Ayoub Sisters Emerald Ankh Necklace

The ankh is one of the most immediately recognisable symbols to survive from ancient Egypt.

Its looped form appears throughout Egyptian art — held by deities, carried in ritual imagery and written as the hieroglyph for life. Across thousands of years, the symbol became inseparable from Egyptian visual culture and from ideas of existence, vitality and continuity.

For Laura and Sarah Ayoub, Egypt is not simply an ancient source of inspiration. It forms part of their own cultural heritage.

The Scottish-Egyptian sisters have built an international career by bringing musical traditions together. Their debut album reached No. 1 in the Official Classical Charts, and their work has taken them to venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Cairo Opera House and Dubai Opera. They have performed for royals and presidents, received the Arab Women of the Year award for Cultural Exchange, and were requested by King Charles III to perform at the Honours of Scotland Coronation service in Edinburgh.

That meeting of cultures lies at the heart of the Shinar x Ayoub Sisters collaboration.

Together, two Egyptian-inspired pieces were created. Sarah Ayoub designed the Water Necklace, drawing upon the ancient Egyptian water hieroglyph, while Laura Ayoub designed the Emerald Ankh Necklace, placing one of Egypt’s most enduring symbols at the centre of her design.

Laura’s ankh is deliberately elegant and restrained. The ancient sign is reduced to a clean golden form, with a natural emerald positioned at its heart — a single point of vivid green against the warm metal.

Both collaboration pieces later appeared in The Ayoub Sisters’ El Helwa Di music video, where the sisters wore them through the streets of Cairo, bringing the designs back into the landscape and culture that inspired them.

The Ayoub Sisters Emerald Ankh Necklace is therefore more than an Egyptian-inspired jewel. It is a meeting of ancient symbolism, contemporary design, music and heritage — created by Laura Ayoub and Shinar Jewels as a modern expression of one of Egypt’s oldest signs of life.