Personalised Christmas gifts for grandparents from UAE brands
Names in gold, photographs in wood and a year in print, from nine UAE brands.
The personalised Christmas gifts for grandparents that work are the ones that carry the grandchildren with them: their names on a gold chain, their faces engraved in wood, a year of their lives printed in a book. Grandparents rarely want more things. They nearly always want more of the children.
This list brings together nine UAE brands, every one founded or based here. Two are high-end Dubai jewellers who put names and letters into gold and silver. The rest are small home-grown makers and print labs who work with your photographs and your words. Every gift here takes a name, a picture or a line of text, which is what makes it personal. If you are looking for pieces that last and get handed down, our list of Christmas keepsake gifts for grandparents takes a different angle. We have left out prices, because they change, and we cannot promise what a shop will have on a given day.
To use it, decide first what you are putting on the gift: names, a photograph or a date. Then gather it before you open a single product page. Read the practical notes below, choose the brand that fits, and follow the link to check the details and the personalisation options on the brand's own page.
Before you choose
Collect the photographs first. Use the original files from your camera or phone, not screenshots or pictures saved from a chat, which are often compressed. Faces should be sharp and well lit. For engraving and collages, a picture with faces close to the camera works far better than a wide shot of everyone on a beach.
Agree on names and spellings. Write out every name exactly as it should appear, and decide on Arabic or English for each piece. Check the character limits on the product page: some makers allow a set number of letters, and some only capitals. Ask the parents of each grandchild if you are unsure.
Order early and ask for a proof. Personalised gifts take longer than anything off a shelf, and you need time to check the design before it is printed or engraved. Several makers here send a preview for approval. Our guide to when to order Christmas gifts in Dubai covers the timing, including gifts sent abroad.
Think about their eyes and their walls. Small text is hard to read on a necklace or a plaque. A large canvas needs a wall that is free. Before choosing a size, picture where it will go in their home. If they live abroad, remember that a book or a passport cover packs into a suitcase and a large framed canvas does not.
Decide who the gift is from. A gift from all the grandchildren can carry every name. A gift from one family can carry one photograph. Settle it before you order, so no one is left off.
Gift 01 · High-end
Bil Arabi: a silver letter for a grandchild's initial
Bil Arabi has made all its jewellery in Dubai since it began, and its designs grow out of Arabic calligraphy. The Silver Letter Necklace (Kayan) turns a single Arabic letter into the pendant itself, in sterling silver with a small blue sapphire, finished shiny or shiny matte. The letter is customisable.
Choose the first letter of a grandchild's name, and grandma wears that child close every day. With several grandchildren, the letter of the family name keeps it fair, or each family can give a letter of its own. The product page invites custom requests, so ask there about anything beyond a single letter. It suits a grandmother who reads Arabic, or one who simply likes the shape of the letter and the story behind it.
Gift 02 · High-end
Piece of You: a gold necklace with three names
Piece of You is a Dubai jewellery brand making personalised pieces in hallmarked 18K gold. The Zeeana Three Name Necklace carries three names in Arabic or English, in one of ten fonts, with versions from plain gold to hearts, diamonds or enamel. The three entries can also be initials, dates or short words.
For a larger family, the UMMI Arabic Keepsake Necklace spells Ummi, mother, in Arabic calligraphy with enamel and diamonds, and is personalised with two, three or four names. Given by her own children with the grandchildren's names added, it covers two generations at once. A live preview on the product page shows the names before you buy, which helps with spelling.
Gift 03 · Small, home-grown
The Custom Factory: Mr and Mrs passport covers
The Custom Factory is a Dubai maker of personalised vegan leather passport covers and wallets. The Mr and Mrs Personalised Passport Cover is sold as a pair, each cover in its own colour with its own name, up to fifteen capital letters long.
Each cover has slots for a passport and a boarding pass, two cards and a SIM card, which helps grandparents who fly between two homes and keep a second SIM for each. It suits a couple who come to Dubai for Christmas, or who spend part of the year somewhere else. Choose two clearly different colours so they can tell the covers apart at the gate. A gift box can be added if you want it ready to hand over.
Gift 04 · Small, home-grown
Laser Gallery: a family photograph engraved in wood
Laser Gallery is a Dubai engraving specialist that has been personalising gifts since 2004. Its Personalised Laser-Engraved Wooden Plaque takes a photograph and engraves it into a 20 by 15 cm panel of natural solid wood, inside a floral border.
The order form asks for a name and leaves room for a short quote, so the grandchildren's names can sit under their faces. Engraving turns a photograph into lines and tones in the grain, so choose a clear, well-lit picture with faces close to the camera and a plain background. The plaque can stand on a shelf or hang on a wall. It suits a grandparent who prefers warm, natural materials to glossy prints.
Gift 05 · Small, home-grown
Riot Photobooks: a square photo book of the year
Riot Photobooks is a Dubai print lab making photo books and calendars. Its Classic Photo Books are 25 cm square hardcovers, centre-bound, starting at twenty-four pages, with ready-made family and travel covers or a textured linen cover as an upgrade.
You can lay it out yourself in the online editor, let its Smart Designer arrange your uploads by date, or send the photographs to the team to design for you. A book of one year, from the first day of school to the Christmas tree, gives grandparents something to turn through with a grandchild on their lap. Add a short caption to each spread with names and places, because a book outlives everyone's memory of who was where.
Gift 06 · Small, home-grown
CanvasJet: a family tree collage on canvas
CanvasJet is a canvas print studio in Dubai. Its Family Tree Wall Art Collage Canvas Print brings thirty-five photographs together on one canvas, with the family name and an optional line of text in one of eight fonts. Their artists build the layout after you order and email a digital preview before anything is printed.
Thirty-five is a lot of pictures, which is the point. It suits a large family, or grandparents with several sets of grandchildren in different countries. For a smaller family, the photo collage on canvas range has layouts from three photographs upwards, some with room for words. These are personalised photo Christmas gifts that need a wall, so measure the space before you choose a size.
Gift 07 · Small, home-grown
Make it Yours: an illustrated family portrait
Make it Yours is the studio of Maria, a Dubai-based illustrator and designer. She illustrates personalised portraits and family portraits from photographs you send, in a contemporary digital style with colours chosen for you, and delivers a high-resolution file ready to print.
An illustration suits a family that has no single photograph of everyone together, or one where someone could not be there. Send several pictures and she will help you decide which ones to draw from. This is a commission rather than a shop, so contact the studio to confirm it is taking portrait orders and how long one takes before you plan around it. Print the file in a size that suits the grandparents' wall and frame it simply.
Gift 08 · Small, home-grown
Star Maps UAE: a star map with their wedding photographs
Star Maps UAE is a UAE studio making personalised star maps and photo prints. Its Anniversary Photo Collage combines a star map of a chosen date, showing the sky as it was that night, with photographs from the day, a title, a quote and the place and date.
For grandparents, the obvious date is their wedding, with a photograph from the day beside one of the family now. It is printed on museum-grade paper and comes in a black frame or as an acrylic panel. If you would rather leave out the stars, the Personalised Photo Collage is designed from your photographs alone. Both come back to you for approval before printing, so check every name and date at that stage.
Gift 09 · Small, home-grown
Print Online HD: a printed album in its own box
Print Online HD prints all its products locally in Dubai. Its Photo Album comes in square, portrait or landscape format: you choose a theme, upload your photographs and personalise the design.
The Album Box gives the album a home, in linen, velvet, leather or a custom print, made to keep the pages safe. Together they suit grandparents who keep albums on a shelf and take them down when visitors come. If you do not have time to design it, the company offers to help lay out a book from your photographs and details. Ask about sizes and page counts before ordering, as the page does not list them.
Put the grandparents in the picture
Nearly every gift on this list starts with a good photograph of the family. If the grandparents are visiting for Christmas, it may be the one time in the year that everyone is in the same room. The Full Story is forty-five minutes for up to eight people, across all three of our setups, so there is room for grandparents, parents and children in one session. Our guide to Christmas mini photoshoots in Dubai explains how the sessions differ.
Let's sum up
Decide what goes on the gift, then choose the object. For names, Bil Arabi's silver letter, Piece of You's gold necklaces or The Custom Factory's passport covers. For photographs, Laser Gallery's engraved plaque, a Riot Photobooks book, a CanvasJet collage or a Print Online HD album. For a date, a Star Maps UAE print, and for a drawing, Make it Yours. Collect original photo files, spell every name carefully and approve the proof before it is made.
Questions about personalised Christmas gifts for grandparents
Gifts that carry the grandchildren: a necklace with their names or initials, a photograph engraved in wood, a photo book of the year or a canvas collage. In the UAE, Piece of You and Bil Arabi make name and letter jewellery, and Dubai print labs such as Riot Photobooks, CanvasJet and Print Online HD turn family photographs into books, albums and canvases.
Use the original file from your camera or phone rather than a screenshot or a picture saved from a chat. Choose one where faces are sharp, well lit and reasonably large in the frame. For engraving, a plain background helps. For a collage, a mix of close and wider shots gives the layout variety.
Yes. Piece of You offers names in Arabic or English on its three-name necklace, and its Ummi necklace is written in Arabic calligraphy. Bil Arabi builds its pieces around Arabic letters, and its silver letter necklace can be customised. Check the spelling in Arabic with someone who writes it before you order.
Ask the maker for a proof. CanvasJet emails a digital preview before printing, Star Maps UAE sends the design for approval, and Piece of You shows a live preview on the product page. Read every name and date slowly, look at how the photograph is cropped and save the approved version with your order.
If we are using one of your photographs and you are not happy with how we have credited it, or would simply rather it were not on our site, let us know at hello@setupcollective.ae and we will take it down immediately.
The Setup Collective builds three Christmas rooms in Dubai each season, the Christmas Room, the Christmas Kitchen and Christmas Morning, then photographs families in them. Candidly: nobody gets told to tuck their chin in. Who we are
