A Chit Chat with Arabia Weddings: Abrar Alebrahim of Th’haba
Abrar Alebrahim created “Th’haba” inspired from her love of art, gold and her hometown Kuwait.
- Why the name “Th’haba”? Is there a story behind it?
The word “Th’haba” in the Gulf countries is most commonly used when referring to a girl, and sometimes referring to men as well, with outstanding virtues. And during the phase of working with our graphic designer to create a jewelry brand, he asked me: “If your brand was a girl, how would she be?” and my answer was instantly: “Well, she would be a Th’haba.” And just like that, Th’haba was born, symbolizing all women. All with their own outstanding virtues.
- Where do you get your inspiration from?
Inspiration itself has been an educational journey for me in the world of jewelry design. I come from a background of Architecture, and that has majorly influenced my thought process in jewelry design.
Architectural and structural elements sometimes inspireme. Stones, certain colors or cuts, influence certain designs for instance. And most recently, I designed with the inspiration of human behavior and certain social interaction representing the National and Liberation Days of Kuwait.
- What elements do you use in most of your pieces?
Almost all of my designs have diamonds worked into them. I find that they are such fascinating stones and I try to use diamonds that are not just the typical white or round diamonds.
I experiment withdifferent cuts of diamonds such as fancy cuts, bead cuts, rough diamonds and flat sheet diamonds, and I also play around with different colored diamonds varying from black and blue to browns and yellows.
"Two major elements affect the bridal set: taste, and budget"
- What do you advise a bride-to-be to wear on her big day? Bold jewelry or something simple?
Bridal jewelry in the Arab World is the most important item a bride wears on her big day. It is the most expensive and the part that shows in all the pictures.
Two major elements affect the bridal set: taste, and budget.
Bold Jewelry does not necessarily have to mean big and traditional style sets. A simple tennis necklace with its matching earrings and bracelet can be bold in the size and quality of the stones used in it, while a big set can be simplified when using smaller diamonds or stones.
Bold or modern designs appeal to more fashion forward brides while traditional ones attract the ladies that want to keep it timeless.
"When choosing a wedding set is to look at the set as a whole
because that is how you will be wearing it on your wedding day"
- What advice would you give a a bride-to-be when looking for her bridal set?
The bridal set is sometimes the most expensive item in a woman’s jewelry box, it might also be the only full jewelry set a woman would need to buy and this makes it all the while more important when making such a purchase.
What I advise a bride-to-be to do, especially if she is a picky lady, is to take her time and initially decide what her budget is. After that, she should take her time trying on as many styles of sets as she could to be able to decide what would best suit her hands, neck and ears. This would help her narrow down her search to a style as well as a gold color and stone color that would compliment her skin and figure as well as her dress.
After that, she should take her time and start looking for a set as early as she can, if she has the time, and she can plan to visit trade fairs and jewelry exhibitions because they have suppliers from all around the world and therefore have collections that are most likely to suit any budget and taste.
Another piece of advice I would like to give when choosing a wedding set is to look at the set as a whole because that is how you will be wearing it on your wedding day, and also closely look at how each item in the set looks when worn alone because you sometimes want to just wear the earrings or the bracelet for a reception or a formal dinner.
Some sets are designed in a way where the earrings or bracelets can be worn as every day pieces, which can also be great. Other sets can have adjustable pendants on the necklace and earrings, which gives you several modifications to the same set.
- Do you have a special collection for brides? If so, please describe it.
I designed a special collection for brides a few months ago.It consisted of engagement and wedding rings. The collection was small and many of the items were one-off items and were not reproduced and kept unique.
There were two stories to that collection, the first was the play of two different diamonds that are completely opposites; the white brilliant cut diamonds and the rough diamonds;each representing a different person, both coming together in a sacred bond.
The second series was derived from a traditional wedding song in Kuwait. The words say: “She is the diamond stone and he is the pearl.” and the collection was a play of diamonds and pearls set in traditionally inspired settings but designed in a completely modern way.
