The NIRAV MODI diamond cuts and settings

ainra-waterfall-earrings-rosie.jpg__760x0_q80_crop-scale_subsampling-2_upscale-false

If you thought diamonds were predictable then you haven’t been acquainted with NIRAV MODI’s jewels, which bring new light and life to the game.

NIRAV MODI is all about diamonds – seriously, all about diamonds. So much so that the accepted tenets of the four Cs are but a stepping-stone to greater things. This upmarket newcomer takes a different approach and applies hard science and rigorous research to the service of creating lighter, brighter jewels.

Determined to do things differently, over the past six years Mr Modi has guided his engineers – yes, engineers – designers, diamond polishers and highly skilled craftsmen in rethinking what a diamond jewel can be. Along the way, the house has garnered dozens of trademarks, copyrights and patents. Here are my top five NIRAV MODI diamond innovations:

(1)

The Jasmine cut

This half-briolette, is not strictly a diamond-cut but an approach to cutting diamonds that fashions each facet to fit into an overall design,which, resembles the fragrant jasmine blossom,. You could call it freestyling or artistic interpretation, but the effect of diamonds floating on thin air is perfectly executed.  NIRAV MODI’s craftsmen have refined the shape of this cut to release as much light from within the diamond as possible with double the number of facets compared to rose-cut diamonds. The result is a soft glow and shimmering perfection, and you will be hard-pressed to see how the diamonds are held in place.

(2)

The Mughal® cut

Before the arrival of this majestically named cut, jewellers had to cluster together brilliant-cut diamonds to create a D shape. To crack this conundrum, NIRAV MODI created an innovative petal-shape diamond cut with 49 facets in the shape of a tapered half-moon, which took 18 months to complete. Timeless yet so contemporary, clusters of Mughal-cut diamonds surround a central brilliant-cut diamond to create bouquets of light, while the near-invisible settings let the diamonds shine out in their endless glory.

(3)

The Endless cut®

Now this really is clever: you’ve heard of mystery setting, right? The technique developed in the 1930s to allow stones to be set seamlessly alongside each other with no metal visible. Well the Endless cut, which took a decade to research and develop, takes it one step further and, combined with the Enigma setting, creates a seamless circle of diamonds. So a diamond ring is literally that – a circle of diamonds, set without metal prongs, that sit like a halo on the finger. This technique comes at a cost: 90% of the rough is lost in cutting, an extravagance that underpins the NIRAV MODI way of doing things.

(4)

The Ainra® cut

If I told you that a diamond could be made into a link you would probably tell me to sit down, take a sip of tea and fan myself. But I kid you not, the Ainra cut transforms diamonds into links, designed by NIRAV MODI to replace metal chains in jewellery. This means that bracelets and earrings can literally be made of light, with minimal metal showing, unrivalled brilliance and incredible flexibility. The Ainra Waterfall earrings below live up to their name with a cascade of diamonds alive with movement and life.

(5)

The knife’s edge setting

Mr Modi likes to turn accepted wisdom on its head. In his world, it’s the women who adorn the jewels, not the other way around. Likewise, he believes that the jewels have to adapt to women and caress, embrace and wrap around them with minimal effort. The best example of a jewel that adapts to the contours of the body has to be the Constellation necklace, which, thanks to its super-slim knife’s edge settings, drapes diamonds on the body with the ease of a silk scarf. Amazing how over 50 carats of diamonds can just slip around the neck and beam out their beauty while barely noticing you are wearing them.