Indian Jeweller (IJ) Feb - March Issue

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. Jewellery 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 Indian 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