Jewellery: Majestic Adornment Inspired by Egyptian Culture and Tradition

Azza Fahmy [Egypt]

[Image credit: Six Strand Floral and Fruits Collection – Azza Fahmy]

7000 years of Egyptian culture and tradition embodies the luxury jewellery collections of Egyptian jeweller, Azza Fahmy, whose elegant, statement designs you cannot help but visualise adorning the necks and wrists of Cleopatra and Nefertiti, Egypt’s legendary queens. Like the ancient culture that influences it, Azza Fahmy jewellery is elegant and regal, featuring handcrafted intricate detailing in gold and silver precious metals, and vibrant, shimmering gemstones, that help lend a contemporary edge. Azza Fahmy began her jewellery career forty years ago when a book on ‘classical jewellery during Europe’s Middle Ages’ compelled her to learn more about jewellery making.

Turning away from a career in interior design and studies in applied arts, Azza chose instead to learn her craft amidst the passageways of Khan El Khalili in Cairo, becoming an apprentice to one of Egypt’s most highly skilled master craftsman. This was during the seventies, and in pursuing an apprenticeship Azza was challenging some of the cultural and socially acceptable expectations of the time. After two years of hands-on training, Azza went on to study more of the theoretical side of jewellery making in London, courtesy of a British Council fellowship, returning to Cairo in the early eighties where she set up her eponymous workshop, Azza Fahmy, assisted by two workers. 

[Images credit: top, Classic Silver and Gold Earrings; bottom left, Silver Tassel Chain; 
bottom right, Bracelets – Azza Fahmy]

Azza is inspired by traditional Egyptian jewellery, and during the early years of her workshop began to explore the culture and history of Islamic design, combining her findings with a love of architecture that is reflected in the sleek sculptural forms of her designs. All these elements resulted in a distinctive signature style, one that has awarded Azza an international reputation as the leading jewellery designer in North Africa and the Middle Eastern region. Poetry is another of Azza’s passions and led to the sought-after Azza Fahmy signature ‘Culture Collection’, which sees meaningful and inspirational verses, and traditional poems rendered in elegant calligraphy and inscribed into bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and key chains.  

[Image credit: top, Filigree Winged Scarab Pendant; bottom,
Winged Khepri Scarab Ring – Azza Fahmy]

The connection between culture and the designs produced at Azza Fahmy is very much at the heart of the business, and has seen Azza become a cultural ambassador for the country, earning her the title; ‘First lady of cultural jewellery’. A role, which has seen Azza travel extensively, sharing her insight and creations in more than two hundred international exhibitions. Today Azza Fahmy employs over 170 people in roles that include; handcrafting, designing, and marketing.

[Image credit: Pharaonic Vulture Collar – Azza Fahmy]

… jewellery fit for a queen

Additional details:
Azza Fahmy jewellery priced at: £100-£4,280
For further information about Azza Fahmy and purchase enquiries visit: www.azzafahmy.com