Ever thought you could wear a pair of peacock feathers for earrings or let a kolam dangle as a pendant in your necklace? The collection of hand crafted gold and diamond jewellery put up by Gehna, a Chennai-based jewellery brand at the UrbanSpice Gallery, K.K.Nagar, is as exotic. Every single piece is an avant-garde creation that has been handcrafted with much love, care and finesse. Showcasing in Madurai for the first time, Sunith Samdaria, the Founder-CEO of the 26 years old brand, says, “The USP of Gehna is that we specialise in precious jewellery. We design to suit the personality of the wearer and the occasion. We excel in offering customised jewellery where we design bridal sets and heavy jewellery, apart from which there are also everyday wear or delicate and elegant pieces that a woman may wear to work.”
For the Madurai show, Sunith has brought in an eclectic mix of heavy jewellery and subtle designs from earrings, rings and pendants to necklaces and chains that can go with both ethnic and modern outfits. “I hope to make some good business out of Madurai’s fascination for jewellery. Though, our price range starts from Rs.8000 or 10,000 and goes up to Rs.15,00,000, I have brought collections under Rs.4,00,000 as it is our maiden show in town. I have designed bridal sets costing over Rs.20,00,000,” says Sunith, who enjoys a select customer base. “Our store at Chennai doesn’t get regular walk-ins but we have a closed group of high profile clients in cities like Hyderabad and Coimbatore who want exclusive and personal attention/products. We also get patronage from celebrity customers. Singer Chinmayi is a long-time client and we designed her entire bridal jewellery.”
Gehna’s jewellery is inspired from nature and the love for luxury, says Sunith. “For quite sometime, I wanted to come up with something inspired by peacocks and that’s how the idea of putting up real peacock feathers in precious jewellery struck me.” Showing the set of pendant and earrings, he says, “The body of the peacock is Australian opal stone set in gold while the feather is a real one that dangles beneath.” “The credit goes to our expert craftsmen from West Bengal. I have a workshop where we handcraft jewellery. The designs are done by me and I have a couple of NIFT graduates to assist me. From the paper sketch to the finished product, everything we make is hand done.”
The expo-cum-sale is on at UrbanSpice Gallery, 472/473, K.K.Nagar, till 8 p.m. today. For more details, call 9443065950
