Turkey holds a leading position amongst the jewellery exporting countries in the world. A large manufacturing base with affordable labour along with an increasing number of designers has helped Turkey in becoming an important jewellery making centre. Besides, the country’s important geographical location helps bridging East and West, making it an important distribution and re-export centre. Turkey’s jewellery industry received a huge boost with government decisions taken in the early 1980s to liberalize the gold trade and foreign exchange, according to the Turkish Jewelers Association (TAJ). The TAJ promotes the export of Turkish jewellery, advances the interests of the Turkish jewellery sector internationally, and supports the activities of the Turkish jewellery export sector. Turkish jewellery exports touched $7.2 billion in 2018, exceeding the previously set goal of $6 billion. The country exports jewellery to UK, United Arab Emirates, the U.S., Hong Kong and Switzerland. The mark Turkey has left globally as far as its jewellery is concerned is inimitable. With craftsmanship at par with its European manufacturers, it has managed to keep competitors at bay with its low prices.

Market Potential & Craftsmanship

According to the Turkish Trade Government, there are more than 50 major companies in which 200-1500 qualified workers are employed. The industry is a huge one amongst the Turkish manufacturing industries and employs about 2,50,000 people currently. Traditional Turkish jewellery making techniques include filigree (telkari), niello (savat) and wickerwork (hasir). Filigree is a technique in which the artist creates motifs by soldering together fine silver or gold wires. Since the wire used is often extremely delicate, this technique requires an almost infinite degree of patience. The niello technique is based on tiny, delicately-worked pieces of handpainted enamel which are partitioned by precious metals. In wickerwork, another technique used by Turkish jewellers, delicate wires are woven together.