Hollywood actress Rosie Huntington Whitely, calls his jewellery ‘art’. He is one of the few designers to have opened boutiques in all major high-end marketplaces, from Manhattan to Singapore and Hong Kong. His first store was established in 2010 in Defence Colony, and in a short period, he has become the first Indian jeweller to have his work auctioned at the auction houses of Sotheby’s and Christie’s. In 2013, he entered the Forbes list of Indian billionaires, and has been there ever since. For Nirav Modi, owner of the eponymous brand, designing jewellery is like writing poetry. The sparkle is what he craves, and what drove him to design in the first place, he tells Luxe. But his evolution into the design space began quite late. “ I designed a pair of earrings for the first time in my life, in my late 30s. The amount of joy that pair gave her, brought me the courage to go ahead and design for more people. It is glorious to see someone delighted, and to have a small hand in it,” said Modi, during an interview at his new store in Chanakya Hotel, Delhi, the second to have opened in the capital since his first store in Defence Colony.

Intercontinental drift I ask him how does his jewellery manage to translate well across continents. “I don’t design with a particular culture in mind. For me, design goes much deeper than that, and it needs to be above a particular lived experience.”

Besides, he points out, the design is not merely at an aesthetic level, but also to make the piece more accessible to its wearer. “What is the point, of wearing heavy jewellery that makes the person tire of it? Jewellery needs to be like second skin, and here’s where technique comes in.”

The store design, kept the same worldwide, is conceptualised to highlight the jewellery it has been built around. The colour scheme has been picked carefully, to complement the sets, and nothing stands out apart from the displayed pieces. Paper cutwork paisleys are placed next to the jewels as part of the decoration, a throwback to the design process. The rose gold paper flowers cascading from the ceiling at the shop front, he tells me, is inspired from the Sakura festival that he attended in Japan.

A collection at the store features the sakura flower motifs; flowers feature heavily in his designs. “I went to the Sakura festival in Japan,that happens only for 4-5 days when it is summer. I’m enamoured by Japanese culture, their discipline, and the importance of art in their lives. At one point of time, I could write and read in Japanese, and read literature in the language.” Modi was brought up in Antwerp, and is greatly influenced by art, while his immediate family was involved in the diamond trade. Apart from design, he is fond of poetry and travel. Modi counts himself in as an early riser, in office by 9 am, no matter which city he’s in at the moment. “I travel 200 days in a year, so it’s important to me to lead be disciplined.

I manage to read at least two books a week, and I design every day.

Store design Different parts of the store are lit differently. Every store is identical. Panels on the walls are lit by what are called pixie lights, looking like a constellation from behind a cloudy glasspane. These glow at different luminosities, as they are placed at different distances, and are juxtaposed with the diamond sets above them.

The colour palate at every store is set from light grey to dark, from entrance to the recess, with rose gold highlights in different places, a colour that has found a firm presence in Modi’s jewellery.

“I’m very involved with the jewellery designs, and like to review it at every stage, from moulding to setting. The significance of our jewellery is that it has minimal metal on it, to give it structure, so the diamond gets maximum surface area to shine forth. Also, we have patented many cuts, such as the Mughal cut, or the petal cut that ensures a single solitaire can be used, instead of tinier diamonds in floral patterns. ” Modi is obsessed with the sparkle a diamonds have. “It is my favourite stone, and I feel diamond jewellery is flexible enough to work with all kinds of attires and settings, from formal to festive, so it is more suitable for regular wear.” Modi shows us a bracelet, for instance, that has been set in a way, that no metal is visible from anywhere but at the bottom.

For the modern woman Inspiration for his designs isn’t always lofty. “I was once playing with my daughter’s rubber bands, that she leaves on her wrist out of habit. I was stretching it out, and then it struck me, that even bracelets could have that form. The thing with the traditional bracelet is, that it will perforce have a clasp, which means it isn’t perfect: it’s clasp will always have to be hidden from view. But the Embrace bangles, which is interlocked within, they can be stretched just like an elastic band.” Lisa Haydon has represented the brand for some time, and Priyanka Chopra is the latest Indian actress to have joined her as brand ambassador. Modi says, “I feel Haydon’s personality is in sync with the brand. She is contemporary and elegant, and I feel those are two words that can be used for what we create here as well.”

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