India's New Golden Age

The contemporary fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics is creating bold new pieces from historic jewels.

- Jill Newman

JEWELLER KRISHNA CHOUDHARY pulls out a box from his safe and then slowly opens the velvet case to reveal a mesmerising 150-carat sky-blue star sapphire. The stone fits snuggly in the palm of my hand and looking at it is akin to gazing into a pool of water. But, alas, it isn’t for sale.

“Sometimes, it’s in our destiny just to see something beautiful and not own it,” says the soft-spoken Choudhary, whose private jewellery salon is tucked away in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood. According to Hindu beliefs, simply holding a sapphire (which represents the most powerful planet in the galaxy, Saturn) can bring good karma to some, while it can have the reverse effect on those unlucky enough to have the wrong astrological sign.

Imbuing gemstones with energy and healing powers related to the planets and deities, Hindu cosmology has helped define a culture that values jewellery as far more than adornment. “Every stone is a responsibility because they are passed down for generations and represent meaning,” says Choudhary, who is from one of Jaipur’s noble families. For more than a century, as jewellers to the royal families of India, the Choudharys have collected important gems and jewellery. Some of their stones are 200 to 300 years old, and many may never be sold or recut because his father has chosen to preserve them “to keep their stories”, Choudhary says. Only recently did his father allow him to use some of these coveted gems for his first jewellery collection, named Santi, which debuted earlier this year in his freshly minted salon.