Long before the discovery of oil, the Arab world’s lifeblood was the jewellery trade.
In Egypt, the local industry was renowned for its masterful gold smithing. In Lebanon, trading gold formed a backbone of the economy, anchored by Beirut’s bustling souks and port. Across the Arabian Peninsula, today’s GCC, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, pearl diving and the sale of natural pearls sustained entire communities.
For decades, Arab jewellery circulated largely within closed cultural and commercial loops, tied to bridal trousseaux, family heirlooms and regional gold markets. Today, however, that ecosystem has opened decisively outward.
Over the past two decades, and particularly in the years following the pandemic, a combination of trailblazers and a new generation of designers, many trained abroad yet deeply rooted in regional craft traditions, have reframed Middle Eastern jewellery for a global audience. Alongside them, legacy houses are modernising their design language, retail strategies and brand positioning, tapping into rising demand for culturally specific luxury and craftsmanship-led storytelling.
“We have a history of being adventurous, of trading, of having craftsmanship, of contributing to the intellectual community,” said Fred Mouawad, fourth-generation co-guardian of Lebanese heritage house Mouawad, founded in Beirut in 1908. “When you fast forward, craftsmanship and having a global mindset – it’s very much in our DNA.”
That depth of history now gives Arab jewellery a point of distinction in an increasingly saturated luxury market. According to BoF and McKinsey’s The State of Fashion 2026 report, jewellery remains one of the few bright spots in an otherwise sluggish sector, buoyed by consumers’ desire for lasting value and personal resonance. Globally, the category is forecast to grow 4.1 percent annually per unit over the next three years – four times the rate of clothing.
“Jewellery promotes self-expression and emotional connection in a way that other luxury categories don’t right now,” said Eric Ford, brand director at Couture, one of the most influential fine jewellery trade shows in the US. “That’s why we’re seeing independent designers, especially those with a strong cultural point of view, resonate globally.”
For Arab designers and heritage houses alike, that shift has been auspicious.
“Many people love the story of jewellery in the Arab world,” said Nader Jaber, a Paris-based jewellery consultant and gemologist specialising in the Middle East. “Designers and heritage houses that have chosen to innovate and go international know how to tell these stories with beauty and complexity. That draws in clientele who care about cultural heritage and craftsmanship, and how the story informs the design.”
From Merchants and Artisans to Regional Juggernauts
For centuries, the Middle East sat at the centre of global jewellery trade routes. In the early 20th century, pearls were among the most valuable commodities in the world, with the Gulf acting as the primary market.
That pearl economy gave rise to powerful merchant families whose influence still shapes the region’s jewellery landscape today. Families such as Bahrain’s Al Zain and Mattar dynasties, and Qatar’s Al Fardan family — home to the world’s largest natural pearl collection — built their reputations as pearl traders. Over time, many evolved into regional jewellery juggernauts, with groups like Al Fardan expanding into fashion, real estate and other industries while maintaining deep roots in jewellery craftsmanship.
Their early international prominence coincided with a moment when Islamic geometry and symmetry began influencing Western jewellers, “a two-way conversation that accelerated with Art Deco,” said Rachel Garrahan, London-based jewellery expert and co-curator of the V&A’s Cartier exhibition. “Jacques Cartier even travelled to the Gulf in 1911 to source pearls.”
This exchange also laid the groundwork for Arab heritage houses that would later achieve regional, and sometimes global, distinction.
Lebanese brand Mouawad remains among the most recognisable internationally – known for high jewellery creations, record-breaking diamonds and collaborations including the Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra and Miss Universe tiaras. Today, the fourth generation of the family is steering a strategic evolution.
“We’re evolving from being known only for high jewellery masterpieces to becoming more accessible through fine jewellery,” said Mouawad, whose company now has flagships in London, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Muscat and Bangkok, with further expansion planned across Asia.
In the Gulf, similar transitions are underway. UAE-based Al Fardan Jewellery traces its lineage to the pearl trade long before oil reshaped the region. Founder of his eponymous label, Adi Al Fardan draws directly from that history while repositioning the brand for a more global audience.
“My grandfather was known across the Gulf as ‘the pearl doctor,’” said Al Fardan. “Pearls were a symbol of identity and status, and that respect for craftsmanship still shapes how I approach jewellery today.”
While Al Fardan now focuses on natural diamonds and rare gemstones for high jewellery pieces, geometry and symbolism remain central to the brand’s design language.
While heritage businesses have changed with the times, consumer tastes across the region have also evolved. Jewellery is no longer reserved solely for weddings or investment-grade stones. And while Western luxury jewellery from brands like Cartier, Tiffany and Co., Bvlgari and Chaumet among others, continue to be popular among Arab shoppers, there’s a greater pull towards regional designers as individuals look to differentiate themselves.
“Jewellery in the Arab world is becoming less about status and more about individuality,” said Katerina Perez, a jewellery journalist who frequently covers the region. “Women are stacking, layering and mixing pieces. This has opened the door for designers, not just jewellers, to define new aesthetics rooted in heritage but relevant today.”
The Trailblazers and the New Wave of Contemporary Arab Designers
In this vein, if heritage houses laid the foundations, it was a group of independent designers who redefined how Arab jewellery could look, and where it could travel.
Designers such as Azza Fahmy in Egypt, Selim Mouzannar and Nada Ghazal in Lebanon, and Nadine Kanso in the UAE began reinterpreting regional motifs, introducing coloured gemstones and contemporary silhouettes at a time when Arab identity itself was often politicised or marginalised.
Azza Fahmy is widely regarded as a turning point. Founded in Cairo in 1969, her eponymous brand bridged traditional Egyptian craftsmanship with contemporary design decades before “heritage storytelling” became a luxury industry shorthand. Her gold-and-silver pieces, inscribed with poetry, symbolism and calligraphy, challenged Western assumptions about Middle Eastern jewellery as purely ornamental.
“Azza Fahmy was one of the first to insist that Arab jewellery could be intellectual, political and wearable,” said Katia Jundi, a Doha-based jewellery journalist and author. “She opened doors for an entire generation.”
“She broke every boundary,” said Fahmy’s daughter and CEO Fatma Ghaly, who joined the company two decades ago and led its international expansion, from collaborations with Balmain to flagships in Cairo to London and Saudi Arabia in the last five years. “We always had an exceptional product, but we needed structure and a deliberate global vision.” The brand has also played a wider role in incubating regional talent through its jewellery design school.
In Lebanon, Selim Mouzannar followed a parallel path. Trained at Paris’ Institut National de Gemmologie, he returned to Beirut in the 1990s to establish his atelier, keeping production local while building an international business as Lebanon’s political and economic situation deteriorated.
His bold use of coloured gemstones, fused with Byzantine and Ottoman references , has earned global recognition, with pieces worn by Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Gwyneth Paltrow.
“For me, it’s very important to have a personal connection with the people wearing your jewellery,” said Mouzannar, whose brand is stocked by independent retailers across Europe, the US and the Middle East, and will soon open a permanent space at London’s Liberty.
Operating in the same environment but without formal jewellery training, Nada Ghazal built a brand defined by femininity and lightness. Since founding her label in the early 2000s, she has focused on playfulness as much as craft.
“Jewellery should tell a story, but it should also feel joyful,” Ghazal said. “I never wanted my work to feel heavy, emotionally or physically.”
After her Beirut flagship was destroyed in the 2020 port explosion, Ghazal opened her first international flagship in London this year, following long-standing retail partnerships with Harrods and Liberty in the city, Greenwich St Jewelers in New York, and prominent pop ups at Bergdorf Goodman. But beyond its own brick-and-mortar presence, the brand has also developed a wide global reach through cities in the US and Europe, from Zurich, Bucharest and Athens to Austin, Portland and Nantucket – a testament to its universal appeal.
In Dubai, Nadine Kanso founded Bil Arabi, meaning “Speak Arabic,” in 2006, transforming Arabic calligraphy into bold, graphic fine jewellery at a moment when Arab culture was often sidelined globally.
“When I started, Arabic script wasn’t seen as fashionable or universal,” said Kanso. “I wanted to reclaim that language visually, not nostalgically, but boldly.” Today, she added, clients wear the pieces regardless of whether they speak Arabic, drawn by emotion and design rather than language itself.
“These designers reframed Arab jewellery as contemporary, not traditional,” said Manuel Arnaut, editorial director of Vogue Arabia. “They weren’t making jewellery about heritage. They were making jewellery from heritage.”
That reframing paved the way for brands like L’Atelier Nawbar, where sisters Tania and Dima Nawbar built upon their family’s Beirut-based jewellery business dating back to the 1950s. Drawing from archival references, Art Deco influences and enamel work, the brand balances legacy with experimentation.
“We grew up surrounded by jewellery,” said Tania Nawbar. “But our approach was about reinterpreting that history. We wanted pieces that felt joyful, collectible and modern.”
For all these brands after regional popularity, international exposure soon followed – aided by global retailers, red-carpet placements and jewellery fairs such as Couture in Las Vegas, a key gateway to the US market.
“Couture is where designers with a unique point of view can build a global audience,” said Gannon Brousseau, the trade show’s executive vice president. “We’re seeing more designers from the Middle East because they bring something genuinely different, informed by lived experience rather than trends.”
Changing With the Times: The Next Generation
If earlier waves of Arab jewellery designers went global over time, the latest generation is global by default – with social media radically levelling the playing field.
“Social media has democratised jewellery,” said Rachel Garrahan. “Over the last 10 to 15 years, it’s given independent designers visibility everywhere. You find brands on Instagram now, wherever they are in the world, and you can’t underestimate how transformative that’s been.”
That shift is evident at Couture, which increasingly discovers designers online. “We’re always looking for a unique point of view,” said Brousseau. “Often that comes from designers whose heritage informs their work, and in many cases, we’ve discovered them on Instagram.”
The trade show’s brand director Ford added that jewellery’s resilience amid the luxury slowdown has intensified interest. “There’s been a clear uptick in the $5,000 to $20,000 fine jewellery range,” he said. “Consumers see it as emotional, but also investment-driven.”
Lebanese designer Ralph Masri represents this new cohort. Trained at Central Saint Martins in London, Masri draws on Beirut’s architectural language to create sculptural pieces designed for everyday wear, with Instagram and WhatsApp sales proving key for international business, and exclusive e-retail partner 1stdibs crucial for drawing in US clientele.
“I realised jewellery could combine artistry and sustainability as a business,” Masri said. “It allowed me to be design-first, which was quite new at the time, but honour where I come from while creating something globally wearable.”
Beyond Masri, social media has helped catalyse a new generation of experimental Arab designers – notably women – reshaping jewellery through form, material and concept.
“Women have a prominent position in the industry today thanks to their creativity,” said jewellery journalist Katerina Perez.
In Egypt, Jude Benhalim mixes coloured resin with gold and silver. “I didn’t want to work within fixed definitions of value,” she said. “By mixing materials, I’m asking people to rethink what makes jewellery precious.” Her brand has caused much buzz for its bold yet accessible designs, and has grown a noteworthy international presence beyond the Middle East since the pandemic, held by retailers in Paris, Spain, Greece, Nigeria and South Africa, as well as a wide range of e-retailers.
Lebanese-French designer Joelle Kharrat similarly blends wood, pearl and opals with precious metals and diamonds in her viral and hero Toteme pieces – foregrounding contrast, tactility and Lebanese craftsmanship. “I’m interested in tension, between materials, between softness and structure,” she said. “That dialogue feels reflective of the diversity in our region today.”
A veteran in the sector, Kharrat’s new label, established in 2022, is now synonymous with the bold, playful and experimental jewellery coming out the region since the pandemic, that has found broad international customer base, retailing in France, Brazil, multiple cities in the US and on Net-a-porter globally only three years in.
In Kuwait, Shouq Al-Fulaij founded Ascher with a global mindset from the outset. “We’re part of a generation that carries its heritage proudly, but without limitation,” she said. “Our work isn’t about fitting into a category.” Today, her edgy and easily recognisable black gold and baguette diamond octagonal rings and ear pieces and nautical inspired offerings have garnered much international attention, retailing in the US at Saks Fifth Avenue and worn by the likes of Rihanna and Emily Blunt.
Elsewhere, UAE-based Noora Shawqi has built a quieter but strategic brand focused on travel-inspired, stackable jewellery designed for daily wear. “Heritage doesn’t have to be literal,” she said. “It can live in craftsmanship, intention and storytelling.”
Across these brands, the emphasis is less on overt symbolism and more on authenticity, a shift aligning with broader luxury trends.
“Storytelling matters more than ever,” said Couture’s Ford. “Consumers want connection, and jewellery is uniquely positioned to offer that emotional bond.”
As luxury consumers increasingly prioritise provenance over logos, in what feels like long-overdue recognition, today Arab jewellery designers, rooted in centuries of trade, adaptation and artistry, are no longer waiting for the global consumer to come to them, but proactively shaping the future of the sector.
