How to Establish a Watches, Jewellery or Luxury-Goods Company in the UAE

No single authority owns this sector; several decide different parts of it. A Department of Economy and Tourism or free-zone authority decides the commercial licence and the activity it covers. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism decides whether the AML/DNFBP regime applies and how a company registers under it. UAE trademark legislation decides what an authorised distributor, a trademark owner and a seller of pre-owned or unbranded goods may each say about the goods they sell. Dubai Customs decides the declaration and import requirements for goods entering the emirate, and the Federal Tax Authority decides VAT and corporate tax treatment.

The test that cuts across all of them is functional, not a label on the licence. A company that only introduces a buyer to a seller, or that never takes title to stock, sits in a different position from one that buys, holds, insures and resells goods in its own name. The same question applies to adjacent asset classes: a classic car dealership tests title and provenance the same way a jewellery dealer does, and a fractional-ownership platform raises the same question where stock is shared rather than held by one party.

Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025, names dealers in precious metals and precious stones among the designated non-financial businesses and professions. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism's published position sets out what that status requires in practice:

These obligations sit alongside the commercial licence, not inside it; a company can hold a valid trading licence and still be in breach of its AML registration. The ministry's circulars have extended registration deadlines more than once, which signals that enforcement is active rather than theoretical.

Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 on Trademarks is the primary law governing brand protection in the UAE, implemented through Cabinet Decision No. 57 of 2022 and, for trademark agents specifically, Ministerial Decision No. 90 of 2024. The law's stated purpose includes combating fraud and counterfeiting and protecting the rights of trademark owners, and it governs local and international registration, infringement remedies and penalties. A trademark is registered for ten years, renewable within six months of expiry with a further three-month grace period available.

For a watches, jewellery or luxury-goods business, this is the law that decides whether the company may call itself an "authorised dealer" or "official retailer" for a brand, and what it must prove to do so. A pre-owned dealer or consignment boutique that is not an authorised distributor has to describe its stock and its relationship with the brand accurately; the trademark regime, not the trading licence, is what makes a misleading claim about authorisation or authenticity a legal exposure rather than a marketing choice.

High-value, portable goods attract scrutiny that an ordinary retail business does not. Banks will expect to see where stock came from, where customer funds came from, and how a transaction's value was arrived at, before they open or keep an account open. Velarozone's work on corporate bank account readiness and on source of wealth and funds evidence sits directly behind this part of the setup, because the same questions resurface at onboarding, at renewal and whenever a transaction is unusually large.

Build the evidence before it is asked for: supplier and brand-rights documentation, an authentication and intake procedure, inventory and custody records, and a clear explanation for any cash-equivalent or third-party payment. A bank or payment provider that cannot see this evidence will treat the account, not just the transaction, as higher risk.

The AML obligations above — due diligence, risk assessment, reporting — have to sit with a specific, accountable person inside the company, not a policy document nobody owns. Banks, and the ministry itself, will expect to see who is responsible for registration, for screening and for filing reports, and that this matches who actually runs the business day to day.

Group structures that separate a brand or trademark-holding entity from the trading entity, or that split retail from consignment, can be sensible where the liabilities genuinely differ — a superyacht refit business faces the same question over who is liable when an asset is in someone else's custody. Where ownership, licensing arrangements or brand agreements are unusually layered, Velarozone's work on regulated and complex ownership setup is built for exactly that kind of structure. A documented business plan that sets out the chosen model, the ownership chain and the compliance roles is the single most useful document for both banking and AML registration.

Registering the company is the fastest step in this process and the least representative of it. AML registration, trademark or distribution agreements, customs account setup and bank onboarding each add their own review time, and each recurs: AML reporting and risk assessment continue every year the business trades, trademark registrations need renewal, and bank relationships are reviewed periodically rather than approved once. Cost is built in layers rather than one headline figure, and the Velarozone fee for this work is itemised in the engagement letter; see how Velarozone works for how those layers are priced.

The most common failures in this sector are not licensing mistakes:

Each of these turns an AML, trademark or banking question into a dispute after the fact, rather than a decision made before the first sale.