Kuwaiti Label Appear Sells Your Memories in a Jewellery Box
The label’s founder touches on how jewellery making enabled her to reconnect with her mother.
THE GIST
Launched in 2023, Kuwaiti jewellery label Appear crafts timeless earrings, necklaces, and rings, combining natural gemstones with geometric shapes in their thematic collections.
LOSS AS INSPIRATION
For Zaina Zainal, founder of Appear, the world turned dark when she lost her mother. Yet, amid her grief, a memory flickered—her mother surrounded by her favourite adornment: jewellery. Zainal found light again in jewellery-making.
Creating, drawing, and designing jewellery allowed Zainal to reconnect with her mother beyond the physical realm. This shared passion became the essence of Appear. Her attachment to her mother guided her, reflected in the ‘Still Attached’ collection with its intertwining chains and the ‘Mommy & Me’ sub-collection. “The diamonds outlining the pieces represent a mother protecting her daughter,“ Zainal says of the ‘Mommy & Me’ necklaces and earrings.
A FOREVER EXCHANGE
Zainal’s mother, like many Arab mothers, cherished her jewellery, often saying, “Invest in jewellery; it never loses its value.” “My mom had a tradition for birthdays. Before the cake and candles, she'd ask, 'What would you like as a gift?' But there was always one rule: never ask for anything that’ll fade away,” Zainal shares with Scene Styled.
For Arab women, jewellery is more than just adornment; it’s a safety net passed down through generations. Throughout the history of conflicts in the Arabian Peninsula, jewellery, especially gold, has provided financial security. In times of upheaval and displacement, when possessions could be lost, jewellery carried value, stories of survival, and memories.
Jewellery and gold have been cultural investments from the days of Bedouin tribes, symbolising power and abundance, to today, where modern shoppers see it as a tool for creating memories and gift-giving. “You’re not just getting a precious metal or gold; you’re purchasing a memory within that piece,” Zainal explains. “And it connects you to it forever.”
A CHAIN OF EMOTIONS
Zainal curates natural gemstones and diamonds, celebrating their unique flaws and blemishes as reflections of the human condition. Rather than refining these idiosyncrasies, Zainal embraces them. “You don’t have to beautify the stone. Leave it raw.” In doing so, she crafts jewellery that serves as a tangible expression of human emotions—the highs and lows, the light and dark. “With Appear, you appear. The base of everything is a feeling.”
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