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The power of pink

If you like your trinkets pink, flowery and feminine, Ganjam's Le Jardin is for you

PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.

FEMININE IS IN Ganjam's Le Jardin collection harks back to nature for inspiration and designer Valli adds a chic touch to it

Pink is very in. So is everything flowery, feminine, and fairytale-like. Catch Preity Zinta also telling the world in an ad: "Pink se panga nahi leneka" and add Saif Ali Khan in pink tees. And you get an equation that spells a return to a world filled with all things pretty and bathed in beauty and a certain delicateness. And all this cannot be more pronounced than in the alluring world of jewellery.

Ganjam has launched its Le Jardin collection of jewellery inspired by nature and its forms and shapes. A gently cascading neckpiece in delicate pink sapphires and diamonds in a heady mix of pink and yellow gold sets the mood for the collection. The creeper-like links are very delicate and flexible I can imagine them sinuously cleaving to the contours of a graceful neck.

Feminine, fairytale

"Right now the trend is going back to a feminine and fairytale look, where everything becomes softer, virginal and romantic," says Aparna Gujral, Ganjam's design co-ordinator. She's garnered much gyan from the BaselWorld fair in Switzerland — the largest luxury watch and jewellery fair in the world — where jewellery designers converge to read a certain trend and get a pulse on what's hot in the international industry. "We bring back these ideas to our design team and even check what is on the covers of magazines like Elle and Bazaar. Even red-carpet events today are about elegance, with lace and soft curls taking centre-stage," says Aparna.

Ganjam's young designer Valli Krishnama has crystallised all these concepts and trends into the Le Jardin collection she has designed. The 27-year-old accredited jewellery professional has come up with a stunning range of flexible and fixed bracelets, Y-neckpieces that are all the rage now, large chunky pendants and chandeliers, smaller single-line pendants and earrings, and finger rings.

Valli is the sixth generation scion of the Ganjam family and the craft and its nuances seem to have settled well on her delicate shoulders. Pink tourmalines have been matched with blush-pink pearls, highlighted by the use of dual shades of gold — pink and yellow. A lot of the designs have a three-dimensional form. For example, flowers in a necklace are not flat - some of the flowers are in a convex form and some concave, the creeper-links are twisted and curved — there's a lot of attention to detail.

Passing the test

Eshwar Ganjam, the patriarch of the family, hasn't yet seen the new jewellery line when I meet Valli. There's palpable excitement in the room as he picks up a neckpiece and scrutinises it at length under his seasoned eyes. There's a respectful silence and the air is thick with anticipation for his opinion. The paterfamilias softens his features into a wide smile and says he likes it. Valli breaks into a relieved grin.

"We hadn't decided that it was going to be a floral line. But right now floral patterns are everywhere — on clothes and shoes. Though jewellery has always taken inspiration from nature, we wanted to give it a new twist," says Valli. She's been through the rigours of putting pencil to paper to work out designs and gone all the way till it's taken form in the hands of skilled Ganjam artisans. "The first stage is always done with pencil and paper. You can't come out with original ideas on the computer... it's so stagnant," says Valli. The range is priced between Rs. 20,000 to Rs five lakh.

You can choose to simply arrest attention at your neck and just wear one large chunky pendant at a cocktail do, or go the whole hog and wear a neckpiece for an evening of celebration. Or ladies, just daintily pick up that glass and flash a hint of pink on your delicate fingers.

BHUMIKA K.

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