Meet the two Emirati sisters from Al Ain turning UAE landmarks into building sets

Dubai: It started with a Taj Mahal. Two sisters from Al Ain, a pile of bricks, an afternoon spent assembling somebody else's landmark, and a fairly obvious question hanging over the table: where were the sets about UAE?

Out of that came AlRon, which Jawaher AlBlooshi and Reem AlBlooshi describe as the UAE's first building block brand. Their first two releases are Shaheen, a 455-piece rendering of Abu Dhabi's crest, and Desert Falcon, a 394-piece model of the UAE Air Force's F-16.

The sisters spoke to Gulf News about prototypes built by hand, booklets that open with history rather than instructions, and the the fun side of the business working with your sibling.

"The idea came while we were building a Taj Mahal set together," says Jawaher. "We realised that, while there were building sets inspired by landmarks around the world, there was no dedicated brand exploring the UAE's symbols, stories and identity in the same way. That was the moment AlRon became something we genuinely wanted to build together."

The name was chosen with some deliberation. "AlRon, or الرُّون, is an old Arabic word meaning intensity, or الشدة," Reem explains. Both terms carry the sense of intensity or force in English. "We wanted a name with weight, one that reflected the depth of Emirati identity and our determination to carry its stories forward."

The two sister had no connection to the toy making world before this. "Before AlRon, we were both working regular jobs, but we had always wanted to create something together," says Jawaher. "When the idea came to us, it felt like the right one to pursue. It gave us a chance to build a brand side by side, around stories and symbols that mattered to us."

Anyone who has looked closely at Abu Dhabi's crest can guess where the difficulty lay. Small details, lots of them, and a design that behaves very differently on a screen than it does in the hand. The finished Shaheen set has 455 pieces.

"The crest has so many small details, and we wanted it to look right without making it frustrating to build," Jawaher says. "A design can look perfect on screen and still not work once it is built by hand, so we tested and rebuilt it many times until it was recognisable, stable and enjoyable to build."

That testing is not outsourced. Every early prototype is assembled by the sisters themselves, repeatedly.

"It helps us see whether the instructions are clear, where someone might pause, and whether the set comes together properly," she adds. "We want the build to be enjoyable from start to finish."

A single set takes several months to go from idea to boxed product. Research comes first, then prototyping, then the instructions, the booklet and the packaging.

If you open an AlRon box and the first thing you meet is not a step-one diagram. It is the story of whatever you are about to build.

"We wanted people to know what they were holding before they started building it," says Reem. "The booklet opens with the history of the UAE symbol or landmark in the set, giving the build more meaning and making the experience feel more personal."

The rest of the box has been designed with the same attention: a tray for the loose pieces, the bricks themselves, and the booklet, all in packaging carrying the line "structure rooted in heritage".

The sisters did expect a broad audience. What they did not expect was how many people would be buying for somebody else.

"We imagined AlRon being enjoyed by different ages and audiences," Reem says. "What surprised us was how often people chose the sets as gifts. They saw them as something meaningful to give someone special, not just a model, but a piece of the UAE."

There is no target age bracket, and that was something they decided after putting much thought into.

Jawaher puts it as: "The sets are designed to be built, but also collected, displayed and learned from. Children can enjoy the building experience, while adults can appreciate the detail, the story and the finished piece."

Each set is priced at Dh250. "It was important to us that AlRon felt accessible, while still being something people would want to build, keep and give," she says. "We want people to feel they can bring a piece of the UAE into their home without it feeling out of reach."

And when they receive photographs customers send back they then become a small reward of their own for them.

"When someone shares a finished build in their home, you see the story become part of their space," Reem reflects. "It reminds us that people are not only building a model, they are choosing to keep a piece of the UAE close to them."

Now for a fun question, what its like working with your sibling, pros and cons, and they said: Trust is the obvious advantage. "We understand each other's taste and standards, so working together feels natural," says Jawaher. "We can share ideas openly, make decisions quickly and enjoy the process of building AlRon together."

And the drawback is more familiar to anyone who has gone into business with family. "The only real challenge is knowing when to switch off," admits Reem. "A car ride or lunch can easily turn into an AlRon conversation. But that is also what makes working together so easy. We are always sharing ideas, and the best ones often come when we are simply spending time together."

More sets are coming, though the sisters are not saying which landmarks yet.

"There is still so much we want to build and so many more UAE stories to share," Jawaher says. "We want every new set to give people that same feeling of pride and connection. This is only the start of AlRon."

AlRon sets are priced at Dh250 each. You can find them at alron.ae or @alron.ae on Instagram.