‘Design and the rarity and high quality of gem stones are all the pieces to me. My love for diamonds stems from the sensation I get when I’m sporting them; one in all timeless magnificence, femininity and energy,’ says Akunna Nwala-Akano, founding father of Akano Diamonds (previously referred to as DEJ), the Lagos-based high-jewellery home, that pulls deeply from her cultural heritage and lifelong perception within the transformative energy of jewels.
Within the area of three years, Akano Diamonds has grown from being an inner-sanctum secret of Nigeria’s jewelry cognoscenti to a rising presence globally, with superstar clientele and a soon-to-open flagship retailer. Akano Diamonds’ just lately launched high-jewellery items got here with the dual mandates of seducing shoppers and presenting the case for the renaissance of the jewelry panorama on the continent. ‘After all, I’ve skilled individuals assuming that top and high-quality jewelry popping out of Africa wouldn’t be as much as commonplace, can be poorly made, wouldn’t be something to reckon with, and it’s all the time a pleasure to shock.’
(Picture credit score: Kadara Enyeasi)
Nwala-Akano’s adolescence was immersed in jewels: ‘My grandmother was a lover of jewelry. It was from her that I learnt about emeralds, rubies, coral and different treasured gem stones and she or he gifted me my first items as is our customized.’ Nwala-Akano hails from an aristocratic household and it has knowledgeable her perspective on sporting, amassing and now, designing. ‘Jewelry isn’t just about adornment. As an Igbo girl, it’s spiritually and culturally important. The studs {that a} child wears, be they gold or diamonds, echo a prayer, that because the baby grows, they may all the time have an ample life. Standing and lineage have lengthy been depicted within the sort of jewelry individuals put on, be it for events or day-after-day. It’s a communication in and of itself. When individuals see you, they know of you earlier than you could have even mentioned something.’
(Picture credit score: Kadara Enyeasi)
Additional informing Nwala-Akano’s artistic course of and the ideation behind every bit are folklore, the agrarian 12 months and nature. ‘I’m a really passionate individual and the issues I are available in contact with, whether or not emotionally or visually, just lately or from lengthy held recollections, encourage me.’ Thus, a uncommon 75ct rubellite is reimagined as an intoxicating elixir vessel, the centrepiece to a diamond and ruby suite referred to as Mkpo, Igbo for ‘Potion’.
A cache of emerald beads, paying homage to the extraordinary inexperienced hues that observe the wet season, is reworked into the suite ‘Mkpulu’, Igbo for ‘seeds’, with diamonds mirroring the luminous dew discovered upon every leaf. An ode to the black velvet tamarind, Nwala-Akano’s favorite fruit, is realised in ‘Anwi’: a tsavorite, orange sapphire and diamond suite. ‘I saved returning to the inexperienced leaves, and the orange flesh. I already knew I’d elevate the piece with diamonds, however after I first noticed these orange sapphires, I felt like popping them in my mouth as a result of they regarded so scrumptious.’ Lastly, ‘Chika’, which implies ‘God Is Nice’ is a turquoise, emerald and diamond love letter to her daughter, and because the gemstone is taken into account sacred in lots of cultures, particularly poignant.
Of her selection of Igbo nomenclature for her items, the jewelry designer explains, ‘my first language is Igbo, so I believe and really feel in it first, and though I’ve travelled the world, I view language as an anchor. And since I like and perceive my tradition deeply, it’s one thing I need to share by means of my jewelry.’ Jewelry has lengthy been a portal to different cultures and nations, however with Nwala-Akano’s work it additionally animates modern discourses on what stays when custom segues with modernity.
(Picture credit score: Kadara Enyeasi)
Like many an autodidact, Nwala-Akano’s design journey was birthed from being unable to seek out exactly what she wished with different jewellers. ‘I began sketching designs throughout the pandemic, it was a wierd time but in addition an ideal time to start creating.’ Whereas her in depth non-public assortment of jewels options most of the hallowed homes of Paris’ Place Vendôme and past, she was eager to articulate and refine her personal design language, revelling in experimentation. ‘I create rather a lot. A chunk can begin from a sequence of loopy sketches, which might be searching for the suitable stones,’ she says, laughing. ‘From there, will probably be a course of of creating, oftentimes dismantling, and determining methods a bit could be reworked and loved in some ways by the wearer.’
Her shoppers are usually ladies, who like her are searching for ‘basic items which have the undertone of the fierce African girl’ an intention mirrored in the home’s daring aesthetic. Of the latest title change, Nwala-Akano displays, ‘I modified the model title from DEJ to Akano Diamonds as a result of a lot of my private story has knowledgeable how I design and create.’ It’s a narrative she is eager to share with the world. And by inserting the most well-liked and enduring gemstone of all on the coronary heart of all she designs, she has made her intention to create ‘a heritage home that lives on for a lot of generations’ as clear as any flawless gem.
akanodiamonds.com
Supply: Wallpaper
