewelry - enrolling for some basic courses in this Institute is an excellent place to start. Plus interning at a jewelry store will always help.

The best thing about G.I.A is regardless of the fact if they have an institute in your country or not, they offer correspondence courses and usually hold workshops. The workshops are not held everywhere but in certain countries, but since G.I.A is so well internationally established that if your country does not have G.I.A workshops, a neighboring country definitely will.

For us Dubai-ites, the good news is that G.I.A has opened up their office in DAFZA and regularly hold classes and workshops. You may attend their classes or simply learn online and give your exams. The highest certificate given by G.I.A is the Gemologist Diploma.


Here are a few links to help you in your search:
Educational Programs
General Education over view

Do check their website out, even if you do not want to enroll G.I.A works towards educating the customers as well about jewelry and their website has some helpful links.

G.I.A also takes in stones for certification. The stones should be un-setted  [i.e loose; not set in any jewelry item].

The Dubai Office  Location : GIA, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Bldg 6W- A Block, 8 Floor, Office No. 801
Tel No: 00971 4 2146843




The person to contact for Education Programs and courses is MS Shamona Coutinho and she is extremely friendly and helpful. So address her with all your queries and questions and she will definitely help you out.

I'm currently on the second last course towards completing my diploma and i have not regretted enrolling in G.I.A. Hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you.