Facets of success

Smitha Sarah fenn, Indian jewellery designer and one of the winners of last year's prestigious De Beers' international diamond jewellery design competition.

Antique jewellery has always fascinated me, especially the designs portrayed in Ravi Varma's paintings. However, personally, I prefer to wear light and delicate stuff.

In February last year my mother (who lives in Coimbatore) called me up and relayed the great news.

The good news was my design for De Beers' internationalc competition - 'Diamonds: Nature's Miracle' - had been selected.

[At the time I received the news] I was in Chennai where I work for a leading jewellery showroom in the city, Prince Jewellery.

It was a great moment no doubt and now the challenge was to see the final piece being manufactured because De Beers had clearly stated they had some concerns about the feasibility of actually creating the finished piece.

Also they said if it was not an accurate representation of the original design or if the standards of craftsmanship were not met they reserved the right to refuse it.

So, although I was thrilled, I was also eager to see that the finished product followed my design.

Preparing the design within certain rules laid down by De Beers was not very easy.

It took me five days to complete the design. Prince Jewellery took six weeks to manufacture the choker necklace.

The contestants were required to create unique jewellery pieces which embodied the intrinsic values of a diamond.

The theme clearly emphasised on the fascinating nature of diamonds, a miracle of nature as evidenced by the fact that no two diamonds are alike.

Continual interruptions in temperature and pressure ensure that.

Over 1,500 international entries were submitted.

The judges shortlisted 119 finalists and of them only 39 creations were selected. My design, together with the other two from India, Baljeet Sahani, a student of SNDT College, Mumbai, and Sumit Jain, a jewellery designer from Tanishq, Bangalore, were among the 39 chosen designs.

My diamond creation which I call the 'The Great Journey' is a choker necklace made out of white gold and diamonds.

The choker weighs 342 grams and has several 5-cent baguettes (rectangular diamonds) and tapered baguettes - a channel set in fine bars of white gold - amounting to 61.55 carats.

I prefer white gold to yellow as it adds to the brilliance of the diamonds.

Yellow would have made the creation very gaudy.

This necklace is worth Rs17 lakhs (Dh1,41,667).

It is designed to represent a continuous sense of erratic motion enhanced by the twists and turns of the design.

The baguettes and tapered baguettes set in 18k white gold, moving in various directions, bring out a feeling of perpetual activity.

I called my design 'The Great Journey,' to symbolise the long journey of the diamond, starting from its birth in the recesses of the earth till the end during which the crude stone is transformed into a magnificent piece and occupies a pride of place in a jewellery store.

I also won the Best Jewellery Design in a competition organised by the Art of Jewellery Magazine, which was held in February last year in Bangalore.

However, this [De Beers international design competition] was something special, since the creations were to be unveiled in Venice, Italy. I was looking forward to the trip.

Consequently, in October, I went to Venice and it gave me joy to see my design sharing the platform with creations from Carrera Y. Carrera, Chopard, Damiani, Escada, Georg Jensen, H. Stern, Mouawad, Moussaieff, Scavia and Stefan Hafner, all internationally renowned for their originality and workmanship.

It was a learning experience too. All along I had been thinking my design was too big, but was surprised to see much bigger ones there.

Some creations used diamonds on less conventional materials including lava, leather, patinated bronze and petrified (fossil) wood.

Every breathtaking piece on display carried more than 25 carats of diamonds.

The winners were awarded a certificate for design excellence and creativity. The Indian designers were considerably younger than most of the other contestants.

I am the youngest of three sisters. My sisters are my best critics and have always inspired me to strive for, and achieve, perfection.

I did my schooling at Stanes Higher Secondary School. I then moved to Chennai and studied fine arts at Stella Maris College.

I progressed and did a two-year diploma course in jewellery design at the Jewellery Design and Technology Institute, Noida, Delhi.

The curriculum at the institute was very good. We manufactured everything we designed, so I learnt the manufacturing techniques of jewellery like filing, soldering, stone setting and forging.

It helps as it is easier for me to explain a design to the craftsmen.

I love reading fiction mostly but my work allows very little time for that.

Music is my other love - anything that is slow and soft, Western classical and played on the piano and violin. My favourites are Mozart and Beethoven.

They are special to me and I wouldn't ever think of giving them away. Of course, as with most women, diamonds are my favourite.

I am not much of a shopper, though.

I work with diamonds, though sometimes I create pieces using gold.

I love to design for my family as well. Recently, I designed a ruby and emerald bracelet for my mother to match her earrings. I gave my father a ring as a Christmas gift.

Youngsters should dare explore new fields and not be scared to do anything different.

For me it has been a relatively easy road and I am grateful to people who have always supported me.

As a student and during my first years in the industry I used to visit many jewellery stores to see the new designs but I no longer do it.

I keep abreast of the changing trends by reading magazines on jewellery designing like Solitaire and Art of Jewellery.

It has really been a great journey for me - from Coimbatore to Venice.