Beirut's Once-thriving Armenian Jewelers Battling Economic Difficulties

Beirut's Bourj Hammoud district, the center of Lebanon's Armenian population, is known for its jewelry shops, April 9, 2016.

Jewelry shops line Bourj Hammoud's central street -- Armenia Street -- in Beirut, Lebanon, April 9, 2016. Even though the shops seem to have brisk business on the weekends, many craftsmen from small workshops are struggling.

Hrayr Dserounian, who said he feels the jewelry industry has lost some of its creativity, shows off some of the pieces being made in his workshop, in Beirut, Lebanon, April 1, 2016.

Still working at the age of 95, Hrayr Dserounian, left, is known to locals as "The Master," in Beirut, Lebanon, April 1, 2016.

Master jeweler Hrayr Dserounian shows one of the recent pieces he has crafted, in Beirut, Lebanon, April 1, 2016. The iconography reflects Armenian history.

Sarkis Barsoumian, holding a gem, runs one of Bourj Hammoud's many jewelry workshops along with his brother Ohannes Barsoumian, Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 26, 2016.

Small- and medium-sized workshops in Bourj Hammoud have been struggling to stay afloat, with many closing in recent years, in Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 26, 2016.

Khajag Barsoumian, left, and his father, Sarkis, work in the family business, in Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 26, 2016. Unlike many of the younger Armenian generation, 19-year-old Khajag has decided to follow in his father's footsteps.

The Pegor Jewelry workshop, one of an estimated 500 in Bourj Hammoud, in Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 26, 2016.

A workshop in the Bourj Hammoud, in Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 26, 2016. Jewelers said they have been hit by both national instability, which has put off many traditional buyers from the Gulf, and tougher competition on the international market.