Bijouterie

   Once upon a time, the presence (or absence) of a ring was capable of sending one of two messages – single or not available. Nadine Kanso wanted her rings to say more than that and so she decided to create a jewellery line that expresses something other than marital status. In fact, Kanso wanted her line to reflect both a personal message as well as a strong cultural one - and the best way to say it? Bil Arabi, of course, her mother tongue and the source for everything she wants to express.

Bil Arabi began as a singular ring in 2006; a one-off experiment that merged Kanso s background in design, her love for typography and predilection for all things bling bling. The result was the Arabic noon or the equivalent of the letter N in Arabic. Using 18-carat gold and embellished with a semi precious stone, the ring – entirely handcrafted and designed – was a hit and soon enough, one letter led to the whole alphabet which evolved to complete words and eventually full phrases. People began expressing themselves Bil Arabi .

Today, the line includes rings, earrings, bracelets, pendants and cufflinks that draw on the inherent beauty, calligraphic shape and lyricism of the Arabic alphabet. Using Yellow, White and Rose gold, along with dazzling precious and semi precious stones, Kanso updates the traditional letters with her own funky twist, creating a new contemporary visual language that nestles comfortably on your hand, wrist, ear or dangles from your neck.

How's that for powerful self-expression? Some of the most popular items in the line are certain Arabic words that capture the current cultural zeitgeist in a variety of different local dialects. Most famously, Kanso's Fdeytak, a local Emirati expression of endearment, was recently incarnated into a bangle studded with rubies, diamonds and emeralds and auctioned off at Christie's.