Indian Jeweller (IJ) Feb - March Issue

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Designscape Vishal Kothari – V.A.K Fine Jewels A Born Artist A firm believer of slow luxury, Vishal Kothari creates high, artisanal, handcrafted jewellery with handpicked gemstones. Over the years, he has created his own design language that has appealed to a global audience. Some of his pieces are sold at esteemed auction houses for hefty sums. With all that pride and glory, Vishal continues to do what he does best in his atelier in Mumbai, probably while listening to Pink Floyd writes Vijetha Rangabashyam 102 | february-march 2020 | INDIAN www.indianjeweller.in JEWELLER
A graduate gemologist, Mumbai-based Vishal Kothari spent two decades in his family’s jewellery manufacturing company. Somewhere along the way, Vishal felt the need to break away from his family business and create jewellery that he could resonate with. To realise his vision and artistic hunger, he began his eponymous jewellery brand, V.A.K Fine Jewels. Highly inspired by museums, he weaves beautiful stories around India’s rich heritage and culture through his one-of-a-kind pieces that are handcrafted painstakingly with the choicest of gemstones. He designs not more than 120 pieces a year, some of which garner hefty sums at prestigious auction houses across the world. Vishal however didn’t always wanted to be a jewellery designer. “I wanted to be a sculptor. Or a couturier. Or a musician,” he says. However, crafting jewellery came to him naturally. “I guess I was born with it. But I was never really excited about it. I didn’t want to be in the jewellery “trade” as I saw it, and disliked how jewellery in India was treated as a commodity and a mere business. It’s when I discovered that I could be an artist that things got exciting. I had an urge to become a creator,” he adds. This urge to become a creator is what made him steer clear from manufacturing jewellery for the masses. He wants to create meaningful pieces that stand the test of time and this is evident in all of his works. “When I joined my father I felt a sense of continuity but also a lock down. <strong>Jeweller</strong>y was appreciated for its intrinsic value alone, not its design and aesthetic value. I had my own ideas. And a very strong design aesthetic. So I undid everything – the factory, the office, the design ethos. So in that sense you could say I am a first. A rebel. A newbie,” he opines. For Vishal, music and architecture have been a huge inspiration. Bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and musicians like Dylan and Jim Morrison have really impacted him personally and his work. “They were pioneers, risk-takers, rebels and originals. I have a strong artisanal bent and find art everywhere. Most recently the baroque edifice and interiors of The Royal Opera House in Mumbai have inspired me. I am creating a line of jewellery based on this. I see jewellery as self-expression. Not merely adornment,” he says. His label’s spirit as he explains is India modern meets rock n roll. “A critic in Europe called my pieces maverick. I like that word. I guess my pieces are artisanal and have a strong architectural bent,” he adds. Vishal’s jewellery is a smorgasbord of wearable artworks crafted using a smattering of rose cuts and portrait cuts (which he uses a lot) both of which are ancient <strong>Indian</strong> cuts. He only uses non-treated, rare, gemstones and a lot of coloured gemstones like spinels, emeralds and coloured sapphires. A design first emerges in his mind and it evolves into I didn’t want to be in the jewellery “trade” as I saw it, and disliked how jewellery in India was treated as a commodity and a mere business. It’s when I discovered that I could be an artist that things got exciting. I had an urge to become a creator INDIAN www.indianjeweller.in JEWELLER | february-march 2020 | 103
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Page 130: www.indianjeweller.in
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Indian Jeweller (IJ) Feb - March Issue

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