This practice-led study investigates a new approach to
the design and making of traditional jewellery in Saudi
Arabia. Jewellery is very much part of Saudi culture. This
research has been prompted by my personal observations that as
Saudi culture modernizes traditional jewellery is disappearing
and being replaced by jewellery of Western fashion, especially by
the younger generations. It is evident that the jewellery worn
by Saudi women nowadays falls into one of two categories;
traditional or modern. My work demonstrates that Saudi women can
have the opportunity to wear jewellery related to their
culture while still addressing the desire to move into a
modern world. My approach was based on a study of traditional
Saudi jewellery styles and techniques. I then experimented
with creating new designs that better reflected modern jewellery
aesthetics/forms but retained their cultural connections. As
part of my study, I investigated two forms that are not found
in traditional jewellery in Saudi Arabia, the brooch and
convertible or multipurpose jewellery that can be converted
into a range of forms. I believe this is one way to break away
from conventional traditional forms of jewellery making and widen
the concept of wearable art. It is a way to show Saudi women
that contemporary jewellery does not have to be
‘Western’ but can retain traditional elements and be
distinctive, and which can be adapted to both traditional and
contemporary forms of dress. Once this new approach finds its
place in Saudi Arabia, it is hoped that it will become
recognisable world-wide as a contemporary form of jewellery
that connects with the present and also retains a resonance with
its Saudi origins.
