Did you know about the Indian jewellery designer Ambaji V Shinde?

He designed for the Maharajas to the who's who of the Hollywood

There is a lot known about the textiles and the paintings of India and the respective artists, but very few or almost no one is aware of the jewellery designer from the nation. At the time when India was still under the rule of the British, a family escaped their Presidency in Bombay and moved to Goa. And in 1917 Ambaji V Shinde was born. Son of a bangle maker, Shinderealised his calling toward art and went on to do achieve a degree in Arts from the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai. This was the start of making the greatest jewellery designers from India who went on to create designs for Maharajas to the elite in New York.

The beginning of a brilliant design creative

After graduating from JJ Arts School in Bombay, Ambaji V. Shinde began his career in arts by being a painter. From there he eventually led into training as a jewellery designer under the guidance of Mumbai’s old-time jewelers, NarottamdasJhaveri in 1941. From here started Shinde’s journey as a top-notch jewellery designer started to only reach the stars.

At NarottamdasJhaveri, Shinde began to create the most unique and posh designs in ornate silverware, trophies, and jewellery. Such were the creative geniuses that he went on to work with for nearly 20 years. It was here that Shinde designed jewellery for the Maharajas of India.

There he also designed a set of various matching jewellery items such as turban pins and pearl ropes that became a rage in 17th century Europe. In 1938 he also designed a set of coronation jewels for Maharaja SayajiraoGaekwad of Baroda. He even created pieces for the Maharajas of Porbandar and Dhar and the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Post a lustrous career with the Maharajas, strings led him to America

Sometime in 1955, Shinde met American jeweler Harry Winston. Winston was known as the King of Diamonds for he traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchange for 3,800 carats of small diamonds. In 1932 he founded Harry Winston Inc. in New York City. The American jewellery saw through the designer from India and hired Shinde to work for him in 1962.

At Harry Winston Inc. Shinde got to get dip his hand in gemstone giving his creative abilities the right push. He created a gemstone style transforming fine jewelry into fine art. Shinde worked in New York for four decades.