Profile

Her forté lies in creating in-your-face conversation pieces studded with diamonds and a rainbow of precious and semi-precious stones. The roll-call of Varuna D. Jani’s clients is as sparkling as the jewellery she designs and includes a generous sprinkling of Bollywood stars and socialites.

Jewellery designing is in her DNA as she belongs to Mumbai’s well-known jewellery house of Popley. So she stepped into the business with no fancy degrees in jewellery designing but learnt the ropes from her father, Ramchand Popley.

“As a child, I loved stringing colourful beads to make interesting necklaces,” she recalls. Varuna got married at 18 and relocated to Dubai with her husband in 1991. But in 2005 her father’s ill-health compelled her to return to her roots and to take over the reins of the family business. Today, she divides her time between the business in Mumbai and Dubai where she spends time with her husband and three daughters.

On her return to India in 2005, the first thing on her agenda was to try and strengthen the Popley brand as it had made a name for itself in the arena of gold jewellery.

She launched a signature collection of exclusive diamond jewellery and changed the brand name from Popley Gold Plaza to Popley Eternal.

“But the desire to do something entirely my own was strong and so I decided to establish my own label,” she says. This translated into her first flagship store in Mumbai’s posh Bandra suburb called Varuna D Jani. On the store-shelves are two exclusive lines — the luxury line starting at Rs 1 lakh and the couture line priced upwards of Rs 15 lakh. She justifies the costs saying that 90 per cent of her jewellery is handcrafted, while a tiny 10 per cent is machine-made.

TRENDS

Big statement pieces are in and Jani’s line has plenty to offer like chunky cocktail rings, brooches, pendants and heavy chokers. “The idea is to be noticed and look glamorous at the same time,” she adds.

Since modern jewellery is just as popular as traditional designs, she offers her clients both. Her luxury line is all about contemporary jewellery while the couture line is brimming with heirloom pieces that target brides. So the luxury collection goes heavy on semi-precious stones like tourmalines and amethyst, while the couture line liberally uses precious stones like emeralds, rubies, black pearls along with diamonds.

What makes her jewellery a little more special is that most pieces are flexible and very comfortable to wear. “All my pieces are lightweight and can be twisted and turned for comfort. This is made possible because of joints at the back of the pieces,” she says.

Diamond jewellery has also become very popular and today flat-cut and rose-cut diamonds (some of the best cuts that bring out the diamond’s sparkle) are a huge hit with customers. In India coloured diamonds (like yellow and green) don’t do well and so she uses them sparingly.

Since multi-functional jewellery is the call of the hour, Jani’s pieces also do double duty. So a bracelet can also be worn as a pendant and a choker can morph into a bracelet.

products

Jani’s luxury line starts from Rs 1 lakh and includes chunky diamond rings, big bracelets, long chandelier earrings and chokers. She uses flat-cut diamonds and sets them in white gold. The designs are contemporary and some pendants and rings boast of a 3D effect. For the 3D effect, she first designs on a computer after which wax modules of the designs are created to help the karigars.

The couture line consists of neckpieces, brooches and earrings in precious stones. “Designs are not repeated and are limited edition pieces,” she says. The showstoppers in the couture line include a Zambian emerald and diamond neckpiece as well as a two-string ruby and diamond necklace.

Her ‘Marvel of Nature’ line — inspired by flowers and animals — also offers limited edition, collectors’ items. Take your pick of a lion- and tiger-headed diamond bracelet, a ram-head ring and floral pendants. These are all made from multi-coloured sapphires and diamonds.

For those with slimmer wallets, Jani also designs fashion accessories like evening clutches and batuas, key chains and USB-devices-cum-pendants, studded with Swarovski crystals. These are priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 30,000.

Pix: Gajanan Dudhalkar