International heritage and personal histories are the surprise stand-outs at this year’s Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (DJWE) 2016, organised by Qatar Tourism Authority and delivered by Elan Group.
Italian jeweller Veschetti displays a delicate brooch of silver, gold, diamond and saltwater pearls in the form of a naturalistic bunch of grapes on the vine, which used to belong to the family of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy (1820-1878) and first king of a united Italy since the sixth century.
La Piramide displays an intriguing necklace design in which diamond-encrusted gold swirls around two large, unusual yellow ‘melo’ pearls.
Jaipur-based jewellers Amrapali are also recreating the days of the Maharajas, with exuberant, colourful masterworks reflecting the traditional motifs of royal Indian culture. Robert Wan turned to jewellery design, and remembered the black pearls he had found. The idea of a necklace was born – a necklace unlike anything the world had seen before.
Moussaieff has also unveiled a one-off masterpiece of rare stones at DJWE 2016: a colour-changing pink and purple sapphire necklace, containing 151 carats of sapphires, and 53 carats of diamonds.“I was fascinated by the concept of hidden messages and decided also to engrave a message under the stone – ‘joy’ in beautiful Arabic calligraphy,” says Egyptian jeweller Azzy Fahmy’s head designer, Amina.
“I started searching in India for light-coloured stones that would let the message show through, and found the most beautiful faceted amethysts.”