Lackluster job market pushes designer to pursue career in jewelry

AMMAN — In 2019, Zein Batayneh completed her degree in architecture engineering. However, high unemployment rates pushed her to enroll in a course in 3D printing and digital fabrication. After finishing the course, she recognized the potential of digital fabrication and decided to open her own business designing jewelry.اضافة اعلان


A photo collection of pieces from Zein Jewelry. The business uses epoxy resin to create unique jewelry. (Photos: Handouts from Zein Jewelry)

“I always had a passion for jewelry design, and kept telling myself that when I enter this field, I have to enter it in a unique way,” Batayneh said in an interview with Jordan News. In early 2020, she began developing an idea to design jewelry using epoxy resin, she said.


A photo collection of pieces from Zein Jewelry. The business uses epoxy resin to create unique jewelry. (Photos: Handouts from Zein Jewelry)

“I really love colors and I feel that they are one of the most important components in the fashion industry. Also, they are unique to each person,” Batayneh said.


A photo collection of pieces from Zein Jewelry. The business uses epoxy resin to create unique jewelry. (Photos: Handouts from Zein Jewelry)

This material could be painted in any color, so she used digital fabrication to create her own designs. Batayneh spent around five months developing her product and experimenting to make resin that was suitable for jewelry and pleasing to look at, in addition for being functional, she said.

In June 2020, Batayneh launched her online store. Since then, she has participated in exhibitions, such as a recent showcase at Amman Street Fashion, held at Abdali Mall.

“It was a huge success. My clients loved the products because they are unique and different and they can’t find similar jewelry, as they are handmade. The material is somehow unfamiliar and they are personalized; this what makes Zein Jewelry unique,” she said. 


A photo collection of pieces from Zein Jewelry. The business uses epoxy resin to create unique jewelry. (Photos: Handouts from Zein Jewelry)

“There is science behind colors so I always try to choose a color palette that has a significant impact on each piece” Batayneh told Jordan News.

The designer described herself as a perfectionist, so when she designed her first piece, she said that she always felt the urge to do better. “I spent a lot of time in experimenting how to reach better results to have the pieces I always dreamed of. After reaching my desired result, I felt overwhelming happiness,” she added.


A photo collection of pieces from Zein Jewelry. The business uses epoxy resin to create unique jewelry. (Photos: Handouts from Zein Jewelry)

Her designs are unique, but stylistically they are delicate, while also being edgy and standing out. “I do not like my pieces to have many details in them, I like them to be simple yet outstanding. I prefer pieces that you can layer with anything you wear,” she said. “I choose colors that fit many clothing styles so the jewelry and the clothes do not clash.”

Furthermore, she prefers to integrate the Arabic language into her designs. “We are Arabs, so wearing our letters is a beautiful thing and a way to preserve our Arab identity,” she said. 

Moreover, she tries to ensure her designs are timeless. “I do not want to limit my designs by following trends because each trend has an expiry date; thus, I do not get excited by new trends,” Batayneh said.

“I like to take my time while designing and do not rush things. Also, generating ideas can be hard sometimes,” she added

The latest collection from Zein Jewelry is called “Happiness” and it reflects the designer’s emotions she felt when she first launched Zein Jewelry. “When I graduated from university, I felt down due to the limited working opportunities, but when I established Zein Jewelry and realized my clients love for my products it gave a purpose,” she said.

In the design industry in Jordan, Batayneh said that anyone who works hard and creates something new, unique, and different has a chance to be recognized.

“The challenge I faced when I first opened was to convince people of the material I use and that it is wearable, people did not understand the concept of Zein Jewelry at the beginning. Later on, when people saw the beauty of the pieces they were convinced,” she said

She is looking to expand her business and to make epoxy resin an important material in the jewelry designing industry. She added: “I aspire to make Zein Jewelry an internationally known store as well.”

One of Zein’s friends told Jordan News that what she likes the most about Zein Jewelry is that Batayneh started everything from scratch. “I would not say that she achieved what she did from the first batch she made, but in the second batch she worked harder. Also, everything is very high quality,” she said.

Another friend told Jordan News, “I like the idea that each piece that Zein designs and sells will standout with any look you wear, from the colors to the designs that gives clients the ability to customize and reflect their personalities on the pieces they wear.” She added that each piece she has bought from Zein Jewelry has a special place in her heart.

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