Finding Fouzi

For those of you who, like me, may be in the habit of losing things- this will come as a heartwarming story.

My trip to Marrakesh recently was a returning trip of an adventure I went on with my two best pals ten years ago. It was here that I met and fell in love with the most beautiful pair of Berber earrings you could possibly imagine.

I remember everything about finding them; the evening, the aspect of the jewellery shop I bought them in and the first time I saw those sparkly gems. That evening the Place des Epices in Marrakesh was pulling down the shutters of their stalls that were piled high with exotic spices and roses, bags of lavender, unusual gnarled roots and cages of chameleons and lizards. It was here we spotted a shop that was still open, it was neat and clean with a central glass cabinet and rows of Berber jewels hanging from the walls, the shop owner was at the back of the shop watching football on TV and quite unusually for Morocco  was so engrossed he left us to ourselves to browse, to try on and to really look at everything closely in his shop.

This where I found- The Earrings. They were striking, different and strange-  they were handmade and fashioned into a triangular shape with coins that dropped from the base and were set with green and emerald gems. I loved them instantaneously. They were also extremely heavy and blunt – the result of which can still be seen in my earlobes today. But the love I had for them could not be diminished! I bought them and two others, an intricate silver pair and a pair in jade green.  I wore them with everything until 3 years later I lost them somewhere in a field in Stradbally, Co Laois at Electric picnic. Only one remained. It was the end of an era. And even when my best friend returned to Morocco with her boyfriend and very kindly found and bought another pair for me they were never the same

My Berber earrings from 2003 bought in Marrakesh, lost and found again by my best friend in 2007.

It wasn’t until I was preparing to go back to Morocco last November that I found buried in my sewing box- a little business card. It was very weathered, it had a picture of Berber jewellery and Arabic lettering and the fact it still remained in that sewing box having travelled to London to numerous addresses and back again seemed extraordinary. I didn’t exactly remember what or where the card was from but I knew it must be something I loved and popped it in my wallet to see if it would bring me back to the place.

The weathered business card I found in my Jewellery box.

Finding Fouzi. Here he is standing on the step of his store in November 2014 just after I bought my new earrings.

And so it did. Back in the Marrakesh Medina in 2014 we unexpectedly found ourselves back on Place des Epices, my best pal said “your jewellery shop is near here”. She remembered it. The aspect of the square rang a bell with me and a quick glance around and there it was and it all came flooding back. The shop was exactly as I left it, the shop owner, the TV (with football blaring) in the background and the same beautiful jewels in store. This time I introduced myself and showed the shop owner the card- he laughed and said it was him, he gave me a new card and welcomed me- and said his name was Fouzi, I had finally found Fouzi! This time there were new jewels to be had-  I wanted something red, of course. I chose silver earrings with red glass which work a shape which he told me were created by the In Gall Berber tribe. I tried them on and a new love story began.

If you fancy finding Fouzi and his shop of amazing jewels in Marrakesh here’s the address of his jewellery store.

Abril Ali
Rahba El KAdima
No 176
Marrakesh Medina

My new ruby red Berber earrings in silver and red glass made by the In Gall tribe.