7 Jewellery Designers Reveal What's Inside Their Jewellery Box

The beauty of jewels can make one travel even if they're confined between the four walls of their homes. So, seven accessory designers have decided to give us a tour of their personal collection of sparkling jewels and reveal how they like to style themselves. Their unique pieces and eye for fashion will have you daydreaming of earrings, bangles and every stylish accessory one can wish for. Get ready to be inspired by rings that orate India's history or versatile pendants that a ready to be worn an outfit of your choice. It's time to update your wishlist! 

 

 

stacked! 

“I love stacking bangles. The Cartier Love Bracelet (gifted to me by my mom), has become a part of me...I never take it off, partly because I have lost the screwdriver that came with it.”

 

Roma Narsinghani

“My jewellery box comprises stuff that I have picked up during my travels, along with pieces from past collections. I love jewellery that can be worn in multiple ways. For instance, I started wearing my sunglass chain (from the Roma X REHWA collection) as a choker. The Shiv Eye Ring is a permanent feature on my index finger, while the Trikon Ring—another favourite—works with absolutely any outfit. I wear my engagement ring on my thumb, as the wedding band took its place. I feel incomplete without this ring—it has my husband Ishaan’s [Ahluwalia] fingerprint engraved on it, and a message embossed on the inside. I am also obsessed with the eye pattern. I think it started with this piece I bought it from an artist in Crete in Chania (Greece). It is a beautiful upcycled pendant—it was a photo frame, but now has a hand-painted eye on it.”

“This is one of my favourite payals—I bought it from a qaint little shop in Jaipur.”

“I have been layering chains since I was in school, and I still have some of those pieces...every item has a story attached to it.”

 

Eina Ahluwalia

“Over the years, I have collected a lot of pieces (some bought, some my own) that are now very close to my heart. I’ll start with ‘The Greatest’ Pendant by Katharina Schmid—it is an ode to Muhammad Ali, and signifies strength. The Inspite Of Our Ego Pendant from our Battlecry Collection is about an arrogant person who doesn’t realise that he’s dying every minute, with every breath—such a strong message. The Mini Kirpan Necklace is one of my most-frequently worn necklaces—it’s a more wearable version of the original design. I designed the Lost Art Of Kindness Book Pendant in 2013, as a part of the Old Fashioned collection...it has 10 pages of engravings on kindness. I also have a thing for rings, and I own a lot of those. The Victorian ring with rubies and rose-cut diamonds is one vintage piece you can’t go wrong with. I picked up the Selda Okutan Lovers Rings from Istanbul. And along with that, I have a bunch of rings with different gemstones. There is just something about statement rings...”

 

jewels with a meaning
“The Do You Think You Can Tell brooch is about the inter-religious hatred and violence we live with on a day-to-day basis. It signifies that once the bodies are buried or burned, no-one can tell from the splatters of blood left behind, whether he/she was a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh.”

 

Inspite Of Our Ego Pendant by Eina Ahluwalia

Victorian ring with rubies and rose-cut diamonds 

‘The Greatest’ Pendant by Katharina Schmid

 

“This silver and glass vintage pendant from Barcelona holds a strand of my dog’s hair...he passed away in 2002.”

Mini Kirpan Necklace by Eina Ahluwalia

Selda Okutan Lovers Rings from Istanbul

 

shaheen abbas, flowerchild by shaheen abbas
“I have a thing for bold, statement designs. The photograph you see on the right was taken on Eid, and these diamond- and gemstone-encrusted rings are very special to me—one of my first designs from my fine jewellery line. I lean more towards stacking pieces. In general, I love wearing stuff on my hands...bangles, rings, or bracelets. I also find the interplay of edgy versus traditional, in jewellery, interesting...it’s something I like to incorporate in my designs as well. The necklace and the earrings [right] are from the Chand Tara collection—the starburst, with the diamond pendant in the middle of the necklace, makes it very versatile. My personal collection includes a lot of fine jewellery pieces that are unconventional. People usually go with very traditional designs when it comes to fine jewels, but I like pieces that stand out. It has become my signature style, and also the USP of our brand.”

‘fine’ and fabulous

“Another piece from my fine jewellery collection, I love the construction in these earrings (left).”

“Chunky bracelets and rings are my go-to. And I definitely have a thing for the ‘link‘ design.”

 

Shaheen wearing two of the rings from her first fine jewellery collection

 

“I love versatile pieces like this link choker, which can be worn as is, or as a bracelet.”

 

Vidhi and Mamta Gupta

Mamta and Vidhi Gupta, Zariin

“Our personal style, much like our brand’s aesthetic, is a melange of the East and the West. We have a thing for uncut, rough gemstones in their most natural state, something we used in our first collection as well. Pearls are a classic, and we combined them with our uncut stone designs to create the Pearl Kissed series, a universal favourite from our brand. We took the pearl thought a step forward with the Sea Princess collection, using shells and pearls to create fun jewels that we absolutely love wearing with everything.  While we create designs for the modern woman, we can’t get over how beautiful jadau jewellery looks—a traditional style we absolutely love.”

 

heirloom piece
“This necklace, from our mom’s trousseau, is as relevant now as it was in the ‘70s. With meenakari on gold, the lustrous gold balls with pops of colour remind us of the song Shiny Disco Balls.”

 

(Top and right) Zariin jewellery featuring uncut gemstones

 

Suhani Parekh, Misho

“Jewellery is incredibly personal—it tells a story, and for centuries, it has been worn as an identifier of origin or of belonging. The more jewellery I design, the more I fall in love with it. I wear my zodiac medallions and birthstones on repeat—I feel like star signs mark a moment in time, and make you feel like you are part of something much bigger. My personal collection is mostly made up of the pieces I have designed. From undulating planes of textures to classic curves with a twist, they are like modern heirlooms. But if I had to pick my favourite (est!) piece of jewellery, it’ll have to be a pair of hoops—they’re so grounded in tradition, yet so modern.”

layer up
“As you can tell, I love stacking jewels, and have an affinity for gold. Here, I am wearing the interlink choker with my zodiac medallion, paired with pebble rings.”

 

Some of Suhani’s favourite pieces

 

nitya arora, valliyan by nitya arora
“I always gravitate towards pieces that are unique and one of a kind...or have some history and meaning to them. The diamante earrings [bottom left] are from one of my first collections in 2007/2008, even before I launched Valliyan. I love how effortless yet ‘disco’ they are. The Silver Star Of David earrings are vintage. I bought them from Israel (either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem)—it was very a spiritually-charged trip, so these earrings are very special. The Organic Cane necklace is one of my proudest design moments. It is from a sustainable line of jewellery and completely organic. The tiered necklace [above] is a constant in my beach holiday wardrobe. It is from a collection I created exclusively for Bombay Electric, in 2008.”

 

heirloom piece
“The blue button clip-ons (second from top) are my grandmother’s and are probably over 50 years old.”

Organic Cane Necklace by Valliyan by Nitya Arora

 

Silver Star Of David Earrings

 

Gauri Tandon

 

Radhika Tandon

 

GAURI AND RADHIKA TANDON, Isharya

“I love jewels that have sentimental value. My mother has a turquoise set she received when she got married, and, as a little girl, I remember trying it on and admiring it. The stone always reminds me of my mother’s jewellery, which is why I love using natural stones and Indian-inspired techniques in our collections. Some of my most-cherished pieces come packed with gemstones,” Gauri tells Cosmo.  “I was asked to wear a stone, set in a ring, for luck. I wore it for years, and the night I had my first date with my husband, I mysteriously lost the ring! I always felt it had served its purpose and brought me luck to meet him.  That’s why I have an affinity for cocktail rings. My collection is extensive, and I almost never leave home without a ring. Statement rings are my prized possessions and I don’t feel they need to be saved for evenings,” says Radhika.

 

down memory lane 

“Each collection represents a special time in our journey as a brand. Going through my jewellery box really brings back so many memories of each of those victories,” says Gauri.

Broderless Ring by Isharya

 

Some pieces from Isharya’s festive collection

A few pieces from Isharya’s Empress Warrior collection