Nirav Modi to showcase at India Art Fair

New Delhi: Diamond craftsmen will craft live pieces of jewellery at the sixth edition of the India Art Fair beginning tommorow here.

A collection of 100 custom-made designs inspired by motifs from the Mughal miniature school of art and encrusted with precious gems and priceless diamonds by jewellery brand Nirav Modi is set to be shown at the Fair.

"Most people don't know how jewellery is made. They have seen the finished pieces in showrooms but a lay person has never seen the actual process of creating the diamond pieces," the Mumbai-based jeweller Nirav Modi told PTI in an interview.

At his stall, spread over a space of 1000 square feet, at the Fair venue at the NSIC grounds in Okhla here, two jewellers would be displaying their skills at fashioning high-end jewels.

"This is the first time that the fair will have a jewellery exhibition. This is in sync with international art fairs where they have special exhibits by Cartier and the likes," a spokesperson for India Art Fair said.

Modi said he had been approached by Neha Kirpal, the founder-director, IAF to showcase at the Fair, which will showcase paintings, sculptures, installations and other works of art from across India and the world.

The Mumbai-based jeweller and retailer had shot to fame in 2010 by becoming the first Indian jeweller to be featured on the cover of a Christie's auction catalogue. The auction house had till then only featured international jewellers like Harry Winston, Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels.

A pink and diamond pear shaped 99 carat Golcondo necklace by Modi was sold at Christie's Autumn Jewellery Auction in Hong Kong in November 2010 for approximately Rs 16 crore (USD 3.56 million). Another diamond necklace "Riviere of Perfection" went under the hammer in 2012 at Sotheby's auction house in Hong Kong for Rs 27 crore (USD 5.1 million).

Nirav Modi also collects art and counts among his favourites pieces, works by the Modern Indian Masters. Also, he said, artworks by Amrita Sher-Gill, HS Raza, F N Souza and Gaitonde are among his favourites.

"Another brilliant artist is K K Hebber. Among the contemporaries I like the work of Bharti Kher and Broota," the jeweller said.

"I am fond of art and collect it. Many of my jewels have been inspired by art. Franch painter Monet's water lily painting inspired me to do the lotus jewellery collection. A lot of our earrings, rings, cuffs and other trinkets have been inspired by the Mughal art," Modi said.

The jeweller, who has showrooms in New York, Hong Kong and Belgium among other places said the brand is scheduled to open a store in Delhi in March followed by one in Mumbai later this year.