On my eighteenth birthday, my mother gifted me her entire collection of dahaab — but this jewelry was more than what it appeared to be. My mother’s collection of dahaab held my mother’s story and the stories of those who came before her. It held the power my mother used to create a life she was told she could never have, and most importantly, it held generations of love.
Dahaab has been a part of my family’s tradition for many generations. The jewelry is stunning and it’s also been a financial safety net for us women. After war forced my family out of their homeland in the early 1990’s, my mother dedicated herself to making the tradition of dahaab part of our lives again. The collection she built provided my sisters and I something to fall back on. My mother’s jewelry inspired me, showed me my true potential, and enabled me to re-write my story: to surface the power that I always had within me, allowing me to create something bigger than myself— Bahja Bilan.
Once I started my journey on social media and sharing a little bit of my life with the world, I noticed people asking about my jewelry, asking where I got it from. Once I shared that it was all passed down to me people were in awe. Girls began to raid their mothers’ bedrooms looking for earrings to wear, bracelets, anything! It’s like I reminded them how precious creating traditions is, bonding generations through jewelry.
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With Bahja Bilan, I’m sharing the experience of dahaab with the world. I’ve made it my mission to share my collection, to bring high-value jewelry that will last generations; that way, loved ones can experience generations of stories and love the way I did. My mission is to help others see their full potential through the art of jewelry so that they can too re-write their stories and evolve into who they are meant to be. Dahaab is for everyone. Each of us holds a power within ourselves that is greater than anything.
