- AlSerkal Jewellery, Azza Fine Jewellery, Azza Showroom, Bahrain, Designers, Jewellery Arabia Bahrain, L'atelier Nawbar, Luisa Rosas, Mike Joseph, Sassi Fine Jewellery, Silvia Furmanovich, Travelling, Vanleles Diamonds
CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY @AZZASHOWROOM, JEWELLERY ARABIA BAHRAIN 2018
Visiting Azza Al-Hujairi during Jewellery Arabia Bahrain has become my favourite November tradition for the past four years. The Azza Showroom enjoys the top spot for fine and contemporary jewellery designers in the Middle East today. Her iconic pink boutique is larger than ever to accommodate Azza’s unique curation of international jewellery designers. I can’t wait to show you.
Although Azza has a background in law, she belongs to the jewellery world! Having studied jewellery design and gemmology, Azza not only showcases at Jewellery Arabia Bahrain, she is a jeweller herself and owns a beautiful concept jewellery boutique at La Fontaine Centre of Contemporary Art in Bahrain.
While getting ready for opening day of Jewellery Bahrain, I stuck to my goal of raising awareness of natural pearls and partnered with Azza on Instagram for a Azza Fine Jewellery GIVEAWAY of her trendy and chic natural pearl choker. Just like me, Azza just can’t get enough fine jewellery!
The Azza Showroom also specialises in carrying a unique selection from regional jewellery designers. Revolutionising the contemporary jewellery scene of the Middle East, Azza features works from Brazilian designer Silvia Furmanovich, Portuguese designer Luisa Rosas, from Lebanon L’atelier Nawbar, Dutch designer of Sassi Fine Jewellery, from the UAE AlSerkal Jewellery, Armenian designer Mike Joseph and Vanleles Diamonds brand based in my beloved London. You can get to know some of the designers in my exclusive short interviews I posted on Instagram highlights!
With its playful hue of pink, the Azza Showroom stands out from the rest at Jewellery Arabia Bahrain, attracting many of the 50,000 visitors from the Middle East and Saudi Arabia who attend each year. The iconic #azzapink was influenced by the birth of Azza’s two daughters, changing the original decor of black, grey and white to this vibrant, feminine hue. What a wonderful story to tell those little ladies when they grow up!
“My new boutique looks like the new me” – Azza Al-Hujairi
As always, selecting jewels for the photo shoot and jewellery fashion styling inspiration was my favourite part. I created a total of eight stunning jewellery looks this year, one dedicated to each designer. I can’t wait to share them with you. Are you ready to meet the designers?
1. L’ATELIER NAWBAR
I loved meeting Dina of L’atelier Nawbar at Azza Showroom last year. It feels like we have known each other forever and truly enjoy her company. Picking playful pieces from the Amulets of Light and Cosmic Love collections was an extremely tough task. Azza Showroom features so many little beauties from L’atelier Nawbar, I couldn’t lay my eyes on just one. So I went for them all together to style my sunny jewellery fashion outfit!
Discover more about L’atelier Nawbar.
2. Mike Joseph Jewellery
Mike Joseph jewellery never ceases to amaze me with its exquisite contemporary designs, like skin. I greatly admire his legendary diamond and gold necklace I reviewed that I reviewed once before. This time his brilliant Bubble and Waterfall collections were lighting up the display at the Azza Showroom with their sparkle and innovative jewels. He has a way of designing statement pieces with such feminine elegance. There’s an enigmatic quality to his jewellery that make it so Mike Joseph.
3. AZZA FINE JEWELLERY
Every time I come to Bahrain, I see something new in Azza Fine Jewellery. This year, her delicate creations give me a feeling of minimalism and elegance. Sleek lines and signature chokers with emeralds give her new jewellery creations a special contemporary vibe.
Discover more about Azza Fine Jewellery.
4. LUISA ROSAS
The “shape of nature” is the slogan behind Portuguese brand Luisa Rosas, a perfectly fitting description of her jewellery depicted through a trained architect’s eye. With an architect’s perspective, Luisa has discovered similar sequential designs and patterns in nature and applied it to her organic, contemporary jewellery collection. Luisa Rosas is a breath of fresh air.
Discover more about Luisa Rosas.
5. SASSI FINE JEWELLERY
It was a pleasure meeting the designer of Sassi Fine Jewellery during Jewellery Arabia Bahrain 2018. Renilde Vervoort is such a beautiful, kind soul, and has a doctorate in art history. Designing the perfect piece for her daughter’s 18th birthday was the beginning of Renilde Vervoort’s jewellery career. At the Azza Showroom, she debuted six colourful jewellery collections. What a wonderful place to start a dazzling journey!
Discover more about Sassi Fine Jewellery.
6. SILVIA FURMANOVICH
The lovely Silvia Furmanovich couldn’t attend Jewellery Arabia Bahrain this year, as she was celebrating her son’s wedding. But her iconic marquetry pieces from the new Botanica collection attracted a lot of attention! Having launched in May this year, Silvia’s nature-inspired jewellery creations have already stolen the hearts of my followers and jewellery enthusiasts. This makes me even more proud to be the face and art director of the Botanica collection campaign. The highlight was a beautiful marquetry jewellery box with a strong Bahraini identity, unique to the Azza Showroom. You can discover more on myJewellery Arabia Bahrain Instagram takeover.
7. ALSERKAL JEWELLERY
New to the Azza Showroom family this year, UAE-based AlSerkal Jewellery blended in perfectly! Their pieces are so cute and tender, my heart instantly melted when I imagined them worn by lovely, little girls and their mothers. Apart from gold, diamonds and precious gemstones, the collections introduced at Jewellery Arabia Bahrain 2018 feature an array of agate and quartz stones in different colours and cuts, all sourced and customised specifically. Adorable!
Discover more about AlSerkal Jewellery.
8. VANLELES DIAMONDS
Last year when I met founder Vania Leles at Jewellery Arabia Bahrain, I was deeply moved by her humanitarian spirit and the values behind this London-based brand. With a deep-rooted African heritage,Vanleles Diamonds is devoted to sharing Africa’s story and the wonders of this great content through intricate shapes and colours. Vanleles Diamonds is much more than fine jewellery. All stones are ethically sourced and mined in Africa.
Discover more about Vanleles Diamonds.
But my journey didn’t end with meeting wonderful jewellery designers and creating looks with their pieces from the Azza Showroom! At Jewellery Arabia Bahrain, I hosted my second book signing event and held a Q&A with Azza Al-Hujairi. As you might remember the first book signing took place at Sotheby’s London, together with my talk with their Head of Jewellery Department! Thanks to every one of you who supported us by tuning into our Instagram Live! Don’t miss a chance to order your own copy online on Amazon or via Azza Showroom in Bahrain.
The Instagram Takeover of Jewellery Arabia Bahrain was so exciting. To share my curation of unique pieces for visitors at the most prestigious jewellery and watch exhibition of the Middle East! Can you imagine how happy I was!
Finally, it was time to relax and join the designers and notable guests for a dinner lovingly organised by Azza. I really think she has secret Superwoman powers!
Otherwise, how could she mange so many details at the same time and do it so perfectly? Just look at her dinner table set-up! Even the plates were specially handmade in signature #azzapink. Hosted at the Museum overlooking the Bahrain Fort, this dinner was a magical experience and I can’t thank Azza Al-Hujairi enough for making my trip to Bahrain so special! I admire her so much.
To be honest with you, with so many things to cover in such a short time this turned out to be a demanding experience for me. But sharing my unique jewellery discoveries with you, making memories and meeting inspiring people is the best reward I could ever ask for. Even missing my flight to Abu Dhabi next day didn’t dull the sparkle of my crazy journey to Bahrain! Writing this now makes me think how lucky I am to be living this moment.
Thanks for stopping by! Did you enjoy my coverage of Bahrain jewellery exhibition 2018? Leave me a message in the comments below.
I am extremely happy to announce that my new jewelry book – GEMOLOGUE: Street Jewellery Styles & Styling Tips – is now on Amazon. I’m so excited. It’s the first book of its kind solely dedicated to jewellery.
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GEMOLOGUE jewelry blog by Liza Urla is a celebration of fine, fashion and vintage jewellery featuring talented jewellery designers, trendy urban street style, exclusive interviews and rare jewellery reviews. This jewellery blog’s goal is to encourage and educate about jewellery online in a fresh and original fashion to inspire women and men across the globe in a fashion and travelling context.
Jewellery blogger, writer Liza Urla, the founder of GEMOLOGUE, is a London-based and NYC-educated gemologist, who has travelled to and lived in many countries. She is now one of the most influential digital jewellery tastemakers. Her jewellery influence has been acknowledged by Financial Times, The New York Times, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
*Photographed by Julia Flit. Styling and Art Direction by Liza Urla. All photos belong to GEM Kreatives for GEMOLOGUE.
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