The Pearl Museum is located in the National Bank of Dubai. The bank is known now as Emirates NBD, the museum displays a collection maps, diving paraphernalia and equipment used by pearl merchants such as weighing scales made from precious stones. The main aim of the museum is to help preserve the colourful history of the pearl divers and merchants of Arabia.
The NBD Pearl Museum contains the largest collection of natural pearls in the GCC. It is a gift from the late Sultan Al Owais, the founder of the National Bank of Dubai, to the people of the UAE to remind them of their culture and heritage before the discovery of oil.
All the pearls exhibited there belonged to to one private person, Sultan Al Owais (1925-2000). It was his father, Ali Bin Abdullah Al Owais, who started to collect the pearls and also invested to establish a financial institution to serve local needs.
Along with that glorious jewellery, the museum also celebrates the lives of the divers and sailors by displaying the instruments and tools they used to harvest and ship the precious cargo.
Visitors must note that they can visit the Pearl Museum by prearranging with Emirates NBD beforehand. The museum prefers 8-10 people to visit at a time, with an upper limit of about 20 people in a larger group.
The Pearl Museum showcases a collection of currency notes and coins from different periods like Ottoman, Greek, Venetians. In 1893-1973 British influence could be seen and the coinage of British India was commonly used for small everyday trading whilst silver and gold coins were used for larger more important transactions.