Imagination fused with design

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.”