For the 9th edition of the Middle East Emergent Designer Prize, High Jewelry Maison Van Cleef & Arpels, in partnership with Tashkeel, announces the winner: Moufida Mohideen.

Cultivating talent across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, the Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize aims to encourage and support designers to elevate their ideas to reality. This year’s theme, Renewal, aims to reinforce the importance of sustainable approaches to creation, highlighting the use of materials that are sourced locally and in an ethical manner.

The judging panel consisted of representatives of Van Cleef & Arpels and Tashkeel as well as leading light of the Saudi Arabia contemporary design sector, the interior architect and design mentor Nawaf Nahar Al Nassar. Together, they chose ‘Ascension’ by Moufida Mohideen as the winner. Inspired by the Desert Rose crystal formations that appear during Springtime, the sculptural book stand seeks to symbolise everlasting growth. Designed with two locally sourced materials – the humble Damas wood and the magnificent Mother of Pearl, ‘Ascension’ narrates an earthly, homegrown tale of the Arabian desert.

The designer behind the winning product will receive a five-day trip to Paris to attend courses led by the acclaimed Mains d’Or, master craftsmen in high jewellery creation, at the exclusive L’ECOLE Van Cleef & Arpels, an institute dedicated to accentuating the methods behind the world of jewellery creation and watchmaking.