Jewelry

Invest In: Why Maison Tabbah's Diamond Phoenix Earrings Carry Generations Of Jewelry History - Forbes

Family-run fine jewelry house Tabbah applies five generations of jewelry expertise to atelier-made pieces like these finely crafted Phoenix earrings. Featuring 462 diamonds set in 18k white gold, they also carry the resolutely modern stamp of the Lebanese heritage house, and after opening a new point of sale in Paris last month, they’re now coming soon to Saks Fifth Avenue.

Two 1.80 carat pear-cut diamonds nestle on the lobe, as pave feathers swoop down towards the shoulder in a graceful arc that traces the line of the neck. Weighing in at a total of 7.63 carats, the Phoenix earrings represent the synthesis of more than 150 years of jewelry-making history from the Beirut-based house, as well as generations of family passion.

Today helmed by Nagib Tabbah, an instinctive jewelry designer who has inherited the family talent, the Tabbahs were originally engravers, who made wooden blocks for printing from the town of Zahle on the Silk Road, during the 19^th century. The jewelry house was founded in 1862 by Joseph Tabbah, when these skills were transferred to gold and silver and Nagib provided an injection of playful modernity when he joined his father Nabil, in 1998.

The house’s design DNA was cemented during the Art Deco period, to produce beautiful geometric pieces, some of which have survived in the archives. Through the 1940s and 1950s, their work became ever more technical, with a pioneering feather-light honeycomb link for beautifully supple gold cuffs and further exploration of the serpent motif which remains a house signature to this day.

Fast-forward to 2011, and Nagib worked closely with Princess Charlene of Monaco, on bespoke designs for her wedding to Prince Albert, including a gold, diamond and pearl statement necklace evoking the ocean, worn with a bustier dress to her civil wedding ceremony. From Ginger Rogers to Brooke Sheilds, she is the latest in a long line of celebrities through history to wear Tabbah creations.

Tabbah has long been known – albeit discretely, in the confidential world of very fine jewelry – for private commissions for elite families around the world. Today, more accessible, fashion-led lines are created in the same atelier, harnessing identical expertise to meet the same high production standards as the more exclusive pieces. Every stage of the production process is managed in-house, by a team of 80 that includes stone cutters, polishers, and setters.

“For us, exclusivity and a high price are not the same thing,” says Nagib. “The same craftsmen make all our pieces, whether it’s a bespoke commission for which budget is not an issue or a more trend-led single earring for $1,000.” The mix-and-match 'agrafe'-style earrings of the B-Glam line are a case in point. Available in rose gold, with or without diamonds or a creamy marble of Central Asian cacholong, the highly wearable collection has recently been picked up by Vogue and Grazia.

It’s an approach that is also taking Tabbah more widely into the international market, in a quest to “share the Tabbah jewelry experience with a larger audience in search of unique designs and exceptional craftsmanship”. Alongside the Beirut flagship, opened 2014, plus existing European points of sale in Geneva, Monte Carlo, Kiev and now Paris, Nagib is looking into very carefully selected locations in London and the US, to tap into the growing demand for fine jewelry.

Contemporary, style-led pieces sit easily alongside couture jewelry at Tabbah, a house deeply connected to its roots. Upcoming collections include highly desirable gold medallions representing Phoenician symbols like the lion, eagle, and bee, cast from molds dating back to the 1970s found in the house archives. And with typical Tabbah attention to detail, they are signed on the back in Phoenician script.