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Indian billionaire Joy Alukkas's jewellery chain Joyalukkas has set two Guinness World Records with a pair of gold earrings that weighs more than 16 kilograms, the heaviest and largest ever made.
The pair, named Mayura Sahasra, or "A Thousand Peacocks," was unveiled on Saturday at Jewel of Joy, the company's new flagship store in the Dubai Gold District, by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the United Arab Emirates' minister of economy and tourism. A Guinness World Records adjudicator presented certificates for the heaviest pair of gold earrings and the largest pair of earrings to Alukkas, the group's chairman, and his son John Paul Alukkas, its chief executive.
The earrings are made of 22-carat gold and have a combined net gold weight of 16.514 kilograms. They are 1.215 meters long and 0.682 meters in diameter. Fifty-five artisans spent 5,840 hours over several months making them by hand, in the bell-shaped jhumka style common in South Asian bridal jewellery, with a design built around the peacock.
Guinness World Records lists the weight as certified on Oct. 12 in Dubai.
Not for sale
Joyalukkas said the earrings are not for sale. They will stay on permanent public display at Jewel of Joy, which is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day with free entry.
The company did not put a value on the piece. At Saturday's Dubai retail price of about 481 dirhams ($131) a gram for 24-carat gold, the gold in the pair would be worth close to $2 million, before any charge for the craftsmanship.
"These earrings are our tribute to this city and to the artisans whose hands turned an impossible idea into gold," Joy Alukkas said. "Two Guinness World Records titles in one creation is a proud moment for our family."
He dedicated the records to the UAE and said Joyalukkas had "grown alongside Dubai, the city of gold" for nearly four decades. John Paul Alukkas said the pair would become a landmark attraction at the store.
A new flagship in Dubai
The unveiling came days after Joyalukkas opened Jewel of Joy, a 25,000-square-foot showroom that the company calls the largest jewellery store in the Middle East. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE's minister of foreign trade, inaugurated the store alongside India's consul general in Dubai.
The group, based in Dubai and in Thrissur in the southern Indian state of Kerala, runs more than 200 showrooms across 13 countries.
Alukkas, who turns 70 next week, comes from a family of jewellers in Thrissur. His father, Varghese Alukkas, started the business with a single store there before dividing it among his sons. Joy Alukkas took charge of the overseas side of the trade, starting in the Gulf, and later founded Joy Alukkas Jewellery in 2001.
He is worth an estimated $5.4 billion, ranking 52nd among India's richest people and third among businesspeople from Kerala.
Dubai has long used record attempts to promote its gold trade. Jewellers in the emirate have previously set Guinness records for the world's heaviest gold dress and for a handmade gold chain more than 5 kilometers long.
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