Where the jewellery trade works: gold souks, jewellery quarters, diamond districts, manufacturing towns and export zones, with what you find there and the official website where there is one.
Gold souk or gold street
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
What you find: Gold jewellery retail, Gulf and Indian styles
Sharjah's landmark souk on King Faisal Street, opened in 1978, with one wing largely given to gold shops. Popular with shoppers from across the Emirates; prices follow the day's gold rate plus a making charge.
Trade or export zone
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
What you find: Diamond, gold and precious-stone trading companies; diamond tenders and vaults
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre is a government free zone in Jumeirah Lakes Towers. Its Almas Tower houses the Dubai Diamond Exchange, its trading floor and vaults, and hundreds of diamond companies. A trade centre, not a shopping street.
Gold souk or gold street
Manama, Bahrain
What you find: Gold jewellery and Bahraini natural pearls
Manama's gold quarter: a building full of gold shops in the old souq, near the older independent gold shops. Bahrain is also known for its natural pearls.
Gold souk or gold street
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
What you find: Gold jewellery retail and wholesale; 22K and 21K Gulf styles
Covered market lanes in Deira, near Dubai Creek, lined with hundreds of gold shops. Prices are per gram at the day's rate plus a making charge, and bargaining over the charge is normal. A recent extension added many more shops. Also listed in our gem markets.
Gold souk or gold street
Doha, Qatar
What you find: Gold jewellery retail, bridal sets
A purpose-built gold market a few steps from Souq Waqif, with some fifty gold and jewellery shops under one roof. Gold is sold by weight at the day's rate plus a making charge.
Diamond district
Ramat Gan, Israel
What you find: Polished diamond trading, cutting and grading
A group of linked towers in Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, that house the Israel Diamond Exchange and its trading floor, with diamond companies, cutters and laboratories. Members and their guests only. Also listed in our gem markets.
Gold souk or gold street
Muscat, Oman
What you find: Gold jewellery by weight, Omani bridal gold and silver
The gold lanes inside Mutrah Souq, on Muscat's old harbour front, where Omani families buy bridal gold. Pieces are sold by weight rather than by design.
Gold souk or gold street
Kuwait City, Kuwait
What you find: Gold jewellery retail and traditional Kuwaiti pieces
Kuwait City's historic market, rebuilt after 1991, with a large gold section at its centre among the older trades of the souq.
Places and official bodies, not businesses: JewelLoop does not rank, recommend or endorse any shop or dealer. Websites are the district's own or an official body's. Many trade offices and factories see buyers by appointment only, so check before you travel, and follow the export and customs rules of every country involved. Gem trading places are in Gem markets of the world.