India's jewellery space has had a monumental year so far. With the Ambani wedding serving us some of the biggest baubles the world has seen, and homegrown brands like Hanut making their way to the Cannes red carpet, the world is taking note of the country's rich jewellery heritage, artisanal savoir-faire, and the obsessive and burning passion with which Indians love their trinkets. From Rihanna sporting thumb-sized emeralds courtesy Manish Malhotra Jewellery, to Meryl Streep descending the Cannes carpet wearing earrings from designer Hanut, Indian jewellery designers are basking in the global limelight right now. Read on to learn more about our selection of seven Indian jewellery designers who are making waves internationally.
Ananya
Ananya Malhotra launched her eponymous brand, Ananya, in 2016, rooted in her passion and appreciation for gemstones, their healing properties and their role in Indian spirituality. Her brand’s purpose, to create ready-to-wear fine jewellery that harnesses the spiritual properties of gemstones and celebrates the meaning behind jewellery, is easily distinguishable throughout her collections but especially her signature Chakra collection. Wearers can customize her iconic clasp, a bar that holds the bracelet together, along with the beads and gemstones to suit their colour and gemstone preference and even address chakra blockages. “I love to work and explore new materials and techniques, I never get bored! Our Chakra collection features an array of precious and semi-precious stones and I like to think that there is a piece which is meaningful to every wearer and unique to them. I appreciate the need for everyday, versatile pieces of jewellery and I feel that the Chakra bracelets offer this whilst also adding a pop of colour,” comments Ananya. While Ananya recently expanded her Chakra collection to include rings, earrings and chokers, her bracelet has become a notable staple amongst fine jewellery wearers and their bracelet stacks.
Hanut
For over a decade, Hanut Singh has been redefining the jewellery landscape with designs that embody his modern sensibility and artistic vision. The jewellery designers’s creations often draw from the jazz age, particularly his signature pendant earrings influenced by Art Deco aesthetics. These pieces feature hand-cut and carved stones, often enhanced with vibrant enamel accents.
His work merges contemporary aesthetics with rich historical influences, creating pieces that carry both beauty and cultural significance. Earrings shaped like traditional daggers and brooches featuring flowers inspired by drawings on old minarets bridges, you will find the modern and ancient, as well as the Indic and European. Hanut intertwines the pietra dura techniques of medieval Mughal and Rajput ateliers with later art deco and art nouveau styles. This year for the designer has been a great one, what with fashion's favourite dame in Hollywood, Meryl Streep sporting his elegant offering for Cannes, starting a new chapter for the jewellery designer.
Harakh
Fourth-generation diamantaire, Harakh Mehta launched the HARAKH brand in 2017. Mehta’s goal was clear from the outset, to make beautiful and joyful jewellery with the highest calibre of diamonds and craftsmanship all while using ethical jewellery design and production. “We use only colourless diamonds (D-F colour) or true fancy colours for the discerning global jewellery collector,” says Mehta. Deeply rooted in his culture, inspired by his ancestral background and driven by spirituality and sustainability, HARAKH’s designs are a treat to the senses whose loyal customers include royal family members, sports figures, celebrities and prominent personalities.
Moksh
Moksh was founded by fourth-generation jeweller, Milan Chokshi, in 2005. Influenced by his Indian heritage, classical art, modern design and architecture, Chokshi strives to create timeless pieces that can be worn by the modern woman while still celebrating his Indian roots and rich family history in the jewellery industry. Paying tribute to his family’s use of pearl beads, Moksh’s signature aesthetic features miniature Japanese keshi pearl beads that are intricately woven into the jewellery, by combining technology with a needle, thread and a magnifying glass. “We combine some of the soon-to-be-forgotten arts and crafts with computer-aided engineering to produce some of the finest, most intricate and detailed jewels. The manufacturing of which employs many hands, many gemstones, many pearls and many hours gives us absolute joy and satisfaction. And we hope that the wearers feel the same when they wear one of our creations,” says Chokshi. Although Moksh’s collections feature show-stopping pieces with the highest quality gemstones, the brand is highly skilled at translating the same level of craftsmanship and
detail to pieces that are of smaller proportions, emphasizing the brand’s focus on wearability and
versatility amongst their pieces.
Sethi Couture
Known for their beautiful, timeless and versatile ring stacking, Sethi Couture was founded in 2009 in San Francisco by sisters, Pratima and Prerna Sethi. With their parents being purveyors of beautiful and rare diamonds, jewellery has been a part of the sisters’ DNA since their early childhood days. Growing up seeing their mother use jewellery to commemorate special milestones, the sisters developed a fascination and appreciation for the power of jewellery in celebrating the past, present and future. Drawing inspiration of subtle sophistication from their California home base, as well as the splendour of their Indian heritage, Pratima and Prerna strive to showcase the natural beauty of coloured diamonds, unexpected rose cut diamonds and unique old mine cuts through their pieces.
VAK
A firm believer in pushing the boundaries of Indian jewellery craftsmanship and design, Vishal Kothari launched his namesake jewellery brand, VAK (Vishal Anil Kothari) in 2015. Although he spent the first two decades of his career working in his family’s wholesale jewellery business, Kothari is a self-taught jewellery designer as he decided to break the mould and fulfil his desire to carry out his strong design aesthetic and artistic passions. He unlearned everything he had learned for two decades. His design ethos is based on his own self-expression and draws inspiration from architecture, nature as well as the brilliance of a gemstone. Widely recognized for his slow luxury and unique and disruptive designs, each piece delights the senses with his use of diamonds and gems of unusual shapes, which appear to float mid-air.
Studio Renn
Studio ‘Renn’, which means ‘rebirth’ in Latin, was founded in 2018 by husband-wife duo Rahul and
Roshni Jhaveri. True to its name, it was born out of the need to self-express and create new concepts and ideas through jewellery. Drawing inspiration from artistic interpretations of abstract objects, thoughts and feelings, it is no surprise Studio Renn’s pieces have been formally recognized for their innovative designs. Using rare and valuable materials and leading with the concept of experimentation and imperfection, Studio Renn’s pieces are a fusion of art, jewellery and imagination.
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