The GRAZIA Career Edit: Meet Zahraa & Maahira Mansoor, The Founders Of UAE Fine Jewellery House MAJESTA

The most meaningful forms of jewellery are the ones that tell a story – seamlessly woven from the tapestry of thoughts, emotions and memories of their makers. For sisters Zahraa and Maahira Mansoor, founders of UAE-based fine and high jewellery house MAJESTA, that story is deeply rooted in their upbringing in the Kingdom of Eswatini, Africa. The sisters tap into a deeply personal connection with their roots and bring it to life in the form of opulent creations, paying homage to the untamed spirit of a natural landscape – and that’s where MAJESTA was born.

The house tells the stories of their upbringing through a contemporary lens – bringing together luxury and the wild in perfect harmony. Expressed through meaningful structural forms that house natural diamonds, 18-karat gold and radiant compositions. Proving that the roots of artistry are best nurtured by a compelling story.

Having founded the brand in 2024, the sisters have built their journey of entrepreneurship on the lessons learned from watching their family grow their own business and their rich academic backgrounds. Since then, the two have come together to combine their individual strengths. All with the ambition of growing internationally – while remaining true to the identity, heritage and values that brought the jewellery house to life.

Their talent, artistry and creative vision have not gone unnoticed – having had pieces from MAJESTA’s Kali collection worn by Grammy-winning artist Rihanna and supermodel Anok Yai for Paris Fashion Week this year. Now, in this edition of The GRAZIA Career Edit, we sit down with the two founders to explore the beginnings of their journey, their daily lives as founders, and everything in between.

We are the Co-Founders of MAJESTA, a Dubai-based fine and high jewellery house. We’re sisters, business partners and creative collaborators, working together to build a jewellery house that reflects our heritage, our individuality and our shared vision.

We always knew we wanted to create something of our own. Entrepreneurship was something we were naturally drawn to from a young age, having grown up around business and seeing first-hand what it takes to build something from the ground up.

Math and Business. We’ve always been drawn to numbers and fascinated by the process of taking an idea and turning it into something tangible — understanding people, brands, markets and what makes a business successful.

Our earliest experience of work was through our family businesses. Being exposed to entrepreneurship from a young age taught us the importance of hard work, responsibility and understanding every aspect of a business — lessons that continue to influence us today.

A journey of combining our different strengths and interests. Our academic backgrounds gave us a strong foundation in business and finance, while entrepreneurship gave us the freedom to explore our creative side. MAJESTA became the perfect intersection of the two — allowing us to build something together that is both commercially driven and creatively led.

The UAE has been fundamental to our journey. It is a country that encourages ambition and constantly challenges you to think bigger. It has given us the environment to experiment, build and dream without limitations, while connecting us to a truly global audience.

A love letter to Africa, and to the place that shaped so much of who we are. We grew up in the Kingdom of Eswatini, surrounded by extraordinary landscapes, wildlife and natural beauty, and those memories became the heart of MAJESTA. Through our jewellery, we take details found in nature – from the sculptural form of a feline paw or claw to the textures, landscapes and unexpected combinations of colours we grew up around — and reinterpret them through fine and high jewellery. We founded MAJESTA in the UAE as a way of carrying those memories with us and sharing our own perspective of Africa with the world.

We’ve always believed jewellery is much more than an accessory. It carries emotion, memories and meaning, and can be passed down through generations. We wanted to create pieces that feel special enough to become part of someone’s story — jewellery that is both timeless and deeply personal.

No two days are ever the same. Our days can involve everything from creative direction, design and product development to marketing, PR, partnerships and business strategy. Because we work so closely together, there is always a lot of bouncing ideas off one another — and, of course, plenty of coffee in between.

Everything. We’re involved in the creative vision as much as the business side — from designing collections and developing products to branding, marketing, partnerships, strategy and the smallest details behind the scenes. Being founders means wearing many different hats, but that is also what makes the journey so exciting.

Learning to be patient. When you’re building something you care deeply about, you naturally want everything to happen immediately. Entrepreneurship has taught us that setbacks, delays and unexpected challenges are part of the process. They force you to adapt, become more resilient and ultimately make better decisions.

Taking MAJESTA from an idea between two sisters and turning it into a real jewellery house. Seeing our pieces worn by women we admire, including Rihanna and Anok Yai, and having MAJESTA recognised beyond our immediate circle has been incredibly surreal. It makes all the behind-the-scenes work feel worthwhile.

“Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso

We hope to see MAJESTA grow internationally while remaining true to the identity, heritage and values that inspired us to create it. Our ambition is to build more than a jewellery brand — we want to build a house with longevity, recognition and a legacy that can be carried forward for generations. Personally, we hope to continue learning, creating and pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones.