Mr Bhagat and his two brothers (who are no longer involved) founded the company in 1991. He was inspired to design during a trip to Rome in which he, he said, fell in love with the creations in the windows of Bulgari’s via Condotti store. As a result, his early designs had a European aesthetics, albeit in yellow gold and colored precious stones, instead of the heavy gold environments and irregularly cut stones of traditional Indian jewelry.
At the start of the brand, Mr Bhagat’s insisted on making unique pieces of his own design a brave one, said Jay, 35. In India’s culture -obsessed culture, jewelers often make pieces that are tailored to the customer’s order. “In India,” said Jay, “everything is made to measure, everything is adjustable.”
It was a few years later, when Mr Bhagat started traveling through India, that he realized that his jewelry was needed to pay tribute to the rich heritage of the country, but also moved his story ahead. “I come from a generation that India wanted to show as a modern India,” he said.
Rahul Kadakia, the international head of the jewelry for Christie, said that the performance of Bhagat was impressive that India was initially not associated with contemporary high jewelry. “He was the first Indian jeweler to be on the cover of Christie’s catalog, and that was 20 years ago,” he said.
“He appreciates his Indian roots and also the value of Art Deco design and architecture,” said Mr Kadakia, and noted that that was what initially distinguished the work of Mr Bhagat and what still makes it distinctive. “He combines the two with so much fluidity. The stones float in their institutions, and the only thing you see is the radiant light of precious stones. ‘
For Mr Bhagat and his sons, their ultimate goal is to increase the beauty of the wearer, instead of overshadowing it.
