“Every year, my design team and I are inspired by a cultural theme to create a collection that tells a different story,” says Azza Fahmy, the Arab world's best-known contemporary jewellery designer. Fahmy and her design team that consists of 22 designers have decided to pay a tribute to talismans this year. “We search for the meanings and perceptions behind each talisman throughout various cultures around the world in the present and in history,” Fahmy says. Because jewellery is a good choice for women at Christmas, the 13 pieces of the talisman collection feature white diamonds, semi-precious stones like garnets and amethysts, pearls, and a mix of sterling silver and gold. The collection is also part of a larger and exquisite Christmas jewellery selection. The whole collection is made in Egypt. All the creations are hand-crafted at Fahmy's Cairo workshop. “They are made by 200 of our artisans, 90 per cent of them Egyptians,” she says. Amina Ghali, Fahmy's daughter, is also involved in designing the collection. “My daughter Amina, together with the design team, travelled to India to handpick our stones after a long process of research and trend forecasting,” Fahmy notes. For the talisman collection in particular, Amina was essential in styling the pieces and for the general look of the jewellery. Amina is Fahmy's youngest daughter. She joined Azza Fahmy Jewellery in 2005 and spent the first three years working behind the scenes designing and developing pieces across the brand's different collections. “She is currently being groomed into becoming the next creative director,” comments Fahmy. A challenge this year has been how to mix the different symbols together and make them aesthetically pleasing. “For example, creating the eye and fish ring allowed us to widen our design envelope to bring out four different symbols in one piece, such as the fish, the eye of Horus, the coin in the hand and the calligraphy spelling of ya Wadud (the Loving One) — one of the 99 names of Allah (God) in Islam,” explains Fahmy. “My favourite piece in the collection,” she asks, smiling. “It is hard for me to choose just one piece as my favourite.” Azza Fahmy designs are different from those of other female designers. She has her own style, taste and feminine touch. The secret of this charm, she comments, is that “my jewellery relates to every woman, to women who appreciate the arts and culture. Our pieces have a global appeal, and every piece has a story that people can connect to.” Working women can wear pieces from the collection in the mornings and evenings. The majority of the pieces have been designed over the last couple of seasons. “They can be dressed up or dressed down. There are pieces that can be integrated into a morning look, for work, or a coffee date, or even work at a morning meeting. There are also pieces that can be worn for an evening look, whether at a dinner, outing, or a wedding.” “The combination of sterling silver and gold, diamonds, precious stones, and semi-precious stones makes it a question of how a woman would like to style her day,” Fahmy concludes of the pieces.
