Springing forth in million dollar style, Nirav Modi comes from a lineage of old world cutters, starting at the young age of 19. Displaying a fine crafty eye for detail, his designs have dressed many a beautiful woman with an elegant sparkle. But his own inspiration comes from an elegant source – his mother.
“My mother is an interior designer and I grew up in Europe where she would take us to art museums in Rome, Paris and Vienna whenever possible. I cultivated a penchant for aesthetics and design; it has been such an integral part of what I experienced while growing up,” says Modi.
While visiting these intuitively artistic homes to some of the world’s greatest creativity, jewellery making already ran in the family.
“My grandfather was a diamantaire and my father is still an active diamantaire in Antwerp. I had absorbed a lot of diamond knowledge from them but the world of jewellery was somewhat foreign to me.”
The transition from uncut diamonds to fine jewellery happened quite unexpectedly though, when a friend asked him to design a piece. “Many years ago, a friend asked me to craft a pair of earrings for herself and a latent passion was ignited,” he shares.
So what makes Nirav Modi a brand that stands out? He explains it’s quite a simple matter of numbers.
“Traditional jewellers design a piece, then buy the diamonds and give it to local contractors for making it. From this traditional method, we have transcended to sourcing the rough stone and polishing it in our own factories in Russia. Thereby our diamond costs 15-20 per cent lower than traditional jewellers due to removing middle men. We then take the highest quality diamonds from our production and use them for creating a Nirav Modi jewel in our own workshop, ensuring exquisite craftsmanship.” Having worked on wide variety of jewellery lines, Nirav is now going simpler for his next project. “I am working on some beautiful solitaire rings which can be worn daily as well on special occasions,” he reveals.
Light for the wearer
He is glad his collection is not viewed in the ethnic segment, he wants his creations to be worn across time and space. “Our clients are a part of the international cognoscenti and have a taste for the finest. When working on jewels, I think about the woman and her comfort. This is the reason that all the jewellery has been specially crafted so that it has minimal metal, making it light for the wearer,” says Modi.
Tingle of excitement
For Modi, it isn’t just coming up with the designs, the inherent pleasure in supervising his pieces from start to finish is what really keeps him going. “I like overseeing the whole process, from sourcing and polishing the diamonds in Russia to designing and crafting the final jewel; it allows me to meticulously control quality and ensure that there is no compromise in any jewel,” says the diamond merchant.
Describing his looks and aesthetic, Modi says, “I would only use one word to describe the aesthetic: timeless. My dream is to wake up 100 years from now and see my clients’ grandchildren wearing Nirav Modi jewels. So everything that I craft is made to be a timeless heirloom.”
The Golconda Lotus necklace
The jewellery world was in for quite a surprise when Nirav Modi’s now famed Lotus necklace went for a whopping $3 million. But Modi himself couldn’t have been more surprised. “Somehow Christie’s had heard that we had this legendary Golconda diamond and asked me what we were planning with it. They saw the sketches and semi-finished necklace and immediately asked if they could have it for the cover of the next fine jewellery auction. They had not even seen the final piece,” he says. But the piece wasn’t precious just for the diamond.
“Apart from the 12 carat Golconda, the necklace also has one of the highest collection of Argyle pink diamonds ever found in a single jewellery piece and our patented Ainra Cut diamond links which replace the metal links traditionally found in jewellery,” says Modi, whose his inspiration comes “from almost everything around”.
Upcoming Hyderabad show
When Modi says everything around, he literally means it. “Inspiration for my collections comes from a variety of sources; from mythology and nature to art and children’s toys. The Scheherezade Collection has been inspired by Queen Scheherezade who told the tales of 1001 Arabian Nights, the Fluire Collection has a floral theme while a diamond cuff is an interpretation of a painting by the tribal artist Jangarh Singh Shyam,” says Modi.
Talking about the upcoming exhibition, he says, “It is almost impossible for me to choose one piece. I spend months on every single piece from sourcing the finest diamonds to perfecting the design. The Diamond Embrace Bangles are unique in that they were inspired from my daughters’ toy bangles. They came home one day with elastic bangles that stretched to embrace any wrist size. So I decided to create the same thing in gold and diamonds. Each Diamond Embrace Bangle has more than 700 moving parts which expand. We have them in yellow, white and rose gold.”
The Nirav Modi exhibition will be on display at the Taj Krishna on May 11, 12 and 13.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Swathi Sharma – Hyderabad / May 10th, 2013