Jewellery, at its most evocative, is more than just an adornment—it’s a wearable archive of memories, places, and emotions. For sisters Leena & Hala El Khereji, the duo behind the Saudi Arabia-based brand Charmaleena, this philosophy lies at the heart of every collection. With a background in banking, the sisters found their calling in artistic pursuits, and in 2023, their brand won the Saudi National Cultural Award for Fashion. They discuss the evolution of Charmaleena with Smitha Sadanandan.
Leena El Khereiji, Charmaleena’s Creative Director, brings storytelling to life through jewellery, drawing on her training in Jewelry Design and Diamond Grading from Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Her sister, Hala El Khereiji, co-founder and the brand’s Managing Director, blends business acumen with a passion for quality, backed by her Master’s Degree in International Management from SOAS.
Growing up in Jeddah, their creative sensibilities were shaped by both the city’s open-air art and the contrasting influences of their German grandmother’s world. “Experiencing a different culture at a young age shaped who we are,” says Leena. But it wasn’t an obvious path.
Initially drawn into the structured world of finance, both sisters navigated Geneva’s banking scene before surrendering to the pull of artistry. “I was surrounded by jewellery houses and museums. Visiting exhibitions such as Basel Art increasingly exposed me to the world of art and creativity. It took time for me to realise that’s where my heart was,” Leena recalls.
Jewellery, like any craft, demands devotion. Leena immersed herself in the technicalities, learning silversmithing at Central Saint Martins, and jewellery design and diamond grading at GIA in London and New York. “I needed to understand every facet of what I was creating,” she says.
Back in Saudi Arabia, Leena continued designing. The breakthrough came when she entered a competition at a jewellery salon. Her designs won first place, and just like that, a personal passion transformed into a calling.
With no industry lineage to fall back on, the sisters built Charmaleena from the ground up from 2011 to 2012 — sketching, sourcing, forging relationships with manufacturers. The result: a brand that speaks a universal language of empowerment and transformation. The brand that was started by the siblings in 2012 has gone from strength-to-strength.
“Charmaleena is the same girl on a new journey every year,” says Leena. That fluidity is woven into their collections. Freedom, their debut line, was designed to be worn in multiple ways with earrings that transform into pendants and lockets that open like miniature storybooks.
Swords of Love reinterprets Saudi’s cultural lexicon through bold, sculptural forms. “Jeddah’s sword roundabout was always in our subconscious,” says Leena, “I was fascinated by poetry that spoke of love.” Another line, Ca-love-graphy, inspired by calligraphy and love, is a fusion of sentiment and storytelling that defines their work. “Every year, we release new pieces inspired by this collection,” adds Hala.
Their hometown itself, an urban canvas of sculptures and geometric monuments, has left its imprint on their design language. “Jeddah is an open-air museum,” Leena reflects. “In the 70s, international artists transformed our city with installations — the marble heart, the floating globe. Those symbols became part of our everyday visual world.” That interplay between heritage and innovation fuels their approach, translating tradition into contemporary, covetable forms.
Each collection is deeply personal. Tales and Treasures, a love letter to family bonds, captures moments meant to be cherished for a lifetime — think miniature picture pendants and hand-engraved keepsakes. “We work with an array of precious stones, from vibrant emeralds and sapphires to rich malachite and luminous mother-of-pearl. Colour is central to our designs — and our signature setting, inspired by our mother’s vintage bracelet, serves as the foundation of the Tales and Treasures collection; a line deeply personal to me,” adds Leena. Pendants in the collection are redesigned using historical coins — King Abdulaziz’s first-issued currency and early Islamic pieces — sourced from certified collectors in the region.
In Elements, the duo reimagines the raw power of nature — earth, air, fire, and water — through an Art Deco lens. And always, there’s an undercurrent of Arabic calligraphy, seamlessly integrated into designs, adding a layer of poetic resonance. “If a theme is about freedom, we find poetry that embodies it and weave it into the jewellery,” says Leena.
Faith finds form in the Salam collection, where Jeddah’s proximity to Medina pays a homage to spirituality. The name itself, (Salam, meaning peace) embodies the essence of the sacred. “We wanted something deeply personal yet universally resonant,” Hala explains.
For all its global influences, Charmaleena remains firmly rooted in its Saudi identity. “We’ve always been proud of our background,” Hala asserts. “Leena was always creative. Even as kids, she had a way of making things her own.” And that ethos extends to their brand name itself; a hybrid of ‘charm’ and ‘Leena’ — timeless and borderless, much like the women who wear their beloved creations.