Andhra Pradesh   

Grand designs with gems

Tarangini Sriraman

Many colleges offer courses on jewellery designing and gemmology

Design finds shape in many areas -- fashion, architecture, website etc. A name that is not frequently associated with it is jewellery design.

Students who are interested in intricate design will find that jewellery design has much to speak for. Jewellery design involves much finesse and innovation where designers face challenges of making models that cannot always be easily executed.

As the designer has to be attentive to details of the stones that he or she wants to use in fashioning a necklace or a ring, gemmology is a science that goes hand in hand with jewellery design.

Exposure to gemmology is necessary for jewellery designers who have to first identify the properties and the colours of stones. Gemmology is the study of the physical and optical properties of gems and the various factors related to gems and jewellery trade, says gemmologist and jewellery dealer, Satish Shah.

Amethysts, opals, tanzanite, tsavarite, garnets and citrine quartz have flooded the market as well as the imagination of a new generation of jewellery buyers.

Courses on offer

The Deccan Institute of Gems and Jewellery where Mr. Satish Shah is the Chairman and CEO offers a diploma in three courses, gemmology, a course on diamonds and another on jewellery design.

While there is no test, students must have passed their Intermediate to be eligible for the course. Another college that offers a similar course is the PG College in Saifabad.

The three courses in the Deccan Institute are spread over ten months, with three and a half months for each course and the fees for each course is Rs. 20,000.

Students can choose to do as many courses as they want to, simultaneously or one after the other. The Institute plans to start a new course on jewellery manufacturing.

While a freelancer starting out in the field may earn only Rs. 4000, designers working with MNCs can earn something like Rs.40, 000.

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