With a parrot for company in his home, Nirav Modi has always been close to nature. Little wonder, that he likes chiselling elephants and flowers on stones. He was recently among the few top notch creators who painted 101 pachyderms for the Elephant Parade India.
As Prince Charles was presented a range of painted elephants at the British High Commissioner’s residence in New Delhi, Nirav gifted his specially-crafted elephant to Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, and interacted with the royal couple.
Nirav, a perennial globetrotter, has created a new spot to showcase his work at The Chanakya mall. He knows how he has to stay relevant to today’s modern women, who could be living in New York, Tokyo, Copenhagen or any of Indian metros. Diamond often figures in his creations — earrings, bracelets, necklaces — as he believes in the adage “diamonds are forever.”
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Talking about his love for elephants, Nirav says, “Elephants are very dear to me. It is a very powerful yet gentle animal, and very regal. If you look at our monogram closely, it is an elephant (it has its trunk and back.) We have been supporting the animal family since last year. For us, it is a long partnership and not just restricted to Elephant Parade. We have painted the elephant with grey colour; it has blue eyes and our jewellery gives it a majestic look.”
An elephant pendant is something he loves talking about. “My satisfaction comes from how a woman reacts to my creation. 99.9 per cent of my jewellery is for women. Our aesthetics is very feminine,” he relates.
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Engineering in art
For Nirav, designing jewellery is about the meeting of art and science. “Art makes a woman visualise how she would look. Science would determine how it would fall on her. We have many engineers working for us. You must be wondering what engineers are doing in a jewellery company. They give us an edge. Even after 30 years, a piece will effortlessly open into multiple pieces like a USB port, and not be worn out. Every jewel is handmade whether it is a red carpet jewel or one of the pieces from our core collections. It is of the same creator, same workshop and same quality. If you see any other brands, one side of jewellery is handmade, rest is machine made.”
Talking about his art, Nirav confides that he cannot draw. “But I pass on inspiration, idea, emotion and thought. From that my team of designers first create the mood board and then make sketches. I guide them at each step. After all, we have been diamond merchants for seven generations.”
Nirav goes down memory lane to share his first brush with designing. “When I was in my late 30s, I created an earring for my friend. That spurred me to start a luxury brand. I wanted to be India’s first luxury brand. Today everything you see in this segment whether it is car, clothes shoes, handbag are all European. There is no Asian luxury brand which has gone global. Generally people have reservation on what the quality would be in an Asian brand. So we are changing mindsets.”
His signature floral designs, which can be seen in multiple pieces like earrings, necklaces, have influences from abroad are inspired by the works of French impressionist painter Claude Monet. “Our Lotus collection is from the botanical works of Monet. I saw his work at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and was so fascinated that we travelled to the place where he worked outside Versailles . We also have jasmine in many pieces because of its aesthetic appeal.”
Interestingly, seeds for Sakura, his floral collection, were sown when he started travelling to Japan during the initial phase of his career. “This led to my creation of Cherry Blossom,” says Nirav, who can read and write Japanese.
Explaining the reason behind deviating from traditional jewellery, Nirav says: “For us, a large part of our sale is out of India. Of 16 stores, only three exist in India. First consideration while making an earring or a pendant is that it has to have a global aesthetic appeal.All our jewels are light, supple and very little metal.” That is also the reason that he signed Priyanka Chopra as the brand ambassador. “She is also an Indian going global. It was natural to endorse her.”