In the world of drama and cinema, jewelry and ornaments may appear to viewers as mere aesthetic details. Yet behind these small pieces lie entire worlds of research, documentation, symbolism, and psychological depth — a philosophy embraced by jewelry and ornament designer Dr. Nahed El-Karmody, one of the pioneering figures who established the concept of “dramatic jewelry design” as an independent artistic discipline within Egyptian television and theatrical productions.
During an extensive interview, El-Karmody revealed her unique artistic vision, emphasizing that jewelry in dramatic productions is not simply decorative or complementary to costumes, but rather an essential dramatic element that reflects the era, environment, social status, and psychological state of each character.
She explained that drama cannot convincingly portray a king without his crown, signet ring, and sword, stressing that jewelry forms part of the character’s identity and narrative presence on screen.
El-Karmody noted that Egyptian drama suffered for many years from the absence of genuine specialization in jewelry design, as ornaments were often treated as secondary accessories within production design, lacking dedicated budgets or artistic vision. From the beginning of her career, she sought to transform the field into an independent discipline with its own artistic and intellectual rights, similar to costume design, décor, and cinematography.
She added that her master’s thesis represented a turning point in her career, as it focused on developing the field of jewelry and ornament design for filmed drama, built around the concept of achieving the highest levels of historical and visual authenticity within artistic productions.
Throughout her career, El-Karmody participated in designing and executing jewelry for nearly 130 dramatic, theatrical, and musical productions, including One Thousand and One Nights, The True Promise, Omar Ibn Abdel Aziz, Sword of Certainty, Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyah, and numerous national celebrations and theatrical productions.
According to El-Karmody, designing jewelry for historical productions always begins with reading the script and analyzing the historical period, social class, and psychological dimensions of each character. These three pillars formed the foundation of her artistic philosophy throughout her career.
She explained that every character was treated as “a separate universe,” emphasizing that actors themselves must feel that the pieces they wear belong naturally to the character rather than appearing as decorative showroom items. This often required lengthy discussions with actors and directors and even redesigning pieces to achieve greater authenticity.
Among the examples she discussed was the sword designed for actor Ahmed Abdel Aziz in the series Sword of Certainty. She explained that the sword was carefully designed according to the actor’s body proportions and handling style so it would appear natural and comfortable during long filming hours, while also considering movement, sound, and combat-scene details.
El-Karmody also highlighted her meticulous commitment to historical documentation. She spent extensive time in museums and consulted historical references related not only to jewelry, but also to broader aspects of daily life associated with the era depicted in the production.
Speaking about historical female characters, she reflected on her work designing jewelry for the character of Shajarat Al-Durr, portrayed by actress Wafaa Amer. She explained that the character’s transformation throughout the storyline required entirely different jewelry designs; Shajarat Al-Durr as a second wife was visually distinct from Shajarat Al-Durr as a ruler seated on the throne or leading battles. Consequently, crowns, helmets, daggers, and even the jewelry worn by surrounding soldiers carried different visual symbolism corresponding to each phase.
El-Karmody stressed that she never relied on ready-made accessories, as is sometimes common in productions. Instead, every piece was designed and produced within her own workshops, even when creating hundreds of items for armies or background actors, because maintaining a unified visual identity for the production was essential to her philosophy.
She also discussed the symbolic and philosophical complexity of certain characters. One example was the “Queen of the Jinn,” portrayed by actress Taysir Fahmy in Uqba Ibn Nafi’. For the character, El-Karmody designed a crown containing symbols representing the queen’s victims and evil eyes reflecting her sinister psychological nature. For El-Karmody, jewelry serves as a parallel narrative tool alongside dialogue and acting.
In Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyah, she used jewelry to symbolize greed and obsession with wealth through a character wearing a metallic hand filled with stones and coins, attached in a worn-out manner symbolizing inner collapse despite material obsession.
She also designed symbolic jewelry for the character of “Al-Majzoub,” portrayed by actor Ahmed Rateb, creating a fragmented metallic book engraved with mysterious symbols to reflect the character’s psychological ambiguity and incomprehensible worldview.
In popular and folkloric productions, El-Karmody emphasized the importance of accurately employing traditional Egyptian jewelry. She explained that each Egyptian province and social environment possesses its own distinct identity in the design of necklaces, bracelets, and traditional ornaments, and that success depends not merely on including these pieces, but on placing them correctly within their dramatic and social context.
She further noted that older productions often relied on ready-made jewelry pieces that served only decorative purposes, without genuine study of their historical or cultural significance, which she considers one of the reasons jewelry documentation in Egyptian drama remained weak for many years.
El-Karmody also revealed technical challenges related to filming jewelry on camera. She explained that authentic jewelry pieces do not always appear convincing on screen due to reflections and lighting issues, which often required special treatments for gemstones, colors, and metallic surfaces to ensure clarity and visual effectiveness during filming.
She stated that she learned early in her career the necessity of testing pieces on camera before filming, after discovering that some designs appeared magnificent in reality but visually failed once filmed.
Discussing the evolution of jewelry within Egyptian society, El-Karmody noted that the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s witnessed a blend of authentic Egyptian jewelry traditions and European influences, especially in cosmopolitan neighborhoods such as Shubra and Garden City, where diverse nationalities and cultures shaped public taste and jewelry aesthetics.
Concluding the interview, Dr. Nahed El-Karmody stressed that jewelry in drama is not a visual luxury, but rather a cultural, social, and psychological documentation tool capable of distinguishing social classes, cultural identities, and even the personalities of dramatic characters.
“Every piece of jewelry should tell a story,” she said, while emphasizing the importance of transferring this artistic specialization to future generations to preserve the visual and cultural identity of Arab dramatic productions.
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