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The Lotus ring from Yasmine Wissa stands two and a half centimetres off the finger: silver drawn into threads, curled into a lotus and plated in 18-carat gold, $125.
Yasmine Wissa
Yasmine Wissa works with heritage artisans, turning fine threads of gold and silver into lace for rings, earrings and necklaces. "Our goal is to preserve the heritage of filigree while reimagining it for the modern world," her site says. The Lotus ring is sterling silver. The Egyptian Serpent coils a centimetre and a half high, $120, and the Sundisk is a 2.5-centimetre disc of filigree, $125. Each ring comes in US sizes 6.5 to 8. Her artisans also make pieces to commission, and she ships worldwide, with a quote for each destination.
- LOTUS, Yasmine Wissa, USD 125
- EGYPTIAN SERPENT, Yasmine Wissa, USD 120
Reem Jano
Reem Jano trained as an architect, started at Azza Fahmy's design studio and studied at the Alchimia school of contemporary jewellery in Florence, according to her site. She founded Reem Jano in 2015 and works from a studio on Taha Hussein Street in Zamalek, and her site lists the label among the winners of the Egypt Fashion Awards in 2022. The Power of the Sun ring is handmade polished sterling silver plated in platinum or 24-carat gold, nine grams, $180. The Power of the Constellation ring is ten grams, $200. The Nomadic Links ring belongs to her Caravanea collection, $162.
- Power of the Sun Ring, Reem Jano, USD 180
- Power of the constellation Ring, Reem Jano, USD 200
Jude Benhalim
Jude Benhalim and her mother, Rana El Azm, founded Jude Benhalim in Cairo, and every piece is drawn, sculpted, formed, polished and assembled in the label's own Cairo workshop. Granulation and resin run through the work. The Floway ring set is a double ring, one line of smooth sterling silver and one of granulated gold-plated silver snaking around the finger, about $118. The Cassandra ring is three hoops, the middle one raised and encrusted with granules, adjustable, about $84.
- Floway ring set, Jude Benhalim, EGP 5,600 (about $118)
- Cassandra Ring, Jude Benhalim, EGP 4,000 (about $84)
Fatma Mostafa
Fatma Mostafa studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, embroidered long before that, and founded her jewellery label in 2017; in 2022 it won the Fashion Trust Arabia jewellery prize. Each ring sets a small embroidered picture inside gold-plated silver. The Water Lilies ring is stitched in cotton thread with freshwater pearls, $390. The Over the Mountain ring adds turquoise to the pearls, $400. Her rings are made to order; the Gold Shine, $390, is one size and adjustable.
- Water Lilies Ring, Fatma Mostafa, USD 390
- Over The Mountain Ring, Fatma Mostafa, USD 400
A box to keep them in
"My grandmother collected jewelry boxes, so naturally, I followed suit," writes Kout El Koloub, founder of Kayegy, which makes leather travel cases for jewellery in Egypt. The Mini Hatshepsut has a ring bar, two zip pockets and a protected panel for five pairs of earrings, and a gold-plated copper scarab on the front, about $231. More of Kayegy is in First-Look Cairo.
The edit
— The editors
