Amit Oved, a jeweler and lover of ancient cultures, collects elements from all over the world and assembles them into a stunning Florentine studio.
If you ask jeweler Amit Oved (33) why she opened an accessories and clothing store in the south of the city, she will answer that there is no better place for her. "Levinsky is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. I feel at home here. The market is full of languages, ethnicities, traditions, smells. I even buy my ground coffee in the same place where my grandfather bought his years ago." Her new store, BADIYA , accordingly, corresponds with the neighborhood's night of colors and cultures. "My brand was born after many years of working in the field of jewelry and Middle Eastern studies at Tel Aviv University. I love ancient cultures and am drawn to them, and I decided on one of my trips that I wanted to bring to Israel something of the traditions and handiwork that are so special of the different cultures, to make them wearable and up-to-date."
Oved, who comes from a family of jewelers, learned everything she knows from her grandfather. "My grandfather founded Avgad, he was the first to import beads and fashion accessories to Israel and opened a foundry for jewelry parts. He supplied all the major brands in Israel with fashion accessories and jewelry. That was the family path. My whole family is involved in jewelry in one way or another. I didn't decide that this was what I wanted to do, but I knew that this was what I would do. After years of being in this environment, I decided to launch an independent brand," she says.
The guiding principle of the new brand she founded is the dialogue between traditional cultures and identities and innovation and fashion. "From Egypt through Africa to Bukhara and India, there are so many fashionable inspirations that can be turned into wearable and up-to-date things. Most of my jewelry, for example, consists of old jewelry that I collect on trips to all kinds of markets around the world. I disassemble and reassemble them, working with beads and parts that you don't see every day." In the young studio, you can find jewelry with elements from ancient Egypt, such as gold-plated scarabs, jewelry that draws inspiration from African cultures, and a variety of items that combine special glass beads, old Indian coins, shells, seeds, and pompoms.
Oved's clothing line has the same agenda. From colorful baskets with geometric patterns that she imports, to thin boho-style cotton dresses, to kimonos made of Indian or Bukhari silk that she sews herself. "These fabrics are so beautiful that I decided to sew kimonos from them and take them out of their festive ethnic context. My idea is to create a product with a cultural-historical context, but that's not the only thing that guides my creation. It's important to me that the person trying on the item feels the best they can be with it."
