Jewel in your crown

Therersquos a reason why Sabyasachi Mukherjee is known as the sort of disruptor who can set the tone for what a designer can and cannot doHe repackaged cultural nostalgia as the next big idea and celebrated Indianness to rise to success The list of Sabyasachi xhellip highprofile collaborations include Christian Louboutin Bergdorf Goodman Pottery Barn and HampM He changed the way brides grooms and their families too dressed on their big day with unabashed vitality Instead of primetime slots at fashion weeks he engaged in a direct dialogue with his 56 million Instagram followers to showcase high jewellery and wedding ensembles This deconstructed Jadau titled the Maharani Necklace inspires a sort of bohemianroyal personality wearing a languid assortment of uncut diamonds sapphires tourmalines and pearlsNow the 49yearold has his ambitions set on consolidating his brandrsquos position in Indiarsquos 60 billion jewellery market Launched in 2017 Mukherjee expects the revenue from his jewellery line to reach Rs 150 crore in FY24 ldquoThe idea is to build a threebilliondollar Sabyasachi Calcutta business by 2030 I am very systematic with planning and I have immense patiencerdquo says the designer who sells Indiarsquos first branded mangalsutra approx R152 lakh as part of his fine jewellery line with mang tikas alligator and tiger cuffs and pendantsFor once no one was looking at clothes At an intimate salonstyle high jewellery presentation in New Delhi recently Mukherjee indulged the jewellery equivalent of sensory overload to unpack a story of ldquomodern royaltyrdquo through precious gemstonecentric creations To wit The Minerva necklace featured an assembly of emeralds rubies tourmalines morganites surrounded in 18k gold and VVSVS diamonds He called it ldquoSunday thrifting at Sudder Street Calcuttardquo The Eden Suite is a collection of emeralds tourmalines peridots opals pearls and turquoises highlighted by a 41 carat rubellite set in 18k gold with VVSVS diamondsAn abstract expressionist approach to the 24piece collection foraged through the gamut of colours gem families origins and influences each piece telling a story of bold proportioned design and timeandlabour intensive craftsmanship and had that heylookatme chutzpah that all but screamed modern heirlooms Mukherjee to his advantage understands that highdesign jewellery is at least as much about vanity as it is about artldquoI create businesses by trying to understand where the society is movingrdquo says Mukherjee in a phone interview Specifically he is interested in exploring the schism between high and fashion jewellery ldquoWe are playful with stones the styles are hyperversatile and democratic They are more personality driven and not designed to match your clothes but to find its own point of viewrdquoOur jewellery is disruptive in the sense that we combine the best of craftsmanship aesthetic exuberance and rare gemstones for customers to invest inmdashwith clean money which is exactly the opposite of what has been happening in the jewellery industry Sabyasachi Mukherjee right When labgrown diamonds started to lose their lustre the desire for Polki jewellery exploded with Bollywood weddings Jewellers in Jaipur Bikaner and Hyderabad quickly caught up Social mediarsquos equalising force provided visibility to the gemstones and it didnrsquot matter if most couldnrsquot afford them Period dramas like Jodha Akbar and Padmaavat further fueled aspiration towards coloured stones Pramod Kumar KG cofounder of Eka Cultural Resources and ResearchThe history of gemstone trading and jewellery making in India goes back more than five millennia Golconda diamonds from Hyderabad sapphires from Kashmir and pearls from the Gulf of Mannar were coveted Jewellery embedded with precious stones was not only for the pleasure of adornment and sealed the social status of the wearer but also spoke of myths and legends In the Mahabharata Amrita the immortality potion consisted of water herbal juice liquid gold and dissolved gemstones The 5th century Hindu text the Ratnapariksha chronicles the symbolism of each birthstone to deities planets and days of the week ldquoThe coloured stones are an intrinsic part of the Indian psyche Their talismanic properties also played a role in some form or otherrdquo says Pramod Kumar KG cofounder of Eka Cultural Resources and Research specialising in design archives exhibitions and museums Kumar recalls how two decades ago when the owners of international jewellery houses known for their elegant diamond styles visited India their wives went home purchasing coloured gemstones ldquoWe are a country of colourrdquo he addsSometime in the 1980s and 1990s the demand for large statement gemstones moved out to let the lighter conservative designs take centre stage Solitaires became the sparkling markers of significant celebrations and wealth and selfgifting diamonds served as a symbol of achievement and empowerment for women ldquoIn the past a lot of people didnrsquot buy jewellery as an investment but to store unaccounted wealth boosting the business of labgrown solitaires As it required minimal design and making charges it was an easier option if you wanted to liquidate and get almost all the money back This greed to store wealth obliterated the coloured stones market taking away the role of a paramparik karigar it is their expertise that brings real value to jewelleryrdquo believes Mukherjee ldquoThe secret to truly enjoying my jewellery is to turn it over The back of the jewellery is intricately crafted with Bengal filigree workmdasha craft heritagemdashand studded with diamondsrdquo In an industry where pricing traditionally has been dictated by the cost of precious materials Mukherjee holds the heritage of craftsmanship more valuable ldquoWhat would become more rarefied than the rarest of stones is craftsmanshiprdquo he asserts According to a Bloomberg report in November 2023 LVMH forecasts a deficit of 22000 workers by the end of 2025Therersquos also the changing face of the jewellerybuying customer ldquoIn a selfie the focus is on makeup and jewellery not the clothesrdquo he quips The new confident fashionconscious generationmdashwhich Mukherjee calls a ldquogeneration of startupsrdquomdashis not shackled by the myth of jewellery as the onceinalifetime investment to be stored in a bank locker ldquoI want to create jewellery that fulfills both desire for wearability and investment Jewellery like real estate appreciates no matter how many times you wear or inhabit itrdquo