(l-r) Gem Legacy’s Ginger, Rachel and Roger Dery hold tanzanite painting by Reena Ahluwalia.(ROYAL OAK, Mich.) – Roger Dery of Roger Dery Gem Design is celebrating his 40th year in business and 40th visit to the African continent with a charity raffle donating 100% of the proceeds to Gem Legacy, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to kids, education, and entrepreneurship initiatives in East African colored gemstone mining communities. Roger reached out to Reena Ahluwalia to create a Tanzanite painting for the charity of a gem he faceted in his “signature round” design.
The raffle’s single item is a spectacular hand-painted canvas by jewelry designer and artist Reena Ahluwalia, who brought the gem’s facets to life through her vision to express Roger’s philanthropic work in the mining communities. The 24-inch, circular, curved-edge painting is valued at $6,000. Raffle tickets are $40 each and can be purchased by making a direct donation to Gem Legacy. Proceeds will be donated to Gem Legacy’s Miner Toolkit initiative, which is putting tools in the hands of artisanal miners to ensure they are mining safely and effectively. Each toolkit costs $125. Dery’s goal is to sponsor 40 toolkits, (totaling $5,000 in ticket sales). The raffle will begin on October 1st and finish on October 18th.
“My 40 years in the gem business have been my hobby, my job, and my ministry and I am excited to give back to the industry that has given so much to me,” said Dery. “Miners are my heroes – they spend their lives mining the gems I am honored to facet. This is my tribute back to them: to put the right mining tools in their hands to ensure their mining is safe and successful.”
Reena said: “When Roger reached out to me to create a custom painting and shared the impact of Gem Legacy, I immediately got onboard. I always strive to create art that can touch people’s lives positively and make a tangible difference. I am honored that my ‘Gem Legacy’ painting is able to contribute in raising funds.”
The process of creating the painting can be viewed here. 2nd and 3rd prizes of museum-quality, limited edition canvas prints of the painting by Reena are valued at $800 each, and will be available. To enter the raffle and make an impact that matters, please visit https://rogerdery.com/40th/
Recognized as one of the Top Masters of design and art in Canada, Reena Ahluwalia is an award-winning jewelry designer, painter and professor. She is one of a handful of living jewelry artists whose work is featured on a nation’s (Belgium) postage stamp. As a tribute to the British Royal Wedding, Reena created a Diamond Tiara for HRH Kate Middleton. Reena designed a historic diamond piece for the Legislature of Ontario with De Beers Canada. She created the inaugural collection for Rio Tinto Bunder Mine, where diamonds were found 100 years after the fabled Indian Golconda Mines depleted. In 2019, Reena’s co-created watch was awarded the Guinness World Record for Most Diamonds set on a watch.
Coveted internationally by art collectors, Reena paints highly nuanced, hyper-realistic gems with ultra-magnified facets. She is a member of the George Brown College Jewellery Program Advisory Committee and a Fellow of (IwB) Institute without Boundaries. Reena gives back to many communities, including ‘Jewelers For Children’ (JFC) charity, to help children who are victims of catastrophic illness.
