Adorn - May - June 2018

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There are some who enthusiastically dedicate their lives to promoting arts & crafts. Chief among them are curators who foster ideas & create an intimate connect between the viewer & the art work. Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos is one such aesthete. After working as a global foreign policy expert for over two decades, including a stint at the New York-based Ford Foundation, she launched Mahnaz Collection, a vintage jewellery gallery & boutique in Manhattan. Her strength lies in identifying unusual & highly collectible pieces dated from mid- to late-20th century. She recently curated an exhibition ‘London Originals: The Jeweler’s Art in Radical Times’, spotlighting 150 masterpieces by British jewellers from the 1960s & ’70s, & modern Native American jewels. Turn to Museum Tour to admire the selection.

Premier jewellery designer Margot McKinney displays an affinity towards gemstones – opals, pearls & pink diamonds – that are native to her country, Australia. Margot’s stunning psychedelic & bold creations resemble Impressionist paintings that are coloured with a multitude of other gemstones as well. This charming entrepreneur & globetrotter speaks about her journey in Creative Charisma.

Significant regional influences, especially from Rajasthan & Gujarat, are evident in the art form of jadau (jadtar). With a visual grammar that is truly Indian, this craft of intricate engraving on gold requires a set of highly skilled artisans to complete a piece. Although rubies & emeralds & other semi-precious gems are used to accent patterns in jadau jewellery, the central stones often are vill&is; or polkis – diamonds that bear fewer facets & have less brilliance or are uncut or sliced. Our Cover Feature showcases some fine, painstakingly crafted pieces in 22-karat gold by CVM, a company founded in the 1850s in Junagadh, Gujarat. While retaining the essence of the ancient craft, the br& has infused contemporary elements to make it aesthetically relevant to the woman of today.