Tabayer: Summer’s Second Skin

To adorn sun-kissed skin this summer, Tabayer’s sculptural gold creations are subtle statement pieces with symbolic meaning. Inspired by her upbringing in Uzbekistan, where protective amulets transcend generations, founder Nigora Tokhtabayeva looked to Inanna’s Knot, an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of fertility and protection, to build out her first collection Oera three years ago, and now in its third edition. “I vividly remember my grandmother showing me the meaning of each piece in her personal collection,” says Nigora. “For me, jewellery is not just ornamentation but carries profound significance beyond its physical properties.”

Handcrafted in Italy in Fairmined gold, each piece reinterprets the knot (a braided bundle of reeds) through the lens of modernist sculpture and volume, featuring a loop that culminates in asymmetric ends weighted with pave diamonds - becoming a brand signature. Nigora cites inspiration from the works of Alexander Archipenko, Isamu Noguchi at Miami’s Bayfront Park, Barbara Hepworth and Eve Hesse.

The latest edition of Oera, launched this spring, sees Tabayer’s knot entwined in a gold choker that rests on the nape of the neck, a series of hooped pendants, a cuff earring and signet-inspired ring. In yellow gold, white gold flecked with white diamonds, or burnished rose gold with brown diamonds, each piece is intended to become an heirloom, guarding the next generation. “I recently passed on my most treasured piece of jewellery—a pair of red ruby earrings from my grandmother—to my eldest daughter,” says Nigora “It warms my heart to see her wear them and is a reminder of the importance of family.”