Reena Ahluwalia Designs 'Courageous Spirit' Collection
Rio Tinto Makes Indian Diamond History, Unveils Inaugural Bunder Diamond Jewelry. Diamonds found 100 years after the fabled Indian Golconda Mines depleted.
Can design speak? Not just beauty but identity, land and legacy.
August 2012 - Rio Tinto unveiled the inaugural Bunder diamond jewelry collection comprising diamonds from the sampling to date at its developing Bunder project in Madhya Pradesh.
The Courageous Spirit jewelry collection holds a very special place in Indian diamond history as it has been at least a century since India has mined, designed and manufactured its own diamond jewelry," said Dr Nik Senapati, Managing Director of Rio Tinto India.
Madhya Pradesh-born designer, Reena Ahluwalia was commissioned to design the Courageous Spirit jewelry as a tribute to the women of Madhya Pradesh. The focus of the necklace is a stunning diamond-encrusted disc that symbolizes the natural abundance of the Bunder diamond deposit. Inspired by a compass, the disc rotates on a central axis, while a marker points to the true centre of the Bunder story - the earthly origins of the diamonds and the pioneering spirit of the people who are so integral to Bunder's development. The latitude and longitude coordinates of the Bunder diamond deposit are inscribed on the back of the disc. Like a map of meaning.
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Titled Courageous Spirit, the jewelry features a magnificent statement necklace and a set of complementary earrings. The collection incorporates a total of 25.34 carats of polished Bunder diamonds and 2.8 carats of rough Bunder diamonds, including a 5.04 carat round brilliant cut white diamond and a 5.02 carat round brilliant cut cognac diamond.
“As a woman born and brought up in the region (Madhya Pradesh), creating this milestone collection is like coming a full circle. I am honoured to tell the Bunder story through my designs and be a part of this historic diamond moment,” said Reena Ahluwalia. “When Rio Tinto commissioned this historic collection, they were unaware that Madhya Pradesh is the land where I was born. For me, it became more than a project. ”
Maintaining the important Indian pedigree of the collection, the rough diamonds have been carefully transformed by master craftsmen in Indian cutting and polishing factories, while the innovative design has been brought to life with designer Reena Ahluwalia by Indian jewelry manufacturer Uni-Design Jewellery Private Ltd - a Mumbai-based company with a reputation for exquisite craftsmanship. Rio Tinto partnered with Venus Jewel and Mahendra Brothers to cut and polish the stones.
Guest of Honour at the event was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan. According to Bruce Cox, Managing Director of Rio Tinto Diamonds, "By harnessing the skill and creativity of India's respected diamond artisans, these magnificent jewelry pieces are symbolic of an important new chapter in the country's proud diamond history.”
Thanks to many individuals, including, Nick Van de Voorde, Rahul Prashant Pande, Davide Bagnuoli and Krishna C. for their contributions to this project. The Courageous Spirit collection is not available for sale. In early 2017, Rio Tinto stopped and handed the project over to the Madhya Pradesh state government.
And yet, the story persists - through design.
In a world of fleeting impressions, this piece asks: Can a jewel hold direction? Can it carry the weight of identity, place and time? And more importantly, can design speak, not just of beauty, but of belonging?
For Reena, it was a privilege to shape this story, one that speaks through design.
A jewel, yes. But also a voice.
Photos: Rio Tinto Diamonds.