Time And Tide

A master craftsman on why the quest for the perfect pearl can sometimes take years.

- Chinmayee Manjunath

IN HYDERABAD, FURSAT, OR LEISURE, IS A VIRTUE. Even as the city—once the capital of nizams and still a cradle of fine cuisine, exquisite jewellery, and all things beautiful—has grown into a modern metropolis, its people have held onto the decidedly unmodern philosophy of living in tune to a rhythm that is just a beat slower, and more cadenced. Which makes it even more fitting that Hyderabad is the city known for pearls. Because pearls, explains Krishnadas, can only be handled with fursat.

The legendary jeweller, whose family has been in the business for 145 years, is at the helm of Kishandas & Co., purveyors of fine jewellery, known for their unparalleled work with pearls. When he speaks of them, Krishnadas’s eyes light up. He has been working with them since he was a young boy, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, whose clientele included the nizams, other royalty, and the city’s finest families. “As a child, I played with pearls and started sorting them at a young age,” he says. “That’s how I got interested in them.”

Over centuries, Hyderabad has become synonymous with pearls because, according to Krishnadas, “Pearls came here from Basra, which is a port in Iraq. The warmth and depth of the water there is perfect so the Basra pearls are the best in lustre, sheen, and luminosity. They are completely natural saltwater pearls. The experts in polishing and drilling were in Hyderabad, and the nizams loved pearls.” With time, as the supply of pearls increased, the city’s artisans began crafting them into jewellery.