Aaron Basha, a third-generation jeweler, hailing from the Middle East, was an expert diamond-cutter by age 16. When he immigrated to the United States, jewelry was his natural calling. While he made more traditional pieces and had a solid grounding in classic lines, over 20 years ago he struck gold when he fashioned a petite baby shoe to commemorate the birth of a grandchild. That diminutive shoe spawned virtually hundreds of other shoes that are now the sought-after charms and good-luck amulets which are available in countless models — with bows, with oxford ties, with Mary Jane straps, with trendy spikes, with loafer or even brogue closures, and as a sports-shoe/sneaker. They are available in 18K yellow and white gold, pavé-set with diamonds or sapphires, and tinted with rich enamel pigments — hot fuchsia, gentle azure, radiant lemon, blazing poppy, tender rose, and so on.
From the Beladora Archives: Aaron Basha Cufflinks
The baby shoes are often bought as charms for a bracelet, or for dangling on a necklace, or even to attach to a safety-pin-style brooch. The Basha charm collection is vast and includes everything from ladybugs, frogs, flowers, and tiny airplanes to baseballs, bunnies, butterflies, clowns, mini-trains, and fish. These designs also appear as stations on gold chain necklaces.
Another themed collection is based on the evil eye, the turquoise-blue, white, and black symbol that is reworked and redesigned in so many ways today. Basha has created hundreds of incarnations of the evil eye — in bracelets, charms, earrings, cufflinks, necklaces, and more — fashioned and updated with enamel, sapphires, mother-of-pearl, opals, and the like. The firm has also reconceived another icon from the Middle East — the hand of Fatima or the hamsa — and has an extensive line of jewelry based on that motif.
Combined, the line’s whimsy and delightful statements reinforce the corporate mantra and trademark: Forever Young.
