Cool Hunting

by Paolo Ferrarini of Future Concept Lab

Jordanian designer Lama Hourani beautifully fuses together materials and gems, past icons and present styles, Middle Eastern tradition and European taste for an elegantly ornate collection of rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

Lama has been designing and producing jewelry since 2000, opening her first store—which doubles as an art gallery and a jewelry store—in 2004, in Amman, Jordan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, two diplomas in jewelry design and gemology from GIA (the Gemological Institute of America) in addition to a Master’s degree in Product Design from Istituto Marangoni. “I have an artist's heart and a designer's eye. I try to combine them by making art to wear. It's a fun process," Lama explains to CH, regarding her role as both a designer and a fine artist.

Her jewels are mostly inspired by the nature and cultural landscape of Jordan, each collection deeply imbued with signs and symbols from civilizations past. Every piece turns to be a sort of modern amulet, celebrating both global shared heritage and contemporary diversity. Most details and decorations are inspired from archeological relics, old primitive etchings and drawings adorning walls and caves throughout Jordan’s desert regions. She combines precious and semi-precious stones with gold, silver, brass and copper creating both contrast and harmony.

The symbolic inscriptions on her creations feel familiar though they are inexplicable, a universal mysterious language that Lama’s intends “to convey free self-expression, peace and unity without any ethnic, cultural or religious barriers."

More images after the jump