It is not a new line of questioning, yet when asked through the lens of a jewel it carries a different weight.
Where Old Meets New
The Collectibles rose from a fascination that witnessed how cultures from opposite spectrums meet and, in their convergence, give rise to something profoundly fresh, a language that feels both familiar and new.
Along our journey, we have witnessed craft as a powerful tool in the representation of cultures. Take the beadwork that has been part of life in the courtyards of Kutch and Kathiawar for generations. We have set it next to diamonds, gold and silver forcing us to question where value comes from. Beading and micro pavé is often used as a mere embellishment but here it is the piece’s primary language with a voice of its own, a powerful testament of identity and belonging.
In her fine jewelry, Puja has made use of the very glass beads some would consider to be without value, in order to put the wearer to reassess their perception of preciousness.
SERAI: THE COLLECTION
Along historic trade routes, the serai (a rest stop for travellers) functioned as a point of transition, witnessing this convergence of passing worlds, people and stories. Drawing from this cross pollination of ideas and concepts emerges Serai, a fine jewelry capsule collection.
Mumbai: Jewels Unfolded In a Historic Home
Ferreira House
Feb. 14, 2025
The home of James Ferreira in Khotachiwadi held this curation. With its pastel facades and Portuguese verandahs, the setting is in the heart of South Mumbai but seems to be from another city altogether. As one of India’s foremost designers, Mr. Ferreira has long collaborated heritage craft with couture making it a fitting choice of venue.
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To host in a preserved home mirrors the project’s own perspective that some things should be left as they are despite the city changing around them.
Ishita Parikh curated the event and it was no ordinary showcase. There was a deliberate intention to let the dialogue between the jewelry and space play out. Rather than fixed display lighting, the pieces were put under a hand-held light so each guest could have their moment of discovery.
Archival forms such as the “hasli," the “akota," the “kankari” earrings and the “kasla” necklace are transformed into a new contemporary vocabulary while retaining their cultural memory.
It was an ode to the artisan and a way of seeing heritage as a living canvas for craft.
Chennai: A Question Worth Sitting With
Folly at Amethyst
August 24, 2025
In many ways Chennai was a continuation of what had been started in London. The project’s ideas were formed during the Kutch Collectibles talk with Melanie Grant at the Society of Jewellery Historians symposium. In Chennai we took those ideas out of the lecture hall and put them in a room built for this unhurried conversation where they came to life.
Abhimanyu Alsisar, historian Manu Pillai and Puja Shah made up the panel, moderated by Doyel Joshi and Neil Ghose Balser. They put to one another a question relevant to our times of mass production: what does it mean for something to be a collectible in today’s overly templatized world? It was a conversation that wove through heritage and the notion of an emotional inheritance passed from hand to hand.
A few themes emerged from this discussion of resonance over rarity and preservation as opposed to accumulation. An idea that resonated with everyone was that craftmanship is its own form of resistance; in a world of things meant to be thrown away, it will not be so easily disposed of. Where time is now a luxury, these pieces have that luxury in every hour of their making with their slow, deliberate production.
Hyderabad: A Time Traveler's Keepsakes
Theory of Everything
Nov. 1, 2025
For its Hyderabad debut, the Collectibles were in good hands with Sudha Reddy and Aisshwarya DKS Hegde in a space selected with intent. Theory of Everything is where fashion, art and culture come together which is only right for jewelry rooted in history that does not intend to remain in.
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Titled ‘A Time Traveler’s Keepsakes’, we put on an evening that turned the beading of Gujarat into limited-edition jewels, each with a story of memory to tell.
Drawing from the living traditions of adornment in Rajasthan and Gujarat, where jewelry extends beyond mere ornamentation, the jewels articulate a language of identity, lineage and belonging.
Theory of Everything is where fashion, art and culture come together which is only right for jewelry rooted in history that does not intend to remain in.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Different cities, different people. But the same question was posed time and again in one form or another: what makes something worth keeping?
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One answer from The Collectibles is that if a piece of jewelry is made with enough meaning and care, it becomes an act of remembrance. You hold on to what is important, one city, one story, one bead at a time.
