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Golden eye

Deepanjali Dwivedi

Barely 24, Sangeeta Dewan promises to be worth her weight in gold. Winner of the International Gold Virtuosi Award 2000 (considered the `Oscars for the gold and jewellery industry'), the `Overall Excellence Award' at Swaranjali 2000 and a finalist at the De Beers Millennium Diamond design competition... it has been glitters all the way for this NIFT (accessory design) graduate.

Sangeeta herself owes her success to the collective efforts of her craftsmen, suppliers, sponsor and other assistants who helped her get everything right and on time.

The highpoint for her was the Gold Virtuosi Award she received in Italy after her accessory design was chosen from among 3,000 sketches and competitors from 34 countries. ``The competition brief was to create the ultimate gold adornment enhancing the wea rers' individual pleasure, vitality, emotion and sensuality,'' she recollects.

Her award-winning entry was a 22-carat gold-sculptured necklace featuring five layers of intricate wirework alongside a chatelaine and a matching bangle. Sangeeta recalls the grind behind the glory, ``From just an idea sketch, graduating to paper, wire m esh and copper models, working out the mechanism and weight, communicating the details to the craftsmen, supervising every step to avoid gold wastage, re-melting it countless times and demanding nothing less than a gold biscuit every day for two months f rom Sanjiv Verma (her sponsor and proprietor of Punjab Jewellers) ... it all seems worth it now.''

The Gold Virtuosi Awards 2000 was sponsored by the World Gold Council (WGC) and Anglo Gold, a company that owns the largest number of goldmines in the world. The final round featured 700 jewellery pieces. Sangeeta's winning design was unveiled at Italy's Vicenza Fair -- one of the world's largest jewellery exhibitions.

``The international exposure and acclaim were eye-opening as I got to interact with and learn from ethnic designers from Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore, Bahrain and Turkey.''

Her `Versatility 2000' creation, which won a Swaranjali 2000 award, is an ethno-contemporary fusion piece that drew inspiration from the essence of African jewellery. ``Each part of this triple-structured design with the bamboo-link motif can be worn sep arately or together depending on the mood, occasion and outfit,'' she explains.

Another of her creations, `The Peacock Splendour', was the first runner-up in the bridal category. The necklace can be expanded to desired length using special hinges and spring mechanisms.

An Army officer's daughter, Sangeeta credits her creative calling to a gamble she took with fate. ``My parents wanted me to enter the medical profession and, sub-consciously, I had already decided to become a cosmetic surgeon. I appeared in my medical an d NIFT exams simultaneously. Of course, my parents were in the dark about my `designs' on NIFT, but once I cleared the interview there was no looking back.''

Sangeeta joined the NIFT accessory design department in 1994. ``I remember being taught by European designers who came to NIFT on a UNDP project. That was really the beginning of my international exposure in a sense.'' Her batch was one of the first to f eature their work in the World Gold Council trend-book in 1997. As part of practical training, she worked for six months with a Chennai-based jeweller. ``That's where I became aware of how the value of gold, design and its functionality were changing acr oss India.''

Being a young professional, Sangeeta seems to have her finger on the pulse of the branded-jewellery market. ``Lifestyle changes are dictating what sells with women today. They want multipurpose jewellery as the days of `buy and stash gold jewellery' is o ver. Their attire, workplaces, budgets and investment preferences are all altering. They now want lighter items that offer value for money, exclusivity, durability and quality.''

Sangeeta is currently the design manager of The Trust Collection (a part of Punjab Jewellers). Sangeeta hopes to pioneer a fresh market for customised innovation and that is what the Trust Collection is all about, to ``evolve new shapes, ideas and concep ts by fashioning multipurpose detachable products. Today it's the fashion norm to wear gold and other precious/semi-precious jewellery in white, pink and other varied customised hues''.

Constantly experimenting, Sangeeta draws her inspiration from the human body. ``I feel that jewellery should be able to wrap around any part of the body. I crafted a golden brooch, which can also be pinned over the shoulder to hold a saree in place; a pe ndant which elongates into a necklace and a gold mesh hair-bun cover besides detachable necklaces that can be made lighter or heavier according to the occasion. I am driven by the desire to create a market instead of merely catering to the existing one.' '

And when she is not chained to her creative-commercial dreams, the young designer loves dining out, socialising, watching Govinda blockbusters, training herself on 3D computer graphics, Web surfing and dreaming of cold croissants at Cartier and breakfast at Tiffany's!

Crystal gazing into the future, Sangeeta foresees the entry of the services sector in the jewellery design industry. ``Individuality is taking the place of commonality. Even the concept of jewellery shopping is changing and jewellery boutiques, where the customer can have `by appointment-only' meetings with designers, is the new development. To retain customers it will be crucial to understand their needs... it could be traditional, trendy, fusion or all three.''

Her future plans include diversifying into the manufacture of silverware, table-top accessories, trophy items and corporate gifts. She also plans to set up, in association with Punjab Jewellers, a one-stop shop for specialised turnkey projects, including consultancy, sourcing, manufacturing, designing and even pricing of designer jewellery.

But, in a realistic vein, Sangeeta does not foresee a gold-paved path ahead. ``The Indian jewellery industry is the most disorganised, yet one of the country's largest revenue generators. But there is no concept of intellectual or creative copyright. My designs can be plagiarised and there is not much we can do about it. Copying of price structures, designs or even advertising campaigns is rampant,'' she rues.