Some time ago, we blogged on Nayna Mehta who is a Mumbai born designer and jewelry store owner.
She had created a gorgeous tribute to the World Trade Center in New York.
This tribute was designed to be a memorial to those who perished on 9.11., as well as her own way of expressing her grief.
Since she was the focus of an in-depth article in this months GIA magazine, I'd like to give her kudos once again and showcase her amazing masterpiece!
The "Twin Towers" are made of 18kt. yellow gold which represents purity. Inside each tower are four solid pillars of 18kt. gold measuring 185 mm in height. The piece's base and surrounding structures, including North & South Plaza buildings, the U.S. Customs office and hotel, are also made of 18kt. yellow gold.
Altogether, the gold weight totals almost 48 ounces.
The windows - all 110 floors on each tower, are made of 0.02 carat, 1.4 mm princess cut diamonds with excellent and uniform color/clarity grades. The shape of the diamonds were also chosen for their uniformity.
In all, there are 14,080 diamonds, totaling 255 carats in weight!!!
Nayna and her team created the towers using the lost-wax casting technique, and made each of the surrounding towers by hand.
As a final touch, she engraved a poem, written with her family, into the base of the piece where the Towers courtyard once was:
Those innocent souls we'll never forget,
United us all in a single breath.
We shed not tears, only our doubts,
Vowed to destroy all vicious clouts.
Stronger we rose, with a will so bold,
As hard as diamonds and as pure as gold.
Victorious we emerged, it's plain to see,
So come join this anthem and sing with me:
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
