“CHOOSE a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” That is one of the especially famous quotes attributed to Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Adding self-taught jeweller to her list of occupations, Vidya Binda is heeding the advice of Confucius. A costume jewellery aficionado from ever since, she has managed to upgrade her personal jewellery collection, indulge in her passion, and make money doing so since she discovered the fabulous Swarovski crystals while browsing jewellery on the Internet. She proceeded to download books and videos about working with Swarovski crystals, and thus Renaissance Gems was born.
The name is not without significance, as it literally refers to the Renaissance, that cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th century to the 17th Century, having its beginnings in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. Vidya explains that this was a period of innovation and art wherein everything was at its best in terms of writing, art and jewellery.
Vidya considers what she does as art, because, instead of opting to buy the jewellery readymade from the company, she has taken on the challenge of buying individual Swarovski crystals and assembling them herself.
“The only limit is your own creativity,” she says; so, as can be expected, all her pieces are unique. “When you hold these beads and start a project, you don’t know where it’s gonna end up,” she says. Thus, in this way, she has one major advantage over the competition, in that she can make customized pieces for her clients in just about any style imaginable. If your style is cultural jewellery, it poses no problem to Vidya, as she can make special arrangements for people in traditional Indian designs.
Sometimes when she goes into a jewellery store, she sees something that she likes. She would then take a picture of the thing and use it for inspiration.
She is currently tapping into the wedding market, and will be offering items such as tiaras and special wedding sets; but she is presently focused on a collection for Mother’s Day.
Binda believes that the crystals are the closets substitute to the diamond, because of their unparalleled harmonious and lustrous shimmer, achieved by the points meeting because of the way the facets are cut, as well as a unique coating technology developed by Swarovski. As a result, “When people see it, they know you’re wearing something expensive,” she says.
Regarded as the world’s best crystal pearl manufacturer, Swarovski jewellery has, since 1895, been produced by the company’s traditional production plant in Wattens, Austria, where each crystal is subjected to the most stringent quality control testing. So the company’s name has become synonymous with genuine crystals.
Vidya is proud to adorn herself in pieces that she has made herself. During our chat, she was wearing an oval disc earring which was an elegant piece formed by two intersecting ovals having a gold tassel at the end.  Other styles include DeArt, Bicone, Baroque, Wing, and Butterfly. Renaissance stocks all the stones in the birthstone chart, and Vindya had held a booth in the recently concluded Wedding Expo.
Vidya formerly managed a  Barbadian company named Sunny Investments, and was Marketing Manager of the local West Bank Demerara-based Aracari Resort. Aside from being owner of Renaissance Marketing, she is the host of Hollywood 60 Minutes, which airs on NCN at 9:00 hrs on Sundays and 13:00hrs on Thursdays. She is a capable video editor, who researches, compiles, edits and hosts her shows.