WTC in Gold and Diamonds

Rare souvenir building replicas are rare because only a few were made or just a few survived. This building is more than just rare, it’s both unique and expensive. As a tribute to the citizens of New York City, Indian designer Nayna Mehta created a special World Trade Center building replica as her own way of expressing her grief about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Nayna and her team created the towers using the lost-wax casting technique and made each of the surrounding towers by hand. 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. All together, 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. Mehta, a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, designed and created the miniature building which took 25 weeks, 38 artists, designers and technicians to complete. 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 never forgot
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, its plain to see,
So come join this anthem and sing with me.

God Bless America