Mumbai-based Farah Khan has launched a nature-inspired collection to add a dash of colour to the closets of its admirers. In the designer's trademark style, the exotic handmade necklaces, sautoirs, earrings, cuffs, rings and armlets, which are part of the new Le Jardin Exotique summer jewellery collection, are studded with coloured stones and cabochon-cut gems, creating a garden of beautiful hues.
Read our interview with India's jeweller to the stars, Farah Khan
This latest Farah Khan jewellery collection includes beautiful animal motifs, and birds in the form of peacocks, swans and eagles. The collection also introduces the dragon, with a breathtaking ruby and gold cuff likely to steal many hearts, as is the emerald and diamond parrot armlet. The use of animals is not new to Farah Khan jewellery, "but this time we have experimented with armlets, multi-finger rings and ear jackets," explains the designer.
The multi-finger rings have been crafted for the comfort of the wearer and come in two versions. One design - like the kyanite and rubellite ring - is worn across three fingers, while the other - for example the Colombian emerald ring - is worn on just the ring finger but covers the adjacent two fingers with coloured gemstones, giving the feel of a three-finger ring.
Some of the new pieces team carved gemstones with faceted gemstones and diamonds. Farah Khan is fascinated with carved gemstones, some of which have come directly from her long-standing collection while others she sourced especially for Le Jardin Exotique. "We literally had to work the design around the carvings and, personally, I am very happy with the way it turned out. Each piece looks like a painting."
Read more about the ancient art of gemstone carving