A dash of colour makes even a diamond look better, feels Nileena Babu. Much is made out of the sparkle of the stone, but the jewellery designer from Chalakudy is experimenting with colours in her work. “Coloured diamonds are popular among young people and they can have any colour they want in a diamond,” she says.

Though Nileena entered business only a year ago, she has been helping her mother Molly Babu in her diamond manufacturing and retail. Their brand Adona has a dedicated clientele and since Nileena’s entry, the brand is getting an exclusive signature line designed by her.

An engineer with a management degree, Nileena worked for a short while in a multinational company before getting back to designing where her heart was. She did a jewellery-designing course from Mumbai and launched her career as a designer.

When her mother Molly Babu started the business around 15 years ago, diamonds were niche. And those who bought them usually went to Coimbatore. Molly, after doing a course in gemmology from Surat where she learnt all about grading and quality, brought a group of karigars from Mumbai and set up her own manfacturing unit in Chalakudy. An English lecturer at Sacred Hearts College, Chalakudy, Molly took up entrepreneurship with the encouragement of her husband, she says. In the initial years, Molly would hold exhibitions all over Kerala to showcase her jewellery, but as her clientele grew, they demanded she open a store and Adona was opened in Panampilly Nagar, Kochi. The second is opening in Kozhikode, where Nileena’s signature collection will be showcased.

Nileena used to draw as a child and of course, grew up seeing her mother at her workstation. “Though she is not a professionally qualified designer, she has years of experience behind her and I guess I draw my basic design sensibilities from her.” She would help her mom pick out designs and later, Nileena designed her own wedding jewellery set. “One can get creative with stones and it is a lot more fun than just yellow metal,” says Nileena, sporting earrings in uncut rubies with diamonds designed by her.

With the back up she has in Chalakudy, Nileena says she can concentrate more on designing.

Unlike in the past, the concept about diamonds has changed drastically and diamond jewellery has become more affordable, she says. People have started to invest in diamond jewellery now. “Especially for weddings, instead of wearing a lot of gold, brides these days are looking for a statement piece, mostly in diamond and in precious stones, too,” Size has increased and the preference now is for statement pieces, which is a good thing for designers as we get to showcase our talent,” she says. However, light-weight jewellery is all the rage with young working women looking for everyday jewellery.

Customisation is the key now, she adds. “I sit with the client and understand what she wants and her budget and give her design suggestions.” Young women are particular about what they want and it does make the job of a designer easier, Nileena says.

She sketches her designs first and then sits with the karigars to fine tune the settings. There is a resurgence of interest in precious stones as well. Internationally, precious stones are premium and are considered with interest. Here, however, they usually come in medium range and the more popularly used ones are rubies, emerald, blue sapphire and original pearl.

“In Kerala people are much more aware of diamonds compared with the rest of the country, and they look for quality. We get our diamonds from Mumbai and we only pick those that match our standards in colour, clarity, cut and carat,” she says. Nileena would soon launch a line for children, with enamel work. Among her long-term plans is a jewellery designing institute.

The mother-daughter duo says the designer label does not mean the jewellery is unaffordable. There is something to suit everyone’s budget.Read more at:cheap formal dresses australia