Clara Chehab's career shift from finance to jewelry design. (Photo provided by Clara Chehab)
Like many beautiful stories, it all began with a grandmother. Clara's paternal grandmother had the almost ritualistic habit of taking her granddaughter to Beirut's jewelers. There, they would talk about jewelry with the same natural intimacy as discussing a garden or a recipe. They would personalize, transform, and envision pieces together. Clara thus inherited an antique ring — a "toi et moi" adorned with rose-cut diamonds, a traditional cut renamed "falamanki" in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire. It was passed on to her by her grandmother, who lived to be 104, along with all its weight of memory. Clara had it made into earrings. "Every time I wear them, I relive her memory," she says simply. For her, jewelry has never been anything else: a vessel of emotions, a way to keep loved ones close. ...
Like many beautiful stories, it all began with a grandmother. Clara's paternal grandmother had the almost ritualistic habit of taking her granddaughter to Beirut's jewelers. There, they would talk about jewelry with the same natural intimacy as discussing a garden or a recipe. They would personalize, transform, and envision pieces together. Clara thus inherited an antique ring — a "toi et moi" adorned with rose-cut diamonds, a traditional cut renamed "falamanki" in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire. It was passed on to her by her grandmother, who lived to be 104, along with all its weight of memory. Clara had it made into earrings. "Every time I wear them, I relive her memory," she says simply. For her, jewelry has never been anything else: a vessel of emotions, a way to keep loved ones close. ...
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