The artist Ben Zion David is a traditional yemenite designer and silversmith. He is the eighth generation from a family of jewelers descending from Najran, Northern Yemen. For more than 2,000 years, since the days of King Solomon, his ancestors lived and worked successfully in Yemen, creating jewels for Jewish brides, Princes and Sheiks.

Ben Zion has refined his skills since early childhood in the family workshop of his father and grandfather. He served in the Israeli army, entered the Haifa Technion College, achieved his engineering degree, worked for several years in the United States and furthered his studies. While being vetted by the defense industry for employment in Israel, Ben-Zion bided his time in his father’s workshop. He managed to create incredibly beautiful jewelry and Judaica, pieces that went on to be acquired by important collectors. This brought on the realization that his true calling was in the Art of Yemenite Filigree.

From father to son

As the keeper of his family traditions and in order to preserve the unique culture of the Yemenite Jewish people, Ben Zion founded his Yemenite Jewish Culture Museum located in Old Jaffa in 2010, which exhibits private and archival photos of his family and historical events of the Jews of Yemen. Near it, In the same space is the workshop in which Ben Zion currently creates jewelry and Judaica, so museum visitors can observe the process.

Ben Zion David’s work skillfully combines age-old traditions, preserving the filigree designs of the great masters of the past and creating new and exciting jewels for all, family heritage through artists and pop culture. Today, Ben Zion is widely known throughout the world. His exceptional designs are exhibited in galleries and museums in America, Australia and Europe and reaches Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, II as a gift from Israeli President Shimon Peres in 2008.

“The hands of the master seem to have a life of their own as beauty streams through his hands ….. from hand to hand, from father to son for centuries and even millennia, adorning and sanctifying the world around us, passing life’s mysteries encrypted in silver lace from generation to generation.”

Excerpt from “BEN ZION DAVID, Book I from the Series, “PEOPLE OF ISRAEL” written by Lea Wedensky

Below you can see photos of Ben Zion’s work process, the jewelry he makes and awards he received for his work. Amongst them are photos of Yemen, of his father and grandfather and his museum.