Pippa's Palestinian Glass Origin Story

In the Spring of this year, I was lucky enough to travel to Palestine with Turquoise Mountain Levant, who have a wonderful centre in Bethlehem where they’re supporting artisans of all kinds. One of these artisans is Mohammad Twam, who is based in a village outside Ramallah. Mohammad Twam is a master in his field; he dreams glass. It was such a privilege to spend time with him and his family, sharing meals, having long conversations, and understanding this incredible material of glass.

This is the first time I’ve worked with handblown glass, and watching him with this material was like poetry. Watching this man at work was fascinating, and I’m so pleased with what’s come out of it. We’ve based the Azaz collection on ancient Phoenician beads. This area of Palestine has been creating glass for thousands of years, so it felt fitting to be working with this material.  

We started with the bead because it’s such a universal and ancient form of jewellery making. We have teals and greens, amazing blues and ambers. These pieces feel so good, they get warm as they’re worn on the skin. It’s wonderful to be able to create a new market in contemporary jewellery for this ancient craft, and to work with someone as wonderful and talented as Mohammad Twam.