Word count: Total with intro 500
Contact: Andrea Teeny andrea@lateliernawbar.com
Title: Joie de Vivre
L’Atelier Nawbar was founded in 1891, in Beirut, Lebanon, as a jewelry brand dedicated to creating intricate designs that are worn as an expression of love, beauty and heritage. Today, Dima & Tania are the first female jewelers in the Nawbar dynasty, and carry their legacy with pride as they continue their family tradition, creating modern day heirlooms that transcend generations and speak the universal language of art.
Pieces are handmade locally, in-house, from artisanal 18K gold, which we often adorn using colorful healing stones. We thrive on individuality and understand the importance of creating pieces just for you. At L’Atelier Nawbar, we pride ourselves on our efforts in the creation of an ethically sustainable fine jewelry brand, as we believe in the preservation of our home, planet Earth. It is our brand ethos to create beautiful pieces while conserving our magical planet.
Official Bespoke : Tell us about L’Atelier Nawbar and your inspiration to establish it?
As the children of generations of jewelers, Dima and Tania fondly remember growing up playing dress-up with their father’s and grandfather’s designs, which created a strong love for jewelry. The sisters wanted to share their heritage and create a similar experience for their clients, where they can truly benefit from the design process and get involved as much as they like in making their very own ideas come to life.
The concept of L’Atelier Nawbar; an enchanted space where design, manufacturing and showroom merge into one.
With our workshop placed within our showroom, we introduced our Abracadabra services that include design and craftsmanship, up-cycling and remodelling, repairing along with our gold exchange service.
These services are also meant to promote a culture of sustainability, where nothing goes to waste.
This is the world of jewelry making like no other. A marriage of true craftsmanship and sophisticated design; the magical Nawbar experience.
Official Bespoke : What are your roles in the business?
We both still don’t have a clear-cut division of what we do. We both design our collections and the rest of the time we manage our business as best as we can. Tania does more of the finances and Dima more of the travelling and trade shows. But that too is circumstantial. L’Atelier Nawbar is our baby, so wherever it needs nurturing, one of us is on it.
Official Bespoke : What is it like to work side by side, day by day?
Growing up, we became best friends and inseparable and realized that we completed each other. That being said we enjoy working side by side especially that we see eye to eye on the big picture. And we also have the same taste and visions!
Official Bespoke : What inspires you?
When designing collections, we draw on inspiration from our father’s pieces and style as well as our rich and vivid culture, our busy surroundings, our travels and modern day fashion trends.
Official Bespoke : Your parents created jewellery for the likes of Elton John and Roger Moore. Who wears L’Atelier Nawbar’?
We are passionate about individualism and customized designs, so a modern woman with a unique style, who likes to express herself through colors, symbols and shapes is inspired by our jewelry.
She’s not afraid to experiment while remaining elegant.
She’s faithful to the all-time classics but with her own touch.
Just like our designs!
Official Bespoke : Your design studio was devastated by the explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. A week later you decided to make jewellery out of the debris collected from the shattered glass of the city’s windows. Tell us more.
As fragments of glass fell around us following the tragic events of Beirut, we decided to make art from these scraps.
These charms are handmade with shattered glass from the city of Beirut, upcycled with colored Murano, set in an 18K gold mosaic of love creating perfectly imperfect little flags, as a tribute to our beloved Beirut.
This initiative is part of the process to rebuild, where all proceeds are donated to ARC-EN-CIEL, a Lebanese NGO.
We will rebuild our Lebanon, quietly, efficiently and swiftly like little ants rebuilding one business at a time.
Official Bespoke : Where are you selling your designs right now and what are your plans for the future?
L’Atelier Nawbar is currently found in our boutique in Beirut, our website www.lateliernawbar.com.
Internationally the brand is carried by;
Harrods in London,
Madlords in Paris,
Harvey Nichols in Kuwait,
Rosark and Just One Eye in Los Angeles,
And www.eastwaveconcept.com
We usually do a lot of pop-ups worldwide, but since the pandemic we have turned to our online platform and website to reach our international clients. We have a lot of plans and one might be very soon, since Lebanon has taken a turn for the worse. We will always keep our flagship store and production in our dear country. We aim to keep our legacy going and open up to new markets in the US, Europe and Asia to share our designs and love. We are jewellers by blood not profession.
