Iraq violence takes toll on gold artisans

In a narrow store wedged between vendors hawking vegetables and cheap clothing, Adnan Walid lovingly shapes sheets of gold into delicate leaves and flowers to make a necklace.

Walid has lost count of the number of friends who have fled the violence of recent years. His own shop was reduced to a charred shell two years ago when a car bomb exploded across the street. He keeps two pistols under his counter, just in case.

Still, Walid, a round-faced man with a cheery smile, welcomes each customer who arrives searching for the right piece of gold jewelry.

"Iraqis have loved gold since ancient history," he said. "Even when there are explosions, people buy gold."

Although sales of gold jewelry remain strong, goldsmithing is a disappearing art in Iraq, a land where it has been practiced for nearly 5,000 years. Many of the most celebrated goldsmiths have joined the exodus of doctors, teachers and other professionals who are leaving the country, draining it of valuable knowledge.

The remaining jewelers are struggling to compete against a flood of imports while contending with daily power outages, gas shortages and antiquated equipment, all of which slow production. Most of the glittering trinkets in shop windows are from the United Arab Emirates, where they are produced at large factories.

Walid himself imports jewelry by the kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). It's easier and cheaper than trying to fill the shop with his own handiwork, he says. Besides, customers like the delicate filigree work typical of the many Indian artisans who work in the Emirates.

The love affair with gold is as old as civilization itself in the fertile plains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Although gold is not mined here, the ancient Sumerians traded wheat and barley for the shiny metal, which they hammered into necklaces, cups and helmets of exquisite workmanship.

Today, even the poorest Iraqis usually own a few pieces of gold jewelry. Amulets and rings are a means to display a family's wealth in good times and to protect them against the bad, when the pieces can be sold to paya debt or finance the purchase of a home.

No Iraqi wedding, no matter how frugal, is complete without the groom presenting his bride with a set of gold jewelry -- hers to keep in the event of a divorce. And many businessmen would rather sink their profits into delicate bracelets and chains than open a bank account.