Karen Murad’s jewels are the best-kept secret in Riyadh. A business marketing graduate, Karen, the mother of three children, taught at Najd School before making a drastic change in her life and her career. “Fashion, jewelry and accessories are my hobby. I have always kept up-to-date with jewelry exhibitions and designs and then I had the idea of having my own business. So in 2005, I started to design a collection of unique pieces,” she says.
Since then, she has never stopped. Although she follows the trendiest fashion, the latest colors, her pieces are artsy, fashionable and very special. She agrees with Fawaz Gruosi of the Genevan jewelry house, De Grisogono, who believes that jewelry, like a dress, must flatter you.
A Karen Murad jewel is more than fashion’s new best friend; it combines design, materials and craftsmanship in a true art form which is timeless. One of her flagship jewels is the “family tree piece” engraved with names and surrounded with diamonds and rubies, a unique piece to be passed from one generation to another.
A perfect example of a jewel as an art object, this family tree is made to be worn, to play with light and movement. “My jewelry is handmade, very high quality, with excellent finishing and, most of all, it is affordable,” she explains.
Over the past few years, the demarcation between precious and semi-precious stones has disappeared. Jewelry designers all over the world have been using a range of colorful stones. Gemstones of a particular color are mined out after a certain period of time so they are considered nature’s limited edition and become highly collectible and increasingly expensive. This is the case with the rare violet-blue tanzanite; the tsavorite, which comes in all shades of green, the sherry-colored spessartite garnet, the blue paraiba tourmaline, the orange mandarin garnet — to name but a few currently ‘hot’ stones. Customers are showing a growing preference for colorful gemstones, celebrating the beauty of their colors and shapes. A bold variety of previously unknown or unused gemstones has revolutionized jewelry design. Clients have become savvy, refined and more demanding as they demand unique pieces. Fashion focused, Karen Murad also uses colorful gems such as amber, (petrified sap from a pine tree), blue and rose quartz, black onyx, white agate, moonstone (milky with a bluish or yellowish tint) — but her favorite natural stone remains the amethyst.
The amethyst is a quartz whose color ranges from violet to dark purple. The healing properties of this stone have been known since ancient times. It is known to relieve stress and bring inner peace. Rose quartz is also recommended for those who are experiencing a grief. Karen chooses the design, which gives women a dashing elegance and a feeling of luxury. She has introduced a collection of personalized accessories, which can be engraved with your own words and thoughts. Her customers are always looking for something special, intensely individual. Her last collection was based on flowers and her new collection featuring the moon and stars will be launched in Ramadan. Although her clients are buying more silver and gold-plated silver jewelry, she does not think this is caused by the financial crisis: “The reason is that women like to have jewels that match their clothes. Moreover, women enjoy wearing something different for different occasions. It is therefore more economical to buy gold-plated silver jewelry if she prefers gold jewelry. Jewelry is definitely one of the most valuable of women’s accessories,” she concludes.
This young designer confirms the trend: smaller artistic jewelers, all over the world, are creating highly original pieces in delicious colors. A growing number of self-assured and financially independent women want to wear jewels which reflect their personality and not so much their social status. The women who work are ready to invest in bolder designs. They are willing to buy from relatively unknown but exclusive jewelers rather than only from brand names.
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