Bold and Beautiful

Fashion weeks are the best places to make a statement. During the course of the India International Jewellery Week (IIJW) 2012, which concluded in Mumbai recently, many trends came walking down the ramp. It's become de rigueur to have celebrities, Bollywood actors mostly, walk for jewellery brands and designers — this year's edition was no different. But noticeably this time around, men (celebrities again) wearing large statement neckpieces, brooches and even kalgis were the showstoppers. Abhay Deol looked dapper in a stately black Jodhpuri jacket when he closed the show for jewellery brand Amrapali. He sported a giant paisley maharaja brooch-cum-armlet with a large, carved emerald and three emerald chains from the brand's new "Panna" collection. Designer Preeti Jain chose actor Ayushmann Khurrana for her show, where he wore a dazzling maharaja brooch with pearl chains. Model and actor Sahil Shroff presented Ganjam's royal "Nizam" collection wearing a kalgi and multi-coloured strings and pearl necklace. The common denominator in the collections was traditional occasion wear for men. But is that all there is to men and their choices in jewellery?

The answer is a yes and no.

Well-known jewellery designer Hanut Singh, who designs for both the genders, explains it better. "There is indeed a strong market for traditional Indian jewellery for men, like sherwani or bandgala buttons and sarpechs for turban ornamentation during weddings. One sees a lot of grooms wearing pearl strings or emerald beads when they get married. That's the traditional part," says Singh. As far as everyday wear goes, the designer admits they always wear some form of jewellery — be it cufflinks, chains, ID bracelets or rings. "Jewellery is very much part of the male sartorial lexicon," adds Singh, who likes to "play around" with modern interpretations of sherwani buttons, claw-like jewellery, rings

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