The Story Behind Amara: Why We Started Making Georgian Souvenirs

Every trip I've ever taken has left me with a pin.

Long before Amara existed, I had a habit: wherever I traveled, I'd look for a small enamel pin to bring home. Nothing large, nothing expensive — just a little piece of metal and color that captured something about the place. Over the years, without really planning to, I built up a sizeable collection. Little landmarks, little symbols, little memories, all pinned to a jacket or tucked into a box, each one a tiny anchor to somewhere I'd been.

At some point, I looked at that collection and realized something was missing: Georgia.

The Gap I Couldn't Fill

I wanted a pin of my own country sitting alongside all the others — something that captured Tbilisi's skyline, or a landmark that meant something to me, the way my other pins captured Paris or Tokyo or Rome. But when I went looking, I couldn't find it. Not the way I wanted it, anyway. What existed felt mass-produced, generic, or simply didn't do justice to how beautiful Georgia actually is — its architecture, its history, its street art, its wine culture, its stories.

So I did what I imagine a lot of people would do in that situation: I got a little frustrated, and then I decided to make it myself.

Where the Name Amara Comes From

I wanted a name that captured what I was actually trying to do — not just make souvenirs, but make memories that last. In Latin and Greek, the word Amara means "everlasting."

That's exactly the idea. A souvenir shouldn't just be an object you buy at the airport and forget in a drawer. It should be something you actually want to keep — and wear. Whether it ends up on a jacket in another country as a reminder of a trip to Georgia, or on the bag of a Georgian who simply wants a small, beautiful reminder of how stunning their own country is, that's the feeling I wanted Amara to hold onto. Everlasting, in the small, quiet way a good keepsake is everlasting.

From an Idea to a Real Object

Having the idea was one thing. Turning it into an actual, well-made pin was another — and that's where Tamuna Jejelava came in. Tamuna is an incredibly talented designer, and honestly, Amara wouldn't exist in any real form without her. I came to her with a vision — landmarks, symbols, stories that matter to Georgians and to the people who fall in love with this country when they visit — and she's the one who translated that vision into objects you can actually hold in your hand.

Every design that carries the Amara name is made with the same care: chosen because it means something, not just because it looks nice on a shelf.

Still Just the Beginning

Amara is very young right now — we're at the very start of this story, not the middle or the end. But the plan is a big one: to keep growing this small collection into something that genuinely represents Georgia's landmarks, culture, and history, piece by piece, and to keep doing it with the same quality and care as the first pin we made.

If you've ever traveled and brought home a small object just to remember how a place made you feel, I think you'll understand exactly why Amara exists. And if you're Georgian and have never had a small, beautiful way to carry a piece of home with you — I hope one of these pins becomes that for you.

Thank you for being here at the beginning of this. There's a lot more coming.

With love, founder of Amara

Browse the full collection of Georgian souvenir enamel pins and find the piece of Georgia that means the most to you.