Abu Dhabi: For Dh500,000, you can have your own special and personalised engraving on your hunting rifle or knife, or if you’re feeling adventurous, then on both.
Costly as it may seem, the clientele for such purchases does exist, which is why the stand — belonging to Trompeter and Ritchi — is exhibiting at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (Adihex), offering its extravagant services for those who can afford it.
“For the past 25 years, I have been engraving on hunter knives, luxury rifles, and handmade guns,” said Richard Maier, who owns the company.
According to Maier, the process can take up to 10 hours, with the engravings based on animals chosen by the hunter.
“It is important to do all the engraving by hand, so that it is all unique and very special,” he said.
An engraving can take me up to three weeks to complete, on some days I can work for 10 hours non-stop, and then there are other days where I work for 15 hours. It requires a lot of hard work and a lot of concentration because you cannot do one mistake when making the engraving,” he added.
“In terms of the animal engravings that are picked by our clients in the UAE, I have found that the falcon engraving is one of the most popular. Other engravings that are often requested are horses, gazelles and also, sometimes, leopards,” he said.
In terms of the prices, Maier acknowledged that the engravings don’t come cheap, making it a very niche market.
“We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dirhams to have these engravings. The prices can often vary depending on the type of work that is done, but they are certainly expensive,” he said. Maier said that he does get some customers who have saved up their money for their special engraving.
“There are people who save up money to get an engraving done, and I often get a lot of satisfaction from these customers because it’s more than just a flow of cash, but a flow of energy as I like to call it.
“I put a lot of energy and emotions in my engravings, and so if I am able to make such a client happy with the end product, after he has saved his money and has dreamt of having such an engraving on his rifle or hunting knife, then that makes me very happy as well and I am getting something more back than just the cash,” he added.
Adihex 2017
Where: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
When: September 12-September 16
Timing: 11am-10pm
