Begüm Kiroglu, jewelry designer: "I have 20 employees and ev

[account_disabled]

Although her usual residence is in Istanbul, the city where she was born, lives and has her family, Begüm Kiroglu, 36, spends her life traveling . “Next week I will visit Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai. Last time I was in Paris. Today, in Madrid… I actually live between Istanbul and Paris, two beautiful cities. I'm very lucky". Luck has always played an important role in the life of this young jewelry designer who launched her brand Begüm Khan ten years ago and she started in this profession almost by chance. Her designs include beetles and Turkish eyes, both with interesting esoteric symbology, as well as all kinds of animals: turtles, bees, Bengals, elephants or tigers. An imaginary that she has captured in her collaboration with Guerlain to celebrate the 170th anniversary of her legendary Bee Jar, created in 1853 as a wedding gift for the Empress Eugenia de Montijo for her wedding to Napoleon III. Today, sitting in the lobby of the Four Seasons hotel, Kiroglu recalls her story as she warms herself with steaming tea.



Begüm's design of the legendary Guerlain Bee Bottle. How did your collaboration with Guerlain start? The creative director of Heritage Art and Culture saw my work in a showroom in Paris. It was 2018 and Bahamas Mobile Number List our first collaboration came in 2020. This is our second collaboration. Guerlain has always worked with animals, flowers and oriental designs and when they saw my work they thought it was perfect for them. Guerlain is a 200-year-old company that was born in Paris and I am a company from Istanbul that just turned 10 years old. We are so different and so same! We are the bridge between the west and the east and together we have created a new universe. Nobody in your family does this. How did you start designing jewelry? By chance. My brother was going to get married and in Turkish culture, giving jewelry is a tradition. Especially for the bride. But I wanted to give my brother some cufflinks and he couldn't find anything I liked. He wanted something contemporary – he was a young guy of 30 years old and he wanted me to wear them – but at the same time something eternal and timeless that he could use in 30 or 40 years.







He had a budget of a thousand euros and all he found was either plastic cufflinks for 300 euros, or fine jewelry for 5,000 euros. Nothing interesting within my budget, which in my opinion was pretty good. So I decided to make them. How did you make them? I come from a family of artists. My uncle [Serdar Gülgün], with whom I have a very close relationship, is a collector and expert in Ottoman art. At that time he was preparing a book, The Grand Bazaar Istanbul , for the Assouline publishing house and I accompanied him many times through the Grand Bazaar of my city, browsing the different stalls. I met a lot of craftsmen and thought, 'I have an idea and I know people who can make it.' It wasn't that difficult. I just wanted a pair of cufflinks! Begüm Kiroglu's uncle, Serdar Gulgun, is a well-known decorator and collector of Ottoman art. Her uncle, Serdar Gülgün , has exerted a powerful influence on his niece. Known for his passion for Turkish history, this interior designer, historian, author and collector of Ottoman art could very well be a Renaissance man. He resides in a 19th century mansion on the Bosphorus where he usually receives all kinds of celebrities and where his niece also lives.

[TBustah!]