Before little girls are gifted their first jewelry boxes to fill with trinkets and faux pearls, they are likely to come across another box of treasures–one belonging to grandma. While legacy jewelry passed through generations is hidden away in secret places, through the eyes of a little girl, other finds can behold just as much magic as real baubles. And so, emerging jewelry designer Donna Hourani lifted the secrets of her youth to create the collection “Jaroor El Teta” (Grandmother’s Drawer), debuting here.
Needle and thread and hairpin rose, white, and yellow gold earrings, and large antique Lebanese coin necklaces hanging from delicate chains are featured alongside thimble rings and safety pin chokers. Hourani explains that her grandmother was a well-known seamstress who raised eight children. Her work, which extended to creating clothes for clients in Lebanon, enabled her to build a house for her family.
These tiny objects that the matriarch used to build a life for her flourishing family represent delicate pieces–that in her hands–became tools from which her family would flourish. A moving tribute from a granddaughter to her grandmother and one that women around the world, who come from lines of strong, hard-working women who hail from the “old country,” whether that be Lebanon or Italy, will surely relate to. “All over the world there are women like my grandmother,” nods Hourani.
For any woman, who as a child, experienced the wonder of quietly sifting through her grandmother’s drawers, she will know that these are not mundane, everyday pieces but rather messages of hope, family, and the promised satisfaction and honor in good work. Fittingly, throughout the collection, tourmalines, citrines, and blue topaz provide the sparkle. DonnaHourani.com
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