Sunita Shekhawat tells me she's the coolest mom her daughter could have asked for—she might be a traditionalist in her aesthetic, but her approach to life is not behind times. The jewellery designer of her eponymous label has carved a space for herself in India's luxury bridal market with her distinct line of meenakari jewellery.
When Shekhawat started with her line, her thought was to offer her customer more than the next jewellery designer. “It comes from my middle-class upbringing. My father was in the Air Force and we always looked at the value of a purchase before it was bought,” she says. Meenakari, by way of design creates reversible jewellery. One of the biggest reasons behind the success of her label is that all of her neckpieces can be worn both ways because of the enameling at the back which is a work of art in itself. If you see the campaigns by the brand, it's evident that the jewellery can be worn outside of the festive context. “When we offer custom solutions to the bridal party, we take everything into account—the length of the customer's neck, the size of the ears, the shape of their face and then help them decide whether they should opt for a big earrings or layered necklaces and so on,” she says. The lotus is a constant leitmotif in her designs. “We pick polki that's shaped like teardrops, to get the shape of the petals right. Detail to the smallest of things is what creates a designer piece. The extra is what takes it from ordinary to extraordinary,” she explains. Watch what goes into the making of the jewellery.
