WAXAW™
We dig up stories
the desert forgot to tell.
Eighteen years of hunting hidden gems across Morocco — handcrafted jewelry, real journeys, and a home base in the Essaouira medina that never stopped being lived in.
Two Italians, one obsession: places and objects with a story worth carrying home.
Rooted since 2008.
Tigo's first trip to Morocco was in 2008 — the start of years spent chasing tribal jewelry through souks and mountain villages, learning the stories behind every piece before ever thinking of selling one.
In 2015, a meeting in Berlin changed the shape of it: Arianna, a buyer with a sharp eye and no patience for the corporate ladder, joined the hunt. Within months they were travelling Morocco together, sourcing handmade jewelry to bring back to European flea markets — and having far too much fun doing it.
By 2018 the medina of Essaouira had become both home and workshop, and WAXAW opened its doors properly for the first time. We're not always physically in Morocco — but our people are, and every trip, shoot or shipment gets confirmed with someone real on the ground, not a script.
"Better to walk without knowing where than to sit doing nothing." — Tuareg proverb
One name, three ways in.
Travel with us, hire us to make something, or take home what we've found — WAXAW has always run on the same three legs.
Travel
Small-group and private tours from the Atlantic coast to the Sahara dunes — Essaouira, Marrakech, Merzouga — built around people we actually know, not a fixed script.
Create
Photography, video, styling, and brand consulting for anyone building something honest in Morocco — from a single shoot on location to running the whole online presence.
Souk
Hunted jewelry and handcrafts — Amazigh, Tuareg, antique pieces, fossils, textiles — sourced piece by piece, on the ground, never off a wholesale sheet.
Sandfish, Erg Chebbi.
For years WAXAW has run the full guest experience for Sandfish Luxury Camp in the Merzouga dunes: the online booking, the Airbnb listing, the photography and video shot on-site with private transfer, private tours, and the follow-up long after guests fly home. Hundreds of travelers have passed through the camp on our watch — and it's a fixed stop on several of our own desert routes.
Erg Chebbi Desert · MerzougaVisit Sandfish Luxury Camp →
Hunted, not sourced.
Every piece gets found in person — in a souk stall, a mountain village, a market we've walked a hundred times. Eighteen years of it — scroll through the archive.
Eighteen years,
one archive.
The full phygital catalog is being built — visit the Souk page for the first drops, or write to us directly for what's currently in stock.
The wider ecosystem.
WAXAW's know-how runs through four rooms — some already open, one still arriving. Each has its own page.
Turning spaces, trips and small businesses into narrative destinations — the strategy behind Riad Chaman and Riad Blue Azrak, now offered direct.
A vetted showcase of hosts, artisans and crew — the same trusted circle WAXAW has always worked through, now with real profiles.
A curated market, told in drops — objects that carry a story, from tribal jewels to Taschen-style photo books.
Temporary spaces, lasting impressions — WAXAW's itinerant evolution, starting in Berlin. Request access.
What travelers say.
"These guys are the best. It was like meeting good friends you haven't seen for a while. They knew all the secret and special locations we'd have missed, or been too shy to go in to."
— Will, UK"This is definitely the best experience in Morocco and a definite must. Both Arianna and Sergio are extremely sweet and know many of the locals, and tailored the tour to our wishes."
— Tereza, DK"They took us to places we wouldn't have otherwise known. We loved learning more about the history of Essaouira and hearing their unique perspective."
— Lindsay, NYA small, fixed crew.
Tigo (Sergio)
Photography · Video · DirectionA photographer and videographer able to capture the essence of every moment — and the one who first walked into Essaouira in 2008.
Arianna
Styling · BuyingA stylist and personal shopper with a hunter's eye for hidden gems, and the one who turned a Berlin meeting into a life spent between two countries.
Zineb Bouaud
General Manager, MoroccoThe person who keeps WAXAW rooted on the ground in Morocco — the local counterpart who makes the "we're not always there, but our people are" actually true.
Let's talk
Planning a trip, a shoot,
or hunting for a piece?
Tell us what you're after — we'll tell you honestly if it's something we can do.
waxaw.jewels@gmail.com