Reena Ahluwalia designs for the bold, new world

Award-winning Canadian jewellery designer, Reena Ahluwalia shares her aesthetic secrets that have made Forevermark’s Promise collection a big hit.

Jewellery designers are a rare species. What inspired you to become one?
I am a curious person.  I love the heritage and culture that each place has to offer. I love the colours and textures that they use. Travelling informs my design decisions and deepens my design thinking.

Including the life experiences and cultural cues gained, my sojourns help expand my vision and keep it fresh. Sensing the world from my nomadic mind’s perspective brings a free spirit of enquiry and exploration — and that shows up in my designs.

What materials do you work on?
Complete involvement with materials and processes is a vital part of my work ethic. Diamonds are my absolute favourites. I am a complete diamond aficionado — rough, polished, colourless, coloured, large or small, I love them equally.

In terms of metal, I work with gold and platinum. Also, for my recent collections I have combined ultra durable, shatter-proof ceramic and sapphire crystals with diamonds.

How would you describe the jewellery that you design? Traditional, contemporary, modern...?

I try to create  powerfully confident, proudly flamboyant jewellery that harmonises well-engineered precision and geometry with fluidity and movement. My signature style is distinctive of forthright femininity, innovation and subtle symbolic references. I have been successful in exploring different extremes in form, effortlessly moving from extravagant and exaggerated to small and understated.

Design preference pattern is different for different customers. How do you bridge the gap?
Preference depends on many factors. It could be cultural, social, economic etc. Yet there are many similarities, people love designs that speak to them immediately and connect emotionally. My designs offer just that.

Have you noticed any interesting trends in jewellery designs in the last three years?
I believe jewellery is perennial. Innovation is essential to keep the stories fresh. For example, the floating-diamonds collection that I created in collaboration with Royal Asscher Diamonds, the company that had cut the largest diamond ever found —the Cullinan.

What is the most challenging part about designing your own jewellery?
I can’t think of any challenge. I love what I do and every part of the process is rewarding for me.

What would you say is the key factor to your success?
Insatiable curiosity, persistence and knowing myself and being no one else other than being me.

What are the designs that are in vogue now?
Timeless jewels that never go out of style and I don’t say that lightly, like the collection of Elizabeth Taylor that consisted of jewels of timeless style. I am talking about aesthetics that do not rely on fashion cycles, but rather can be appreciated for generations.

But don’t people choose their jewellery based on the their
outfits?
Not necessarily. Sometimes, and many times it is the other ways around. The kind of jewellery I create is unique and its high value, not quick fashion jewellery. So in my experience, people choose their outfits to go with my jewellery.