Abeer: A gem of a designer

When Abeer moved to Saudi Arabia from London two years ago, she had been thinking of what to do with all her free time. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in business studies, Abeer, being a creative person, wanted to do something related to art. She was inspired by a friend who runs her own successful jewelry business. “I can’t exactly put my finger on how it all started but something led me to buy some unique pieces of jewelry. I announced it to my friends and lo and behold I had my very first customer. Next thing you know I started running out of stock, so I bought more things, and then some more. Eventually, I started customizing designs based on customer feedback. From then on I decided I would design my own collection from scratch and have a few items that I curate to add to the collection,” recalls the jewelry designer who is based in Alkhobar.
A Londoner in the Kingdom, Abeer launched her jewelry under the name ‘TAS’ and has since then gone places, both literally and figuratively. She has hundreds of followers on Instagram and has participated in exhibitions in Saudi Arabia with plans to participate in events in other Gulf countries as well. In the upcoming months she hopes to stock her jewelry in various boutiques throughout the major cities in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.
In a chat with Arab News, the talented designer spills her design secrets and much more:

What is the story behind the brand name ‘TAS’?
Picking a name for my jewelry line was even more difficult than starting the business itself! After much deliberation and loads of helpful input from family and friends I decided on TAS collection. TAS is the turkish word for gem and since my entire jewelry line incorporates gemstones it was a perfect fit. TAS also incorporates my initials hence TAS collection also stands for the Abeer S. Collection.

How would you describe your style of designing?
I mainly use high quality sterling silver and most of my designs are gold plated. I also do some pieces with a rose gold plating and a silver finish. My style of designing revolves around creating dainty and elegant jewelry pieces that can be layered together or worn alone.

How do you design and create jewelry pieces?
The first step in the process is deciding on the colors I want to work with in a particular collection. Then the real task begins: sourcing the stones in the exact shapes, sizes and translucency that fit my designs. I prefer to work with very small stones and sometimes they’re very difficult to come by especially in large quantities. Hence most of my designs are available in limited quantities and it’s hard to recreate the exact piece again.

What is the price range like?
Our price range starts from SR125 all the way up to SR2,000 for our long statement necklaces.

What is the USP of your jewels?
I believe the USP of my jewelry is that it’s hand-crafted. You can see the work that goes into each piece. As a lovely friend of mine put it, ‘the jewelry has character.’ She (my friend) loves the fact that each little stone has been hand-picked and a skilled craftsmen has molded it by hand. There is also a story behind why I picked each color and stone. Another one of my brand philosophies is layering. Pieces have been created so they can be worn layered together to create your own unique statement or they can be simply worn by themselves.

Tell us about your current collection.
My current collection features some beautiful jewel tones. I took a lot of inspiration from the most beautiful little jewel toned fishes I saw in one of the largest aquariums in Sentosa Island, Singapore. The jewelry consists of layering necklaces, stacking rings and bracelets and lots of dangly earrings.

What is your favorite part about your job? Are there any negatives?
My favorite part is when I spot someone wearing one of my pieces! I can’t say that there are any negatives. Perhaps the time it takes the jewelry to be crafted. It can be a long process since everything is handmade. Another wonderful part of the job is meeting all sorts of different people. Life in the desert can at times be limiting and this gives me an opportunity to meet people who may have never crossed paths with me ever before.

How would you like your clients to feel when wearing your designs?
I want them to feel joy!

What’s your favorite old, can-never-throw-away piece of jewelry?
My mom’s beautiful white gold stud earrings. They’ve got the most beautiful flower pattern with a stone in the middle. They’re irreplaceable!

Do you feel there is enough competition in the market here?
I’m not sure I view my business that way. I’m doing something I enjoy and I’m loving the process of how I do things and the opportunities I get through it all. However, I think having a jewelry business is still not as popular as starting your own abaya or clothing business in Saudi Arabia, so in that sense I don’t think there’s that much competition.

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