Kuwaitis and amber .. Precious stone more expensive than gold

Saw Al Mahameed - Kuwait

Nawaf al-Quwaidi did not realize that a gift would change his life as did a rosary he received from his elder brother some 12 years ago.

The "very dear" gift opened the door of curiosity to the boy's heart, until a passionate passion in the parents' diaries turned into the hands of adults.

Gradually, over the years, the hobby moved beyond the sessions of friends and family, to become a shop where tomorrow the child merchant.

The young trio joined the convoy of amber merchants in Kuwait. Despite being a professor of history, his career did not prevent him from catching up with his passion and investing in it, opening his own shop selling amber and rosary in the famous heritage market of Mubarakiyah.

Al-Quwaidi says that Kuwait is the source of the amber trade in the region and has known this trade since the sixties of the last century, where citizens of various Gulf countries, especially the people of Qatar, come to buy and sell amber.

Sticky material
Amber is a natural substance that has existed for millions of years. It is essentially a sticky substance taken from the pine tree, and over the years it has become a solid material from which to make lanterns and sculptures.

While amber grams are more expensive than gold grams, amber prices in Kuwait vary from KD ($ 3.3) per gram, to 80 dinars ($ 264) at times, and in some auctions the price of lanterns is more than 17,000 dinars About 56 thousand dollars).

The color, weight and age of the amber are reduced or the price of amber increases, and the most desirable colors are white (casserole), yellow, mixed with white, and dark yellow, not only color, weight and age, but also the story of the masbah.

In spite of the Islamic and Arabic coloring of the spices in general, the Baltic States are the source of amber stones, hundreds of millions of years ago, which makes their price relatively high.

Amber stone requires special attention, as changing it into swimming pools or sculptures must be done under suitable conditions. For example, the heat of the human hand is natural, and it is not exposed to heat or extraneous factors. Natural change is preferable, while the extraneous heat may damage it. Should be exposed to any kind of alcohol and the like, and the older the age of the amber and use increased value, and came out of the smell of the smell of black lemon (Lom).

The intrest is refreshing
While the amber trade was stagnating a few years ago, the platforms of the social networking sites came out of the trap. Traders turned to them to revive their profession, and they moved the auctions of amber stones and spears directly to this and other sites.

These platforms opened the door to the profession more than ever before, and helped traders to identify the people and their features, making new groups and segments accept to buy and acquire, is no longer seen in the hands of the elderly, but also young people.

While the proportion of Kuwaitis working in the amber trade between 80% and 90%, second place Syrian expatriates. "Some of us are older than us in the profession," says al-Quidi.

The demand for lanterns made of amber is frequent on a number of occasions, especially the month of Ramadan, where many celebrations are celebrated among Kuwaiti families, an old tradition that has not changed with time. The amber trade is also active in the winter, because of the obligations of Gulf families in the summer when the amber market is stagnant like any other profession.

Al-Quaidi complains about the lack of government support for the amber trade, which he considers to be completely absent. He attributed this to the government's view of the profession as a hobby. For many, amber is a luxury rather than a basic one.

He also expressed the hope that an annual exhibition will be held to activate the profession as it is practiced in the State of Qatar within the activities of the annual Katara exhibition, which according to al-Quaidi achieved great success and a keen interest in its latest version.