Gold is not always yellow. It can be purple or green or even a dainty pink. At jewellery designer Kajal Nair’s workshop, in Mumbai, gold transforms into a myriad hues. The metal has always cast a special spell on her, Kajal says, and her brand Nv-Ya has played with the immense possibilities of gold, contemporising it to suit the sensibilities of the modern woman.
In Kochi recently, Kajal picks a earring from her collection and holds it out--a charcoal grey piece, shaped like a tear drop, with tiny gold vines and white sapphires and spots of Minakari enamel. Cherry blossom flowers form pretty patterns on it. The Japanese-inspired piece is one of Kajal’s favourites, she says. Her repertoire, which includes earrings, neck pieces, bracelets, anklets and rings, goes beyond the usual.
Jewellery today is all about being bespoke, it is more a reflection of the customer’s personality, she observes. While the younger women prefer chandelier earrings, preferably non traditional, Kajal says there is still a vast section of gold-wearers who veers towards the classical. “I do a mix of tradition and contemporary.” As an example, she produces a Navaratna set--a slim necklace and hoops studded with navaratna. “This piece straddles both worlds--the classic and the contemporary,” she says.
A marketing professional, Kajal had a full-time job until 2012 and she was juggling jewellery designing and her job. As she found herself getting drawn closer to designing, she quit her job and took up jewellery full time. She also undertook a course from a gemmology institute from the U.S. Before Kajal formally launched her brand, she had conducted an exhibition in the U.S. and was met with a very encouraging response. “It was in 2010 in California. I had just put together some of my designs and the people loved it. It was a great motivation for me,” she says. Today Kajal’s client base spreads across continents.
Experimenting with textures is what sets her work apart. Also, she loves working with the lesser-known gems. “For instance, something like the kunzite is so beautiful and when blended with gold, it lends itself to great inspiration for a designer. It is pale pink in colour and could deepen to a pretty lilac. The cost of the stone depends on the depth of the colour.” Kajal works with peridot, Iolite, rubies, emeralds and sapphires in different colours, including white, red and pink. One of her favourite gems is the white sapphire, which is not very commonly used, she says.
The all-time favourite, however, is still diamond jewellery. “ In the last five years diamond jewellery was like a tsunami. It just swept everyone away. The younger generation is very much into it,” says Kajal, who works extensively with diamonds, more with polki (uncut diamonds), which are in vogue now. While she sources most of her precious stones from Mumbai itself, some of it comes from Jaipur, which is a major centre for cutting and polishing.
Kajal has a set of goldsmiths at her workshop in Zaveri Bazaar translating her designs into jewellery. While most of the designs are hand-drawn, she makes use of computer-aided design as well. Inspiration mainly comes from European and Islamic art and architecture. I use a lot of Arabesque motifs and pair it with gold,” she says. But inspiration could also be from anything that catches the eye while on her travels, unusual colours, vintage fabric, even something that pops up in a dream.
Kajal Nair will have an exhibition at The Center Hotel in the city on Dec 3. It will showcase her wedding collection of diamond jewellery and a range of light-weight jewellery.
