Dubai rosary exhibition reveals the big business behind small beads

Dubai: Rosaries can cost as little as 200 dirhams, while others quickly enter the tens or even hundreds of thousands. One tour of the Dubai Rosary Exhibition 2026 is enough to show how what some regard as a hobby or heritage item has developed into an international market of traders, craftsmen, suppliers and collectors, with some rare pieces commanding prices comparable to jewellery and antiques. In its first edition in Dubai, the exhibition brought together traders, craftsmen and enthusiasts from 21 countries across 86 stands at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the Dubai International Financial Centre from November 6 to 8. On display were collections of rosaries, natural amber and rare pieces, alongside the world's largest in-person rosary auction. But the scale of the market becomes even clearer away from the display cases, in conversations with the traders themselves. Murjana, a Chinese trader visiting Dubai for the fourth time, arrived at the exhibition with about 100 kilograms of goods. To her surprise, almost half had already been sold through pre-orders before she arrived. She says she sold about 50 per cent of her stock, with demand exceeding her expectations to such an extent that she is already considering returning for the next edition with a larger space. For her, Dubai is no longer simply a stop on the exhibition circuit. It is a market where she can connect with buyers from different regions. The same picture emerges from Abu Sulaiman, a Bahraini trader who believes the turnout at the first edition reflects a growing market, not only among traders but also among Emirati enthusiasts. Abu Sulaiman He says he had previously participated in specialised exhibitions in Qatar and Poland, but was surprised by the level of organisation and the number of visitors in Dubai. In his view, the first edition rivalled more established exhibitions in the sector. Abu Sulaiman points out that the rosary market now spans a wide range of price points, beginning with what traders describe as "economical" pieces and rising to more distinctive and rare rosaries. He said: "I have a piece in the exhibition that reached a price of 150,000 dirhams, and there are other pieces for around 100,000 dirhams." Demand is not limited to the days of the exhibition. He explains that traders who have successfully built their own names and brands can receive advance orders from enthusiasts and collectors before the rosaries are even made, particularly because selecting, cutting, sorting and working the raw material can take time. For him, the presence of buyers willing to pre-order pieces or pay more than 100,000 dirhams for a single rosary indicates that the UAE's community of enthusiasts is growing. "The Emirati hobbyists are expanding, and I believe that this hobby will develop more and more," he says. The interest was not limited to buyers and enthusiasts. Abu Muhammad, a Saudi trader, said the exhibition also generated sales between traders. Abu Mohammed "We have started selling to traders more," he says, allowing them in turn to resell pieces to other enthusiasts and collectors. He summarises the exhibition as having "connected the trader with the hobbyist, the hobbyist with the trader, and the trader with the trader". That activity suggests the rosary trade is not driven solely by direct sales to consumers. It also includes a resale market and the exchange of pieces between traders and collectors. Prices reveal another side of the business. According to Abu Muhammad, some of the rosaries he offers start at about 200 dirhams, with prices rising according to the material, age, carving and rarity, reaching hundreds of thousands of dirhams in some cases. Kuwaiti craftsman Alaa Farid, who has worked in rosary manufacturing and shaping for about 15 years, says a piece of amber passes through six or seven stages before becoming a finished rosary. The process starts with cutting the raw stone, then shaping it into smaller pieces before turning the material into beads, followed by turning and polishing. Alaa Farid But craftsmanship alone does not explain the high prices. In the amber market, much of a piece's value can lie in the stone itself. Farid is displaying a piece priced at more than 150,000 dirhams despite weighing just over 35 grams. He explains that its colours and patterns are entirely natural and that finding a similar piece is extremely difficult. He says some rare materials may appear only once among about 1,000 stones, while the prices of other pieces can reach 250,000 to 300,000 dirhams. At the upper end of the market, the exhibition featured a piece of Faturan more than 120 years old and valued at over $1 million, alongside a piece of German amber dating to 1880 that was also valued at about $1 million. From the Baltic Sea to Dubai Behind a rosary displayed in Dubai is a longer commercial and craft journey than might first appear. Ismail Al Kamali, an Emirati trader who has specialised in amber for about five years, personal