Jewellery is often a symbol of love, and you can read on for some evocative stories of different kinds of love encapsulated in these priceless gems.
But first, a bit of context. As the idea of natural diamonds as a personal statement spreads — we saw how last week, across demographics but particularly among Indian millennials and Gen Z — there has been a parallel surge in bespoke jewellery and custom design. Here, consumers participate in decisions that range from how a stone will be selected, to how it will be set.
Natural diamonds, because of how rare, timeless and unique they are, tend to be used to tell a story of significance. What do those stories look like?
* My diamond, my journey: This may be a solitaire bought after a first promotion, or after landing a job in a dream city. This is typically everyday wear that holds deep meaning.
* A tie that binds: This may be a gift from a partner, as a token of love and loyalty; or something platonic and deeply meaningful: interlocking rings a sister bought, one piece each for you and her, to say thank you for being there in a very difficult time.
* An heirloom and a memory: This could be a necklace a grandmother leaves you, that you take apart and reset so it can be worn to brunch and also to weddings, on holidays and to the mall; a way to take her with you, everywhere you go.
Ask around, and stories like these emerge, over and over.
Some personal stories spark a trend. Actor Alia Bhatt’s engagement ring, a custom Van Cleef & Arpels, has an 8-carat oval-cut stone set at the centre of a band of eight diamonds (eight being a number of significance to her and her husband, actor Ranbir Kapoor). Inscribed within are the words “Mrs Hipster”, a phrase in which, she has said, each letter stands for something meaningful to the couple.
Across oceans, American model and musician Gabbriette announced her engagement to singer-producer Matty Healy in 2024 with an elongated, cushion-cut black diamond, reflecting her gothic aesthetic.
Back here at home, actor Aditi Rao Hydari opted for a Toi et Moi (You and Me) engagement ring, in 2024, with two diamonds, one round and one pear-shaped, at its centre. The setting represents a union in which each piece retains its character. It’s a trend popularised, interestingly, by Napoleon in the late-1700s, when he proposed with a Toi et Moi to his future wife Josephine.
But there’s more; so much more. Ask about a diamond, and stories tumble out. So: What do your natural diamonds mean to you? Here are some evocative answers.
* Gems like no other: Tanvi Ajinkya, 33, founder of Bombay Wallflower Studios, which makes short films and documentaries, grew up getting jewellery as birthday gifts. Her parents saw it as an investment in her future.
At 18, she received her first diamond: a nose pin. “That felt like a sign that I was a big girl now,” says the Mumbai girl, smiling. Her father had begun to invest in diamonds and together they built up a tiny collection.
Ajinkya’s most treasured gems go a bit further back, though: Diamond earrings given to her grandmother by her grandfather, just after they married. “My grandmother grew up without much, so those earrings meant a lot of different things to her,” Ajinkya says. “She handed them to me directly, towards the end. I like to think she knew how much I would treasure them.”
* A bridge built of love: Harsh Aditya owns a pair of tiny diamond studs that mean more to him than he can explain, he says.
Three years ago, the writer and photographer got both ears pierced. It was an act of rebellion, he admits. His mother, as he had expected, “lost her cool”. “She said: Boys don’t do these womanly things in Bihar,” says the 24-year-old from Patna, laughing.
Over time, she understood what he was trying to do: take a stand on who he was, exploring ways of expressing himself and inviting her to share in his pride. The fights stopped. Then they restarted.
They were now about how ugly his earrings were. They were stainless steel, he admits. “But they looked like silver!” His mother had always loved diamonds, and eventually offered him a pair of her earrings: tiny studs. Subtle, and not steel, she pointed out.
They now fight about whether he should be allowed to borrow more elaborate pairs from her too. “Why can’t you just wear the studs and leave my other earrings out of it,” she says. I’m trying to tell her it doesn’t matter, but we’ll get there, says Aditya.
He left Patna for New York a year after he got his ears pierced. He now lives between the two cities, writing for Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, among others.
He wore the earrings to his graduation at Columbia University, and to his sister’s wedding. They represent a bridge, built purely of love, he says.
* A reminder that love lives on: Madhu Basu runs a grocery store in Durgapur, West Bengal, and thinks of her solitaire earrings as her lucky charm.
Her late husband bought them for her, on their 10th anniversary. He died not long after, of a heart attack, says the 58-year-old. That was 15 years ago.
For a long time, she couldn’t look at the earrings, let alone wear them. “He was gone. What did it matter that they remained?”
Then, a year later, her house was broken into. And the only thing she could think was: “They were the last thing he gave me. I hope they’re not gone.”
There was other jewellery missing, but the diamond earrings were where she’d left them, in a corner of a drawer. “In that moment, I felt like he was watching over me, and I put them on,” she says. “I wear them every day. And I’ve been okay. I don’t have children; I live alone. But from that day on, I’ve been okay.”
There are few things in the world that can carry that kind of emotional weight. Natural diamonds, forged deep within the earth, unique and timeless, convey their message long after the time for words has passed. Thank you, they may say. Or: I can’t believe you did that. I love you, so much.
Or simply: I’m still here.
