Silver ornaments with quirky motifs, and bold, bohemian jewellery make a statement

Edgy, unorthodox & bohemian, Bhavya Ramesh's silver jewellery label is rooted in Indianness. From lip cuffs to sunglasses, her pieces are bold & modern, with desi motifs & traditional techniques. Other indie labels like Bhavya Ramesh, Quirksmith, Flying Fish & Oonth Studio are also making a statement with their jewellery. Millennials are embracing silver, & designers are creating pieces that speak to & about the wearer. Prices are galloping for gold, but silver jewellery is long-lasting & affordable. Men are also wearing jewellery, & labels are advocating buying less & using more.

The words edgy, unorthodox, and bohemian aptly define the aesthetics of Mumbai-based Bhavya Ramesh’s eponymous silver jewellery label. Rooted in opulent Indianness, her catalogue is unconventional — on it are lip, ear and palm cuffs, ear hangs, joint rings, nail rings and crowns, hair harnesses and clips. And sunglasses too.  

“I want to change how jewellery is perceived. Buying jewellery meant ‘let’s go buy gold!’ I want people to enjoy jewellery for its design and functionality!” says Bhavya. 

She is echoing the design philosophy of a young wave of indie designers, behind labels such as Quirksmith, Flying Fish Accessories and Oonth Studio, who are expressing themselves in highly stylised ways. At their hands, silver jewellery has acquired a bold and modern identity identity.  Desi motifs like paisleys and parrots, leaves and flowers meet kites, safety pins, nibs, bugs, and pinwheels. All made with techniques rooted in traditional Indian jewellery-making. 

“Silver is my canvas,” says Bhavya, who launched her label in 2018, and recently opened a self-designed concept store at Kalaghoda, Mumbai. Her studio is in Jaipur, where visitors can see the karigars working. “Although jewellery is culturally entwined with our lives, its making has always been very ‘underground’. Only the commercial aspect is shown, I want to show how it is done and the craftsmanship that goes into it,” she states.    

Making a statement via jewellery was unintentional, confesses the engineer-turned-jewellery designer. Her label is known for bold pieces, like Bhavya Ramesh nail crowns, slipped over the nails [some even cover the fingers]. Their popularity came as a surprise, “I keep my nails very short, so, I thought, why not make jewellery inspired by it — nail crowns. I didn’t think it would become popular. The true sign of success, in terms of design and product, is the following it gets — how it is liked,” she says.

Take, for instance, Bhavya Ramesh silver sunglasses. “I wanted to show it was doable, wearable and saleable. It got its following!” The glasses also ended up being featured in a movie, worn by Rashmika Mandanna.

Jewellery is a means of self-expression; a statement of self — of the designer and the wearer. Like Bengaluru-based Quirksmith Jewellery’s Akshar collection where the aham brahmasmi ear cuff, vidrohi anklet and nakadapi khandit necklace “convey something for the wearer, like a tattoo.