Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

A sparkle of help for the Blue Whale

- By Ruqyyaha Deane

A limited collection of delicate sapphire encrusted whale pendants titled ‘Love for the Blue Whale’ were released on September 5 by Colombo Jewellery Stores in partnershi­p with Dr. Asha De Vos alongside Oceanswell to commemorat­e their joint commitment to making a positive impact on Sri Lanka’s marine conservati­on efforts.

“Basically we launched this partnershi­p in 2018 and we were thinking of ideas and on how to go forward with little projects. I thought that we could do a commemorat­ive pendant that is limited. The idea was to create a pendant that symbolised a lot more than just a whale. I wanted to have a sapphire because that is one of the resources that we are naturally blessed with and I could link up the blue ocean of the sea, so this beautiful pendant when people ask about it, will spread the message of what we are trying to do,” shared CEO of Colombo Jewellery Stores Akram Cassim.

Oceanswell is the brainchild of award-winning Marine biologist, ocean educator and pioneer researcher on blue whales Dr. Asha De Vos. It is Sri Lanka’s first marine conservati­on research and education organisati­on that works to change the current trajectory of the world’s oceans.

“The kind of project works as a donation to us (Oceanswell) which allows us to have the flexibilit­y and freedom to be creative in our work and explore different avenues. It is very rare and quite exciting to have a partner that trusts us and knows that we are going to make a difference to the marine environmen­t,” Dr. Asha said.

Priced at Rs. 5000 each, each blue whale pendant is individual­ly numbered and comes with a personal note from Dr. Asha herself. All sale proceeds would be donated directly to Oceanswell. The pendants are available at the Colombo Jewellery Stores retail outlet in Colombo City Centre until stocks last.

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 ??  ?? Dr. Asha De Vos at the launch. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Dr. Asha De Vos at the launch. Pix by Indika Handuwala

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