Dubai-based jewellery designer Amal Haliq burst on to the scene just this summer, showing her first collection at Raffles, Dubai, in June. She developed a passion for all things bling as a child, inspired by her mother’s jewellery collection, and in 2009 enrolled at London’s Central Saint Martin College for Art and Design and The Gemological Institute of America to hone her skills.
‘I started designing jewellery at a very young age,’ says Amal. My passion was inspired by my mother’s jewellery collection – as a young child, I loved visiting the gold souk with my family.’ And it wasn’t long before she started customising pieces to suit her tastes. But that wasn’t enough for the budding designer, and, as her passion for jewellery developed and her skills matured, she began designing and creating her own picees from scratch. ‘At first, I indulged in my jewellery design aspirations by adding a personal design touch to my jewellery purchases,’ she says. ‘Over the years, however, I came to believe that I could do more – and started designing my own pieces.’
Amal’s muses have now branched out from her mother’s jewellery collections, and she is instead influenced by her surroundings. ‘I get my inspirations from nature, civilisation, patterns, art, fashion and really everything around me!’ she explains. And her materials certainly don;t come cheap. ‘I love working with gold, silver and platinum, and, on the gems side, I love using alexandrite, andalusite, padparadscha, sapphire and jadeite – and of course, diamonds.’ You can certainly see her influences in her work – from the ocean blues and greens of the gold ring with azurmalachite and blue sapphire, to the rough charm and natural appearance of her rose quartz earrings. There’s no denying Abu Dhabi’s love affair with all that glitters, and Amal believes that’s due in part to the surroundings. ‘The Arabic Oriental khaleeji jewellery designs are a mix of different styles and cultures, and I simply love that, since I feel that each design has so much history in it,’ she says. ‘The Arabian Gulf has a unique location and an enchanting mystery that translates beautifully into these designs.’
With plans for a new collection already in the pipeline, we could be seeing plenty more of Amal in the near future.
