Dani is shaking up the age-old craft of jewellery making with her feminine yet futuristic designs. The Delhi-based creative’s covetable baubles range from timelessly elegant designs—a cluster of petals that showcases more than 12,000 diamonds—to more contemporary, abstract shapes made from precious stones like rhodium, sapphire and rose-cut diamonds.
Unlike the story with most jewellery designers, Dani’s family are not goldsmiths. They own a transport business with 500 branches across India. To further her interest in the art form, Dani attended the Gemological Institute of America to learn jewellery design, wax carving, and gemology. “I further earned the Fellowship of the Gemological Association of England. I started making high-end fine jewellery for friends and family, and that evolved into the creative jewellery I am making now,” she says.
Dani finds inspiration in myriad museums all over the world. “The Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York are definitely my favourites. I could spend endless hours admiring the works of Fabergé, René Lalique and Mario Buccellati,” she adds. Her multilayered and hand-sculpted jewels delight in the details of design, and use of materials, and craftsmanship—there’s no repetition ever.
Her novel approach to jewellery has made Dani win several accolades: The Rising Stars Award in 2014 at the JCK show in Las Vegas; she was included in Juliet Weirde la Rochefoucauld’s book Women Jewellery Designers and her ‘Brassica’ earrings are a part of the Sotheby’s ‘In Bloom’ selling exhibition in New York. And, while she realises how her approach is not commercially practical, she makes sure it sits in sync with her long-term vision. “I am contributing to the industry and building a community of collectors who value my creativity and workmanship,” she says.
