Fitaihi and Scintilla Monaco sign dealership agreement

Fitaihi Company, Saudi Arabia's top retailer of jewellery and luxury goods, has signed an agreement with Scintilla Monaco, Europe's newest sensation in diamond jewellery, to be its sole dealer in the Kingdom.

"The team-up is in line with Fitaihi's strategy of offering only the most exclusive luxury products in its stores, so as to meet the discerning tastes of our customers," said Anees Jamjoom, CEO and Managing Director of Fitaihi Company.

Fitaihi is the country's top jeweler and retailer of international luxury brands and products ranging from crystals, chinaware, fashion, textiles and bed linen to accessories, leather items, home furnishing and antiques.

Its roots go back to the family's opening of a silver and gold shop in Makkah in 1907 and, today, Fitaihi has become Saudi Arabia's first and only public shareholding company engaged in retailing jewelry and luxury products.

Fitaihi Co operates two major luxury department stores in Jeddah and Riyadh under the Fitaihi brand name. In addition, it has three other jewellery retail outlets in Jeddah. Also Fitaihi owns the Geneva based Marina-B Company, which was established by Mrs. Marina Bvlgari, the international jewelry designer and the granddaughter of the famous Bvlgari. Marina-B branded jewellery and watches are retailed today in many countries around the world including Europe, GCC countries & Japan.

Launched in Basel, Switzerland, Scintilla Monaco created an immediate impact in the world of diamond jewellery. And it's not hard to see why.

The company sources its diamond stones from a century-old Belgian diamond manufacturer who has been a site-holder of DTC London - a De Beers Group company - since 1947 and whose highly skilled and experienced diamond polishers have perfected the art of cutting fancy-shaped diamonds.

Scintilla Monaco uses only white diamonds, which vary in tone from River to Wesselton. To complement the color as well as the brilliance of the stones, all diamonds are set in classic 18k white gold.

'It is our pleasure to have such a well-established company like Fitaihi represent us and distribute our premium diamond jewellery in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," said Najmuddin Sathak, Managing Director of Scintilla Monaco.

He remarked that this partnership is unique in more than one way. "SM is the only jewellery company in the world to use exclusively fancy shaped diamonds while Fitaihi's discerning customer-base has come to expect such exclusivity"

He added that both SM and Fitaihi Company cater to a niche group of customers who like to remain distinctive and exclusive.

"The jewellery from SM will be handmade in limited editions and presented to the elite clients of Fitaihi who want to own something different, from what is available in the jewellery market," he said.

Sathak pointed out that the world's loose diamond production is valued at US$15 billion, and the selected diamonds that go into SM jewelry represent only 2.5% of this, or US$375 million in dollar terms.

"Unlike most jewelry brands, we don't use small diamonds, known locally as Dust Diamonds, but we use bigger diamonds having more intrinsic value," he concluded.

Scintilla Monaco jewellery is planned to be available to the Saudi market through Fitaihi retail stores by the end of Q1 2006.