Paul Godbold explores the story behind the one-of-a-kind pieces from Metallier Jewellery

I am always on the lookout for new luxury brands and for this feature we turn to the pink city of Jaipur in India where we find unique one-of-a-kind pieces from Metallier Jewellery

For those that may not be aware, Jaipur is the capital of Rajastahn, a state located in Northern India. It is an area renowned for its arts and crafts with a huge number of skilled artisans plying their trade and creating such delights as stone carvings, sculptures, leather wear, painting and of course, jewellery. It is here among this long-standing artistic community that Metallier Jewellery create their unique pieces. We’ve watched from afar at how the brand and workmanship has developed and feel that they are now well placed to bring their products to a much wider audience.

The story of Metallier
It was after India gained its independence in 1947, the people realised that they would need to explore new ways to earn a living. Fifty-five years ago, one of those people – a gentleman by the name of Kesari Chand Nawalkha became passionate about jewellery and gemstones. Emeralds were his personal favourite, but at that time refining the raw stones into beautiful cut gems was not easy. Undeterred and passionate about his craft, he started to gather, sort and refine them solely on the back of his passion.

As his skills developed, he was able to analyse the colour and depth of each gem. This resulted in him producing many classic pieces including some in an Imperial Princess Cut, Ovals and Hearts. With a team of five people, he initially looked towards existing trade routes but through good-fortune had the opportunity to meet with the Jaipur Royal Family where he was able to show them his finest creations.

This is where his journey really began, he soon became a member of the Jewellery Association and became the Secretary of the Jeweller Association of Jaipur. The company expanded rapidly growing from just five employees to fifty under the name of Pukhraj Gems Export Pvt Ltd. His son Sushil, a keen traveller started to discover new varieties of precious and semi-precious gems to add to the Emeralds. This prompted the company to expand their range to include Swiss blue topaz, aquamarines, rubies, tourmalines, opals and many others. The father and son combination helped the company to flourish with good trade locally and abroad. But for the brand to reach the fathers ultimate goal, it would require the added assistance of another son – Apoorv.

As a child Apoorv was fascinated by the company and had a passion for art and intricate carving, regularly sitting by the side of the company’s artisans and studying their craft. At the age of twenty, he too discovered the urge to travel and explore, heading off to places such as the US, UK and Italy and returning with an idea of creating the finest hand crafted sterling silver pieces. This was the birth of Metallier.

Apoorv’s exuberance and ideas pushed the company to new heights and it now had a staff of 251 harmoniously working together day and night to create the one-of-a-kind pieces the brand is known for. A little later, Apoorv met Samridhi (his wife), a woman who shared his same passion for jewellery design.

Coming from a family of jewellers Samridhi had already become a name in the industry having been awarded a gold medal under the evening wear category at an all India jewellery competition organised by the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery. With the support of her husband and his family, Samridhi became Creative Director of Metallier Jewellery, assisting in the design of the brands most elaborate pieces while taking inspiration from the basic elements of nature and human emotion.

Creating Metallier Jewellery
Aside from clever marketing and pricing, one of the key aspects to the success of any jewellery brand lies in the quality of the pieces. Metallier Jewellery has a tried and tested process that ensures that the jewellery meets the exacting standards of Apoorv and his wife. After all the design aspects have been approved and finalised, the jewellery starts its hand-made journey. The materials are melted into the required slabs or wires to meet the original design. Quality checkers ensure that the model is exactly what is in the original design and if it passes quality checks heads to the pre-polishing department. After this is done the design goes back to the quality check department for approval and is then off to the setting division where the gem-setters begin their work. A further quality check is done before undergoing a final polish to achieve the full lustre of the piece. In between all the extensive quality checks, the pieces are plated and given an anti-tarnish coating and nickel plating which ensures that there are no chances of an allergic reaction. Aside from their one-of-a-kind pieces, Metallier jewellery has also started producing a new line of Costume jewellery made up from a combination of brass, crystals, glass beads, and motifs as everyday fashion wear.

It’s always nice for Luxurious Magazine to feature a success story, particularly one that it is family-owned. The brand seems to be going from strength to strength with exhibitions in the US, Europe and the Far-East along with working in conjunction with designers who are featured in renowned stores such as Harrods. The current collection from Metallier Jewellery extends to more than 2500 designs with 146 types of a gemstone. Their success has also enabled them to give back to the community supporting animal welfare and education charities. The Metallier jewellery story is a nice one, born out of family tradition, growing into a Jaipur based jewellery powerhouse and then giving back to the community that enabled them to achieve this. I wish them the very best in their future endeavours and look forward to following their foray into the global marketplace.

See more from Metallier Jewellery below