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HIDDEN GEMS

HIDDEN GEMS

Ananya Malhotra’s designs not only dazzle the eye, they express her Indian heritage and spiritual healing beliefs.

Designer Ananya Malhotra has a deep-seated belief in the power of jewelry and gemstones to tell stories, to empower and to protect. Her eponymous brand, Ananya, which means “unique” in Hindi, is a modern interpretation of Indian jewelry traditions in which the celebratory, spiritual and sentimental nature of adornment is maintained in pieces that complement a contemporary lifestyle. Beautiful as a statement on its own, and stunning when stacked or layered, Ananya’s jewelry is infused with the designer’s spiritual ideology. The subtle complexities of her designs reflect her extensive knowledge of the materials with which she works.

Born into a family in the fashion industry, Ananya was exposed from a young age to a world rich in creativity. Her family encouraged her to forge her own path, and she discovered her true creative calling while studying jewelry design at Central Saint Martins in London. There she immersed herself in her art, received several awards and accolades, and took on projects and challenges that allowed her to expand her design acumen and expertise. Wanting to further her exploration of jewelry and gemology, she earned a Graduate Gemology degree at the Gemological Institute of America. That experience enhanced her reverence for precious gems and deepened her understanding of how to capture the flow of physical energy with various gemstone combinations.

Ananya’s authentic faith in the power of gemstones, coupled with her spiritual and mystical beliefs, continually fuel her creative process. In 2016, feeling she had a blockage in her root chakra, Ananya created a ruby bracelet with a black onyx bar as an antidote to the situ ation. Soon after she launched her collection, and that bracelet design has remained the brand’s distinguishing aesthetic. Her chakra bracelets are now available in more than 50 combinations of gemstones, each offering its own unique healing powers along with its own distinct beauty. In order to fully capitalize on the power imbued in Ananya’s jewelry, many collectors of her work consult with a spiritual healer before each acquisition, while others consult the comprehensive glossary that the brand provides. While Ananya’s jewelry is rooted in Indian spiritual heritage and values, it also embodies a global sensibility. She divides her time between Chennai, London and Miami, and her approach to design is demonstrative of her fresh, cosmopolitan perspective. To honor the profound tradition of Indian jewelry design, she painstakingly hand-selects each stone she incorporates into her work, and she collaborates with master artisans in Jaipur, India, and Bangkok, Thailand, in creating her pieces. This uncompromising commitment to excellence ensures that Ananya’s impeccable standards of craftsmanship are safeguarded throughout every step of the creative and fabrication process, and that the stories attributed to her pieces will evolve with the lives of their wearers.

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