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Indian diamonds
Imagination fused with design
By Pamela Cheema found at JCK
India, May 13, 2008
Passionate creativity, unstinting hard work with a deep
understanding of the idiom of design, have brought Indian-born Canadian
designer, Reena Ahluwalia, unique success.
Belgian
Post Celebrates Diamonds with Reena Ahluwalia's Bel Canto Postage Stamp
To the discerning observer the beauty of an attractive piece of
jewellery lies not only in the flawless quality of gemstones used, but also in
the brilliant conceptualization of design. An inspired design with undeniable
originality and executed with finesse and consummate skill can turn any piece of
jewellery into enviable art. Not many designers have the requisite skill and
creativity. But one designer whose work evokes respect is Reena Ahluwalia, an
Indian-born jewellery designer, now based in Toronto, Canada. One of the 38
finalists chosen by the internationally acclaimed HRD Awards 2007, Reena’s
diamond necklace Bel Canto, a homage to the late opera diva Maria Callas, has
been chosen by the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) and the Belgium Post to
be featured on a stamp, which will be one of a set of five stamps which have
been released by the Post. According to the press release issued by AWDC, these
stamps will promote the European Philatelic Championship taking place in Antwerp
in 2010.
With her exquisite diamond necklace featured on a stamp, Ahluwalia joins a very
exclusive and select group of designers whose work has been featured on postage
stamps anywhere in the world. Speaking in an early morning call from Toronto,
Ahluwalia ecstatically declared that “I am deeply honoured as this represents
the highest recognition one can get as a diamond jewellery artist. This is
beyond any aspiration, one does not create thinking that one day your work will
be on a postage stamp.”
The necklace on the stamp has been devised with 101.0 carats of diamonds and
designed by Ahluwalia in collaboration with Diarough, N.V. Belgium (diamond
sponsor) and Shrenuj & Co. Ltd (jewel sponsor). With jewellery pieces which
boldly employ Tahitian pearls, geometric designs in gold and curiously shaped
diamond rings even a naif would be impressed by Ahluwalia’s superior creative
bandwidth. In the course of an eventful 14-year career, Ahluwalia acquired a
slew of awards like the Tahitian Pearl Trophy 2007-2008, the HRD Awards 2007,
the De Beers-Diamonds International Awards, the Gold Virtuosi International
Awards by the World Gold Council etc.
The designer who is only in her early 30s began her arduous climb to the top
from Bhopal, the city of lakes, in distant Madhya Pradesh. Family affluence and
liberal, encouraging parents (her mother was an artist and poet and her father,
a retired city commissioner) nurtured her creative growth. As a child, Ahluwalia
could often be found poring over sketch books and at the age of 17, the
precocious, but talented teenager had firmly chosen design as a career. After a
brief flirtation with engineering college, Ahluwalia enrolled in the first batch
of the jewellery design program at Delhi’s prestigious National Institute of
Fashion Technology. A couple of years after her graduation she won the first
prize in the World Gold Council’s national competition, Swaranjali. A part of
this win included a coveted scholarship to apprentice under formidable jewellery
designers in London and Vicenza, Italy. On her return, a notable addition to the
portfolio of her work was the creation of tiaras in 2001-02 for the Femina Miss
India beauty pageant supported by Mont Blanc.
Diamonds were first mined in India and sold to customers across the globe –
the earliest known reference to the stone has been found in the Arthashastra
dated 320-290 B.C. Similarly, a scouring of historical records reveals that
Indian merchants were among the first to use gold as a medium of commerce when
trade flourished between ancient India and Greece. With the interaction between
different cultures, Indian jewellery has always displayed a certain cosmopolitan
exuberance and Ahluwalia’s work in turn has exhibited the heterogeneity of
Indian culture and diverse Western and Canadian influences – after her
marriage in 2002 she moved to Canada. For Reena Ahluwalia design will always
remain the lodestar of her life and continue to open up myriad possibilities
which, she says passionately, “gives me autonomy and tremendous happiness.”
read
also: Indian Diamond duty cut pushes
India forward
two million sq ft diamond bourse in Mumbai will become operational this year.
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