The Design Commission Abu Dhabi is set to run a specialized jewellery and watch design residency in partnership with Tiffany & Co., with the program structured to move participants from foundational instruction through to a public exhibition and, for the top three, a professional internship in New York.
The residency runs from November 2026 through April 2027, delivered through weekly Saturday sessions at a dedicated venue in Abu Dhabi. Ten residents will be selected via an open application process opening August 17 and closing September 20, 2026. The program targets UAE residents of all nationalities who hold foundational knowledge in jewellery and/or watch design. Applications and portfolios are submitted through the DCAD website at www.dcad.ae/tiffanyandco-design-residency.
The curriculum is built around mentorship, hands-on technical instruction, and material exploration. Participants work through the conceptual, creative, and technical foundations of jewellery and watch design while developing individual design languages. The program integrates elements of Emirati culture, architecture, and artistic heritage alongside Tiffany & Co.’s nearly two centuries of design methodology, giving the educational framework a dual cultural grounding.
A Capstone Exhibition scheduled for May 2027 will display residents’ final projects within Abu Dhabi’s cultural landscape, serving as the formal conclusion to the educational component. Beyond that, the three highest-performing participants will receive a three-month internship at Tiffany & Co.’s New York headquarters, running June through August 2027. That placement represents the program’s most concrete professional outcome, offering direct operational exposure to one of the world’s most recognized design institutions.
DCAD, chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, frames the initiative as part of a deliberate strategy to expand its residency portfolio through international collaboration. The Commission describes the residency as one mechanism for building sustainable infrastructure supporting long-term creative development in the emirate, with the partnership combining education, international collaboration, and professional advancement pathways as its operational framework.
Meanwhile, the broader institutional ambition is to position Abu Dhabi as a global destination for design and creativity by connecting emerging designers with world-leading institutions. Whether the residency model, with its Saturday-session structure and ten-person cohort, can meaningfully move that needle will become clearer once the first cohort completes its work and the May 2027 exhibition opens to the public.