Since opening her first store in the The Dubai Mall last year, Maria Tash has become the go-to destination for beautiful jewels and curated ears.
She is the first name that comes to mind when you think about design-led piercings, and she has transformed the art of adorning your body with jewellery from something grungy to something considered, astute, luxury and completely individual.
Today, she is just as much about the jewellery as she is the body piercing. The rising popularity of piercings and every-day diamonds means earrings, and their placement on your ear, have a new couture-like status.
We speak to the New York-born celebrity piercer behind their ascension, and get some tips on how to dress our lobes, Rook, Daith and Helix for the party season ahead…
If you had asked me what my signature was in the 90s, I would have said elaborate navel jewellery. Today, I am known for small and precise rings and thin threaded backed studs that can be worn continuously in multiple lobe piercings. With ear piercings and multiple ear lobe and cartilage jewellery being our top sellers, I have spent years trying to create unusual variations of my best sellers, with clever closures and decorative backings.
I love motion in jewellery, and most of the pieces I wear personally have movement in them - combinations of chains, dangles, and charms that wrap around and move elegantly with the body. I have long hair, too, and feel like my personal jewellery compliments that movement and texture. I do have some heirloom pieces from my mother and grandmother that I cherish but do not wear daily. My own pieces I wear every day.
Sometimes it is a new innovation in the jewellery industry that inspires me, like laser stone drilling or a new colour of gold. I love historic elaborate granulated jewellery. I have also been inspired by interior design and architecture. For example, how hidden lighting seeps out behind a stone surface, or lights flush with a floor can inspire me to hide diamonds flush with a metal surface or put them on an unexpected edge of a metal design.
I personally love the city. The response has been amazing and it was a pivotal expansion point for the brand - to be able to directly reach, work with, and be inspired by Middle Eastern clients and their requests. To have a store in such an important and international location as Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue, alongside other luxury houses, is very important for brand positioning. I love the design and atmosphere of the store. It is one of our most beautiful locations worldwide.
Our Middle East clients love statement diamond pieces for all areas of the body, especially pear and marquise shapes and clusters of these stones. They are bolder with the pieces they choose and they are not afraid to get multiple piercings. We’ve noticed dermal piercing is popular with pieces that match ear work. Our customers in this region also gravitate towards larger designs placed in a piercing location I pioneered called the ‘Tash rook’.
I dislike the word ‘trend’ as it implies a temporary condition. That being said, I really like a high conch piercing and am designing pieces for this special and under-adorned nook in the inner ear. Curated with a complementary Tash rook piercing, this combination is fresh and beautiful.
I think it's great to enhance a normal amount of adornment with some prominent pieces of jewellery for a special occasion. A fun way to do this is to add some diamonds and movement with charms that can be easily added and removed from any ring. I also personally love prominent earlobe and higher up in the ear (cartilage) jewellery with dangles as an elevated look.
Over the next year, I am focusing on growing the company domestically and internationally. We are working on exciting projects in different markets that we will be unveiling in 2020, and are currently working on our new campaign which will launch in early 2020 and feature some new designs. I also plan to create more custom jewellery pieces designed exclusively for the Middle Eastern region.
