Bespoke high jewellery brand NUUN Jewels shows for the first time in Singapore
Nourah Al Faisal, the founder and designer of NUUN JEWELS travelled for the first time to Asia with the purpose to present her unique and one of a kind creations. Her jewellery design venture was established in Paris in 2014. Inspired by her deep respect and admiration for her Saudi culture, NUUN JEWELS’ designs spark a timely cultural dialogue between both the Arab world and Europe.
It all began with a sketch, the outline of a drawing and the desire to explore. It was while redesigning a pair of her mother’s earrings that Nourah Al Faisal realised that she might well have “the feel for stone”. The same intuition enables one to read the ‘energy’ of a gemstone as well as understand the harmonies of shape and colors.
Nourah Al Faisal, the founder and designer of NUUN JEWELS travelled for the first time to Asia with the purpose to present her unique and one of a kind creations. Her jewellery design venture was established in Paris in 2014. Inspired by her deep respect and admiration for her Saudi culture, NUUN JEWELS’ designs spark a timely cultural dialogue between both the Arab world and Europe.
It all began with a sketch, the outline of a drawing and the desire to explore. It was while redesigning a pair of her mother’s earrings that Nourah Al Faisal realised that she might well have “the feel for stone”. The same intuition enables one to read the ‘energy’ of a gemstone as well as understand the harmonies of shape and colors.
Studying interior design at the time, Nourah Al Faisal began training as an apprentice with Parisian craftsmen who are some of the best in the world. Born in Saudi Arabia, Nourah Al Faisal was already familiar with the world of fine jewellery, for she had travelled around Europe since she was a young child, accompanying her mother to the famous jewellers of Bond Street, in London, or the Place Vendome.
When she became an apprentice, she would walk through the Place Vendome every day at lunchtime, observing the window displays, the jewellery and their layout, refining her personal vision and her tastes.
She then made her debut by designing pieces to order for her family and friends. Her circle of clients soon widened, until she opened her first boutique on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré and created the brand NUUN JEWELS in 2014. Being a palindrome, NUUN is the mirror to “Nu”, which is Nourah Al Faisal’s nickname. It is also the written pronunciation of the letter “N” in Arabic, and thus embodies the heart of Saudi Arabia where Nourah Al Faisal lives and works. It is at home, in Riyadh, that the colours, the pinks and the golds of the setting sun, the rich scents, such as omnipresent cardamom, and the geometric patterns such as those used in traditional architecture still pervade today. Singular experiences and emotions that blend with Nourah Al Faisal’s cosmopolitan life and inspirations and are expressed through NUUN and her designs.
Bespoke pieces, sometimes made to order, NUUN’s creations are always full of energy. Incarnations of Nourah Al Faisal’s self, these “pieces of expression” are also a reflection of a Saudi modernity, and positively demonstrate new Arabic creation. Providing the gems for NUUN’s crafting process is Arte Oro, an atelier and purveyor of fine gems founded by Italian master jeweller Danilo Giannoni. Given Nuun’s strong ties with Arte
Oro, it has exclusive access to some of the finest gems in the world – such as rubies, diamonds, tourmalines, spinels, emeralds, sapphires – and sustainably sourced at that.
With ideas from the East, as well as from the West, the designs change each time, as do the manufacturing processes that make them possible. These pieces are always a real challenge for the Parisian fine jewellery workshops. Each workshop has been chosen by NUUN for their skill, but these pieces of fine jewellery still offer a challenge to French techniques and know-how, which are among the best in the world.
Constantly adapting, finding the right process, the exact technique that will allow the ‘aura’ of the piece to express itself. This is an ongoing dialogue, more than just a method, that happens between NUUN and the craftsmen of the Place Vendome for each and every piece of jewellery. The term haute joaillerie – fine jewellery – regains its meaning in its true sense. Once complete, the pieces imagined by NUUN take flight. Each individual client takes ownership and carries the jewellery on their life journey, giving it a new history and a new identity.
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