She enjoys introducing her jewellery to others because it is just like poetry. She likes sketching and the designs were soon moving from paper to become jewellery to be worn. She named it OUSHK. Her collection is beautiful and delicate.
Areej al Saleh, the founder of OUSHK, was ready to take off and in came the pandemic, but she was ready with a contemporary brand no matter what.
What does the name mean?
“OUSHK means to love and to be loved. It is a celebration of individuality and femininity. Each piece is made out of 18k gold and is handcrafted with passion. I wanted to make sure the quality is at its best. The jewellery also features diamonds and precious stones. I wanted OUSHK to contrast and fuse the classic and the modern designs. When you look at it one would realize it is not just traditional or just modern but a fusion of both. There is also use of dark and light, pragmatic and romantic a bit of fusion there too. Most importantly it is founded in Oman’’, Areej explained.
Her latest collection is called Lullaby and it features alphabets and numbers.
“We wanted to make a personal collection for the people to choose from. It could be any letters that belong to them. So we have people choose their own letter or a letter of a loved one or it could be a significant number which means something special to them. We wanted to make it fun with the uses of colourful stones. So we have lapis, malachite, black onyx and so on. It is a collection that is very expressive’’, noted Areej.
With Lullaby Areej wanted people to reconnect with their inner child. She explained, “It aims to rekindle memories of innocence and it ignites curiosity and wonders about ourselves and the world around us.”
If you reflect, we would realise we all have our own favourite numbers. Areej’s own favourite number is 8.
“If you look at 8 in a horizontal view it looks like infinity’’, she said with excitement.
OUSHK contemporary jewellery brand reflecting sophistication and confidence is made in 18k gold because Areej wanted to create intricate designs. She points out the jewellery brand came out of pure passion. She actually wanted to launch the brand in 2018. For different reasons, it did not happen until 2020, which saw the onset of the pandemic.
“You could imagine that at that time it was very difficult for everyone. But I wanted to call the first collection xo because it reminds us that we need to love ourselves and the ones around us. XO means hugs and kisses and that was something we were not supposed to do with social distancing. So I wanted to create a collection that embodied that’’, she said.
In her collection, there are some delicate designs such as the ring made out of a thin chain.
Areej explained the steps, “I design them and the next step is crafting it. All our jewellery is tailor-made in order to have the convenience of everyone having the option of having the gold colour they want. So they can have it in white gold, rose gold or yellow gold.”
The response has been interesting although the brand has been just around one and a half years.
“Truthfully, I met with a pleasant surprise because everyone was probably locked up at home and might have been enjoying social media too much and so I wanted to launch an online store by using Instagram as a platform showcasing my designs. The response has been good’’, she reflected.
She has also been receiving queries from other GCC countries. We look forward to 2022 with more travelling and joining exhibitions to further expand OUSHK in the region.
So who has been showing keenness in her jewellery, youngsters or seniors?
“It has been a combination of young ladies who are 18 years of age to women in their 50s. So it has been a wide range. That makes me really proud because I have been able to create something that does not just fit into a small box but a wide age group’’, she said excitedly.
Where does her inspiration come from?
“I love sketching and the inspiration from travels and just seeing things. They just come on paper’’, noted the jewellery designer and founder of OUSHK.
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