Who is The Craftsman Designer Zeynep Meşe İlhan

I was born in 1983 in Izmit, and I am a married mother of a daughter. After graduating from Anatolian High School's Fashion Design department, I started designing for various fashion houses. It was during this time that I began designing jewelry, guided by my teacher, and it was also when I met Ismail Bey, who is now my husband. At that time, he was looking for a freelance designer, and thanks to him, I not only improved my drawing skills but also developed them technically, even though I didn't know the term 'mıhlama' at the time. Later, we met Murat Bey of Harem Jewelry. With his recommendation, I spent 15 years in a boutique jewelry design workshop, where I honed my skills in both design and production, as well as the traditional master-apprentice teachings of the Grand Bazaar.

Birol Usta (I can't thank him enough) is an incredible master who worked at the Urart company. He patiently shared his knowledge with me, and after that, he joined the design team at Armaggan company and passed on his position to me. Years later, we worked together again, but in 2018, we decided to part ways due to marriage reasons.

In this process, I created two collections for the Stella Flame brand in the United States, using silver, 18k gold, and precious stones. Unfortunately, I can't help but mention that there are unscrupulous individuals in our industry who indirectly copy my molds and designs, and then sit at the same table in meetings with the intention of taking your work away by adopting cost-cutting policies. This has left me disillusioned with the industry.

The child, the pandemic, and the increase in the dollar exchange rate forced me to postpone my plans of establishing the workshop I had dreamed of. Leaving everything behind, we embarked on a new adventure with our brand MEŞŞATE.

While conducting research, I came across the Ottoman Turkish dictionary and found the word "meşşet," which is said to be derived from the word "tarak" and means "a woman who adorns other women." In some dictionaries, it is also interpreted as "a woman who adorns brides." I was deeply impressed by the meaning of this word, and it excited me greatly.

In our brand, MEŞŞATE, we create collections with metals such as 14k, 18k, 24k gold, and silver, as well as precious and semi-precious gemstone groups. We combine traditional techniques like the red old wax method with modern production techniques used today.
We work with companies that have direct in-store sales, and we also offer our customers retail service through our website for our brand's exclusive collections (currently in progress). With my special interest in archaeology and art history and the technical support I received from my mentor Birol Kılıç, we also have a separate collection related to underground artifacts.

The product you see in the image is 'LAMASSU,' a Mesopotamian protective deity represented as a human-headed bull or lion with the wings of a bird. These statues were believed to be placed in front of sacred spaces to make them secure. Lamassu statues can be found on display in many museums and art collections today.