Timeless Tales: A Tryst with Modern Heirlooms

Heirlooms are those poignant little objects that carry the stories of their wearers. A bag, shoe, or a natural diamond ring, mirrors our modern-day existence in the bold timelessness of their designs while resonating stories of immense sentimental value. Like little pieces of soul that momentarily rest in objects, they become totems that are passed down within generations — not too dissimilar to inheriting oral histories, cultures, and traditional values.

The heirlooms of today are pieces that push the boundaries of form and material —  allowing their inheritors to wear them as often as possible. Take for example, Mumbai-based presenter and celebrity stylist, Divyak D’Souza who is currently in the process of repurposing his mother’s natural diamond earrings into a brooch. “My mother always wore natural diamonds,” says D’Souza. “I remember she had bought a pair of solitaire earrings and I am now incorporating these solitaires into a brooch design that could be an interesting way for me to repurpose and re-wear with tailored jackets and suits.”

His other finishing touch to the one-of-a-kind brooch? A pair of pre-loved Yayoi Kusama X Louis Vuitton trainers he bought back in 2014 as one of his first major luxury purchases as a young stylist.

Now more than ever, heirlooms are coming out of safekeeping — worn to a restaurant as a cocktail diamond ring styled seamlessly with a mini skirt and metallic pointed pumps, or a top trickling with bedazzled buttons worn with a necklace to dress the decolletage — luxury fashion and natural diamond jewellery are becoming co-compatriots for a modern generation that believes in making them every day classics.

Most of us buy a luxury fashion item, be it a shoe, bag or dress, as judiciously as a pair of rare diamond earrings. And that first purchase of anything, be it jewellery or a pair of shoes, is a big-ticket buy that will always go down in our memories.

For Manpriya Bath, a London-based contemporary fine jeweller, it was a Louis Vuitton trunk that she gifted herself in the mid-90s to punctuate the launch of her eponymous brand that gives her a “sense of pride and accomplishment” each time she returns to it.

“A piece becomes an heirloom when it transcends its physical form, carrying with it stories, emotions, and a connection to the past,” says Pratik Shah, co-founder of Mumbai-based fine jewellery label, Estaa. The value of these pieces lies beyond the parameters of material and craftsmanship. Instead, they are little more than “time capsules” that become a “witness to life’s pivotal moments, and are capable of evolving with each generation that inherits it,” says Shah.

Reimagining these heirlooms for modern-day wear is a near-alchemical act. Stylist and fashion consultant, Rupangi Grover shares her story of a dainty pair of Kashmiri balis with basra pearls and diamonds that she first “borrowed” from her mother almost eight years ago.

“My mom’s style is very timeless and her jewellery box is reflective of that taste. Nothing I borrow from her is ever trend driven – it’s easy to pair with anything and lends everything so much character,” says Grover. For her, the minimalist elegance of her mother’s prized balis makes it an ideal choice of jewellery to pair with her more contemporary and conscious luxury Gen-Z sartorial choices. From draped saris to Rajesh Pratap blazers and 11.11 shirt dresses, Grover’s natural diamond keepsake serves to underline the strength of her style as a young woman navigating the serpentine lengths of a fast-paced city. “They perfectly offset a modern silhouette because the style is quite traditional, but their dainty size still makes them feel contemporary.”

“Luxury fashion & natural diamond jewellery are becoming co-compatriots for the modern generation”

A blazer dress from Louis Vuitton becomes the perfect backdrop for a cascading necklace that grazes the chest, just so. A pair of boots made for powerful stomping around the city brings a dramatic new perspective to a pair of dainty diamond earrings.

This deliberate, and often irreverent collision of modernity and tradition comes as a second skin to Bath who loves to let her jewellery speak for itself. She wears her diamond Hasli necklace commissioned by her parents in Bikaner, Rajasthan for her wedding day, with a range of outfits — from blazers by Khaite or The Row to evening dresses by Alaia or Giambattista Valli. Her daughter, Pia Bath, who works alongside her on the jewellery brand, is inheriting this dialogue between luxury fashion and jewellery in addition to some of these prized diamond pieces.

“Beyond the beauty and craftsmanship of heirloom jewellery, I see them as a tool for adding friction to my looks,” explains Pia. “I really rely on these heirloom jewels to keep my outfits from feeling flat. It’s this clash that makes a case for my authenticity.”

Today, we are all seamlessly infusing heirloom jewellery and fashion in our modern wardrobes, to form a new language of conscious luxury. We pair our Louis Vuitton pumps, or signature monogrammed clutches with our enviable solitaire rings and statement earrings. A Capucines Mini in hand, we rush up escalators to work, our mother’s natural diamonds in our lobes shining through the bold silhouette of our padded blazers. And when the sun goes down, we slip into corseted dresses, paired with timeless stilettos and intricately carved natural diamond chokers — ready to share our inner lives with the world.

That is the beauty of an heirloom — it punctuates a moment in time, yet lasts forever.