Jewellery designer Sangeeta Dewan unravels lord Krishna’s journey with diamond, gold, stones and hand painted enamel through her collection. By Ankita Jain
Many gleaming pieces of jewellery line the racks at a boutique store. As they took form, from raw material to finely-finished understated jewellery, these pieces left behind a trail of broken stones - the result of obsessive experimentation. “We tried a lot of new cuts, some worked, some didn’t, and quite a few stones broke in the process. My stone cutters aren’t really fond of me,” smiles jewellery designer Sangeeta Dewan.
A chat with Sangeeta, the woman behind the designing of Krnsa collection under one of the India’s premiere diamond boutique jewellery brand Zoya, is punctuated with giggles and laughter as she talks about her journey so far.
Born in an army family, she spent her childhood traveling all over India. “The more I saw of India’s extraordinary culture, the more fascinated I was with my country’s heritage. I believe my childhood has helped me develop my sense of style, aesthetics and an overall openness to design. I capture inspiration from travel, stories, myths, legends, cultures around the world, art, sculpture etc, which strongly helps me in my design processes and philosophy. My designs tell a story to its patrons; a story of its inspiration; its journey and its creation,” says the designer. Talking further about her latest collection for this festive season, she adds, “The Krnsa collection is inspiring in itself and has a lot of potential for great design ideas to develop. We have drawn inspiration from Indian mythology and popular legends that surround this beloved deity. The picturesque images and elements of the Crown of Krishna - the peacock feather, the matki, the bansuri, flora of Gokul, his divine love for Radha, Govardhan Parvat, Sudarshan Chakra, Krishna’s chariot and the Geeta Updesh; all of which serve as creative inspirations and made us choose Krishna as the heart of our new collection.”
When asked if she always aspired to be a jewellery designer, she muses and says, “I have always been passionate about art and craft, and my interest in precious jewellery took focus at the end of my stint at NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology). I love the technical and intricate detailing about designing which drove me to enter the industry.” Her designs celebrate the most adored incarnation of Vishnu that is Krishna. While her collection ranges from rock chic and funky to traditional and include stuff that can be worn for a party, a boardroom meeting, a wedding or even for Diwali.
Each of her designer pieces has hand-painted enamel strokes which are not only delicate but artistically crafted to showcase the exquisite nature of the collection. “This unique feature is well received by our customers. The craft palette features the technique of painting enamel along with champlevé enamel in its rich Indian avatar and partaj engraving along with glittering polki in 24 carat kundan setting. The elaborate and delicate enamel paintings have been first designed on a tablet with a stylus before giving it to the artist for final painting. Computer aided manufacturing, rapid proto typing, gold casting and modern diamond setting, are some of the other contemporary techniques executed by our master craftsmen. We have focused on the story of Krishna and showcased it in an unique, abstract and contemporary forms,” she smiles. The collection witnesses a gamut of vibrant colours such as turquoise, varied hues of blue and emerald greens, crafted in gorgeous enamel work with exquisite polkis, diamonds and precious stones.
Describing a statement pendant from her collection, she says candidly, “The pendant depicts a beautiful painting of Krishna playing the bansuri. The back of the pendant is intricately engraved and a nano gold element with the entire Bhagwat Geeta is embedded in the center, making it a very distinctive combination of ancient craft and modern technology blended together in a single theme.”
She doesn’t have a favourite piece of jewellery, she says, so I ask about her favourite design moments. “All of them,” she says, looking as if the question was incomprehensible. There must have been a favourite design you admire, I persist. She thinks a little and then says, “The Arachne pendant from my Greece collection. The reason being its versatility, it can be worn with both Indian and western ensembles. The pendant is inspired by the Greek goddess Arachne and is made up of 18 carat gold with special cut turquoise stones. It is an excellent way of making a stunning style statement and can be adorned with formal as well as informal looks.”