From Christie’s to V&A Museum, why everyone is wooing Indian jeweller Viren Bhagat

Viren Bhagat

The quiet, slightly built and dapper Bhagat is often compared to Joel Arthur Rosenthal, a Paris-based American jeweller who founded fine jewellery studio JAR and is referred to as ‘the Faberge of our time’. Jewels by both these gentlemen are found world-class museums and collections of connoisseurs who are more focused on art, heritage, beauty and craftsmanship, rather than just the value.  Bhagat, along with JAR and Cartier are the toast of the contemporary jewellery world and the influential auction houses that power them.

The fact that his jewels rarely come up for auction (unlike JAR and Cartier) suggests why his pieces sell for twice the amount they are estimated at. Auctioneers such as François Curiel, Christie’s chairman for Europe and Asia, and David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division consider Bhagat to be one of this century’s most important jewellers. “His exquisitely crafted pieces place him among the most elite group of noteworthy jewellers of our time,” notes Bennett.

His understated jewellery appeals as much to a society swan in New York as to an heiress in Mumbai; as much to a successful corporate star in London as the old moneyed families of Kolkata. Bhagat’s exquisite pieces marry the architectural beauty of Mughal jewellery with art deco elements of the 20th century, which are marked by geometric patterns. His love for latter could be attributed to the fact that he lived his childhood in Marine Drive, a salt-laden sea breeze-swept stretch lined by a stunning array of art deco buildings in Mumbai.

Bhagat insists his design inspiration encompasses a wide range of influences —Indian aesthetics, cultural symbols, textile motifs and friezes, Mughal art and jewellery and, not to forget, contemporary western influences. That his pieces are considered more art than just jewellery is obvious from the fact that he exhibits regularly with New York vintage and estate jeweller Fred Leighton and Milan jeweller Fulvio Maria Scavia, considered an accomplished Italian jeweller family.

While Bhagat says he loves the Indian aesthetic, he refuses to let the pressure to adhere to a more traditional design language, get to him. In 2014, when the Moscow Kremlin Museum mounted an exhibition of Indian and India-inspired jewellery spanning four centuries, he was the only contemporary Indian jeweller to be featured in the section with European jewellers.  He is known to combine Indian and foreign techniques while cutting and setting his jewels. While the way he cuts the diamond is quintessentially Indian, he uses minimal metal such as gold, as an ode to his interest in western minimalism. India may love gold, but he sets his jewellery in platinum because the metal is so light that the setting of the gemstones can be minimalized to the extent that they seem invisible.

A pair of diamond jali bangles by Bhagat

Bhagat draws his antecedents from an old jewellery family of Lathi, a tiny village on the western coast of India. His brothers Bharat and Rajan, and he are said to be the fourth generation of the family in the business. He learnt his art from his father’s studio floor, he says, “observing, practising, imbibing.” But unlike pedigreed Indian jewellers, he broke rank and refused to believe in parameters that would tie him down.  “I learnt the techniques and finishes, like the different kind of hinges and the setting of stones.” But in terms of design, Bhagat is as individualistic as any artist. Over the years, connoisseurs and jewellers have described the artist’s creations in superlative terms.

Bhagat refuses to hire a publicity relationship manager or market his edgy jewellery; he doesn’t work on commission; he is so elusive that he creates only 60 pieces a year, unlike other jewellers who would probably make a few hundred; and he sells only by appointment.  The waiting list for a Bhagat piece is long, the admirers and aficionados of his jewels impatient.  People who know him will tell you quirky facts about him. Among them, the one I find the quirkiest is this bit of information: he draws the patterns using a sharp pencil, early in the mornings, while sometimes listening to “mind-bending trance music”.

Bhagat is known to scout for the best of best gemstones, travelling the world, looking for that one-off piece which would turn his jewellery into contemporary design and artistic heritage.  Among his favourite gems are 17th-century Colombian emeralds, pigeon’s blood rubies, Basra pearls, Kashmir sapphires and Golconda diamonds. This is why he could take a few months to create just one piece.

Tree of life brooch

Bhagat is known to use only the best precious stones, diamonds, natural pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and spinels. “The simple, clear outlines of his designs recall those of 19th century Rajasthan jewellery drawings,” says Susan Stronge, senior curator of the V&A’s Asia department of his jewellery. “They are in complete and deliberate contrast with the heavy gold gem-encrusted jewellery of traditional India.”

His passion lies in historic gemstones, which he acquires from secret sources. Amin Jaffer, ex-Christie’s international director of Asian Art and the curator and documenter of the Al-Thani collection, says, “Viren Bhagat has breathed new life into Indian jewellery, taking traditional forms and motifs and reproducing them with contemporary flair. His focus has been using old-mine and old-cut stones that have unique properties and mounting them in minimal settings that echo familiar shapes and forms in Indian jewellery.”

Ring in brushed steel

Bhagat lives by his own rules. He is one of the few jewellers whom you cannot convince to copy another piece, however beautiful, old or rare. There can’t be anything more class apart then this one fact in a country where every client wants jewellery made to specification.

Here are some of my favourite Viren Bhagat creations that are already being considered modern icons:

A ‘Tree of Life’ brooch set in platinum is part of the Al-Thani collection. Bhagat has used a rare old-mine Colombian emerald for creating the flower pot. From the brilliant green pot springs branches of diamonds.

A diamond and Burmese ruby tassel brooch combines antique cut diamond petals set around a Golconda diamond atop a pearl and diamond tassel pendant.

A pair of delicately hinged diamond bangles, the inner edge set with a row of brilliant-cut diamonds and a fringe of collet-set pear-shaped diamonds, trimmed with baguette-cut diamonds.

A necklace he exhibited at the Masterpiece Fair in London in 2011 had a beautiful soft Golconda diamond at the centre.

An unusual Pyramid ring in brushed platinum, set with diamonds.