Window Display

No challenge is too big for Mumbai-based jewellery designer Shaheen Abbas. She may have launched her silver jewellery label Flower Child in 2005 and moved on to working with precious jewellery in 2010,but she’s not one to rest on her laurels. The designer-entrepreneur not only completed a Graduate Diamond course from the Gemological Institute of America recently,she has now collaborated with Gehna Jewellers to launch her latest line of diamond jewellery called ‘The Magic of The Mashrabiyas’. Inspired by the lattice-work windows or jharokas she spotted in Saudi Arabia during a visit earlier this year,Abbas brings her interpretation of the intricate sculptural wonders to her range of jewellery. “I was there for a pilgrimage but I couldn’t help admiring the stunning architecture and carvings there and couldn’t resist taking pictures. The idea for the collection germinated there and soon took on a life of its own,” says Abbas,who worked on 140 sketches and finally produced 50 pieces. And while the first collection for Gehna came together very organically — “I’ve known Sunil and Kiran Datwani for 15 years now and we share a great deal of comfort and trust” — Abbas is already raring to start work on her next collection for the jewellery store. “It’s so easy to do a collection when you’re inspired,” says Abbas.