I don’t think men should wear jewellery, period.” says Pavan Anand flatly. It’s ironic. After all, the man does design jewellery for a living. And when you travel the globe with your work, chances are you’re pretty good.
Anand, the man behind jewellery brand Dagmar, catches up with City Express ahead of his latest collection showcase in Chennai. He says that his jewellery is exclusively for women. He explains, “Back in the days when there were kings, jewellery made sense.” Then concludes, “But in the present day, it just isn’t relevant to male attire.”
So why did he choose the profession? As an architect-turned-designer, this was no twist of fate. “I had just finished my course and something told me to try a new medium,” he recalls. “So I did.”
At 24, he put together a small collection of pieces and showed them around at as many high end boutiques as he could. As one would guess, the responses were extremely positive. “I think I’ve always had something for jewellery, even as a child.” The 33-year-old remembers a funny story. He says, “I was eight or nine and my grandfather was sitting on his chair. He would wear small diamond ring.” As the story goes, he asked his grandfather that day — how many carats it was. His grandfather replied, ‘It’s 3/4th of a carat,’ to which a much-smaller Anand shot back, “That’s too small!” As turns out, his grandfather never quite got over the incident. “But before he passed away, he gave my mother the ring to pass on to me,” he reveals. “It’s the only piece of jewellery that I wear today.”
The Mumbai-based designer certainly has come a long way from his carat judgement days. He has designed for the likes of Nicole Kidman, a member of the royal family in Morocco and Anand’s ‘Casablanca Hoop’ earrings were even featured in the Oprah magazine last year.
It seems travel plays a big role to play with his inspired creations. “Absolutely,” Anand agrees. “I’m not a travelling tourist,” he clarifies, “but when I see something I like, the image gets locked in.” There is no time for pencil and paper. The whole process is very free flowing and dynamic. “That’s probably why I can never work on a collection at a time,” he says in retropect.
Apart from travel, he goes on, “I also enjoy animals.” “Especially snakes, which make for some very mystical pieces.”
Will ever architecture ever be back on the cards? Anand responds, “It’s far in the future. I’ve always seen myself designing luxury homes eventually.” He adds with a vote of confidence, “If Armani can diversify, why not?”
His collection Phantom Chic will be on display at Collage on Greams Road on July 27 and 28.