As Sustainable as She’s Fashionable
Designer Nitya Arora took on the trending challenge of styling her natural diamond ring in 30 unique ways, and here’s what she has to say about it.
The trending 30-wear challenge revolves around finding creative ways to style the same piece, and blends sustainability with high fashion. I discovered that I was drawn to the idea, and decided to accept the 30-wear challenge to wear one piece of natural diamond jewellery every day for 30 days. As someone who is easily bored and needs a change of jewellery every couple of days, I grew so attached to my diamond ring that now I feel naked without it on.
Elevate the Everyday
While the original challenge involves styling the same piece of clothing in 30 different ways, I decided to interpret it in my own way by replacing it with a diamond ring, as it is uniquely wearable for every occasion. However, I quickly realized that my initial thought of going with a largeish diamond didn’t seem practical with my daily hustle.
Instead, I picked my very modern, 1.5 carat shard-shaped natural diamond ring, set in yellow gold. Whilst I had bought it as a special present for myself, it usually lay carefully tucked away in my jewellery box, under lock and key. But I realized that its clean and sharp shape makes it ideal to wear every day.
And bringing it out and wearing it daily made me feel like I was actively celebrating my independence and success. I felt empowered and that inspired me to work harder.
The Styling Journey
A natural diamond is so much more than a prettily sparkling gem. It lends itself effortlessly to the idea of sustainability because it is truly a timeless classic. Endlessly reinventive and a favourite for every muse, I was determined to find 30 unique ways to style my solitaire. A mindful approach to conscious luxury is the need of the hour, and I enjoyed the creative process of styling my natural diamond ring for a new look every day.
I wore it to solve crosswords by the pool with my swimsuit, and to the office whilst I was working. I wore it proudly to coffee and lunch dates. The glint of the diamond went perfectly with all my moods and outfits, from comfortable cotton prints to my silk lehengas for weddings. I wore it while taking my puppy to the vet and myself to the gym. I travelled with it and wore it while lounging around the house. The whole process of taking my ring out of the locker and introducing it into my routine made it so much more exciting. Not only was it subtly raising the glamour of each of my outings, it was also helping me realize how sustainable and versatile the right piece of jewellery can really be.
Mixing Metals, Maximizing Glam
People often wonder if it’s a fashion faux pas to mix metals, like wearing gold jewellery when you have a silver watch on. The answer is that you can and must certainly mix metals. I styled my natural diamond ring with all gold jewels and stacked it with my glass rings. It made me realize how much we overthink and fret over whether things are “matching” or not. I wear a silver kada everyday on my hand and my diamond ring is set in yellow gold. I prefer the contrast, as it makes the diamond stand out and pop more, and the silver of my kada matches the diamond’s sparkle, too!
Evolving Emotions
An interesting observation I’ve made is about the universal appeal of diamonds. No one is immune to its charms, and everyone has a unique perspective on contemporary and classic looks!
Once, I was taking an early morning flight. I dozed off, and when I woke I caught the couple seated next to me staring at my hands. They promptly started explaining how they were admiring my unusual diamond ring. They loved it so much they asked if they could take a picture of it, and I happily obliged. I even had friends asking me if I was engaged (laughs).
I realized that it wasn’t just about the admiring glances others were giving me, but also how cherished I was allowing myself to feel. Since we are constantly doing things with our hands, like scrolling, typing, drinking, eating and in my case designing, my ring always caught my eye, and I caught myself admiring it often.
Authentic fashion is timeless and open to reinvention. This whole jaunt taught me that a natural diamond ring is one of the most sustainable pieces of luxury you can own, and styling it in 30 ways sparked a creative journey that was as emotional as it was fulfilling. I was excited to put my artistic talents towards wearing my diamonds across a spectrum of events. Repeating the process of adorning my finger every day also strengthened my bond with my jewellery, and I grew so attached to it that I can’t imagine my hands being bare now! In fact, I can’t wait to grow my collection slowly but surely, and finding new diamond heirlooms that will find a place in my heart.
