‘People will always want what we sell’: Inside the world of Sydney’s Arab jewellers

3 months ago 13

Arduen “Arda” Shnaishel reveals every piece of jewellery in his Auburn shop like it was something he found at the bottom of the ocean, with a grin and a wink.

The dense collection of chains, bracelets, coins and bars on display at Ounce Jewellery, his family’s business, twinkle under the light.

“For us, business is booming,” he says. “It’s not just about the gold price, but that has helped. It’s about the demand. People always have and will always want to buy gold. And not just any gold: people will always want the kind of gold we sell.”

Arduen Shnaishel from Ounce Jewellery in Auburn among some of the gold pieces on display.

Ounce is one of several jewellers run by Iraqi-Australians in western Sydney, a growing micro-economy built around providing a very specific product: Arab gold.

This high-karat yellow-gold style of jewellery is shinier and heavier than the jewellery found in department stores. In Arab and south Asian communities, it is used in weddings, for dowries, and as savings, investments or fashion statements.

Gold prices on display at Ounce Jewellery at Auburn.

Its popularity is fuelled by social media and trends built by an Arab interpretation of style, steeped in tradition and maximalism.

But increasingly, the fashion is being influenced by the skyrocketing price of gold.

At Ounce, the changing daily gold price is written on a small whiteboard in the shop. Undeterred by the smell of the store’s neighbouring fishmonger, a bustling crowd gathers close to midday, excitedly waiting for Shnaishel to update the price, to see how much their gold is now worth.

Shnaishel, 22, says most of his customers are now looking for pieces that combine style with investment, showing off bars and coins engraved with roses and religious passages that can be worn on bracelets or necklaces.

The crowds inside Ounce Jewellery at Auburn.

“The bars or coins keep their value, and the customers can wear them around to show off. It’s a new style but an old idea,” he says.

“People buy the big pieces for big occasions, but you can’t wear them around. These pieces though, they’re new, and they’re popular because of the price of gold.”

Shnaishel is from a “gold family”: all his relatives are involved in the industry. And that isn’t unique to this family. Many Iraqi migrants coming to Australia bring with them their experience and expertise.

Gold has long been a booming business in Iraq. Its cultural connections go back to ancient Mesopotamia. Baghdad has hosted specialist streets and markets dedicated to metal workings for centuries, an expertise that is passed down through generations.

That flow trickled into Australia in the 20th century, as migration from Iraq steadily increased before exploding after the 1991 Gulf War and, in particular, the start of the Iraq war in 2003.

Iraqis settled mostly in western Sydney suburbs such as Fairfield, Liverpool and Auburn. Some families brought with them their jewellery legacies.

Alaa Almashkor has run Auburn’s Masa Jewellers for nearly six years. It’s a different experience to the wild energy at Ounce. Here, shoppers must buzz at the door to enter. Incense wafts between immaculately displayed gold pieces.

Alaa Almashkor, owner of Masa Jewellers in Auburn, one of the many Iraqi jewellers in the area.

Almashkor says gold is an intrinsic part of Arab culture that is in constant, intense demand from the various Middle Eastern diasporas in Sydney.

“It’s part of the culture. You give gold when someone is engaged; you give gold to new parents; to brides; on birthdays. Mothers, aunties, uncles, siblings, everyone gives it as a gift. It’s an absolute must for us,” she says.

“And to some people, this is also how they show they are wealthy and are living good. Some people wear designer bags or luxury clothes. In Arab culture, we wear gold.”

With the rising gold price, Almashkor says she has seen her business change as more people trade in their gold.

“To many who saw gold as an investment, there has never been a better time to cash in. So people bring in their rings and necklaces, and we buy them. Many will even trade in their gold for another piece, so it’s gold for gold.”

Her popular items are now small bars. “[Customers] hope they’ll grow in value. It just means we make less profit,” she says.

Arduen Shnaishel from Ounce Jewellery in Auburn shows some of his store’s gold pieces.

To many in the Iraqi community, the jewellers are more than a business: they are about the preservation of craft and traditions, and a community that has fled multiple wars.

Dr Bushra Alobaidi, a long-serving Iraqi community leader, trained as a doctor, but her entire family have long been and remain in the jewellery business. She says “not even diamonds” could replace the importance of gold in Arab culture.

For Alobaidi, there is a pride in how the community has rebuilt its industry in Australia.

“Everyone wants to buy from us, and there is pride in that success,” she says. “They came here and had to start from scratch. They came here with their hands alone and their talent.”

The Sydney Morning Herald has a bureau in the heart of Parramatta. Email [email protected] with news tips.