Mr. Bhagat and his two brothers (who are no longer involved) established the business in 1991. He had been inspired to design during a trip to Rome in which, he said, he fell in love with the creations in the windows of Bulgari’s Via Condotti store. As a result, his early designs had a European aesthetic, albeit in yellow gold and colored gems, rather than the heavy gold settings and irregularly cut stones of traditional Indian jewelry.
At the brand’s beginning, Mr. Bhagat’s insistence on creating unique pieces of his own design was a brave one, said Jay, 35. In India’s jewelry-obsessed culture, jewelers commonly make pieces that are tailored to the client’s order. “In India,” Jay said, “everything is made to measure, everything is customizable.”
It was a few years later, when Mr. Bhagat started traveling around India, that he realized his jewelry needed to pay homage to the country’s rich heritage but also move its story forward. “I come from a generation that wanted to show India as a modern India,” he said.
Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewelry for Christie’s, said Bhagat’s achievements have been impressive considering that India initially was not associated with contemporary high jewelry. “He was the first Indian jeweler to be on the cover of Christie’s catalog, and that was 20 years ago,” he said.
“He appreciates his Indian roots and also the value of Art Deco design and architecture,” Mr. Kadakia said, noting that was what initially set Mr. Bhagat’s work apart and is what continues to make it distinctive. “He combines the two with such fluidity. The stones are floating in their settings, and all you see is the shining light of precious stones.”
For Mr. Bhagat and his sons, their ultimate aim is to heighten the wearer’s beauty, rather than overshadow it.
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