Nita Ambani arrived at Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla’s 40th anniversary celebration at Mubarak Baug in Mumbai in deep crimson, her saree, nails and jewellery all working within the same rich red palette. Nita Ambani, wife of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has a jewellery collection that rarely goes unnoticed, packed with rare stones and the kind of pieces that start conversations. At her neck, a pear-shaped diamond hung from a fine red cord, its diamond halo making the already substantial stone look even more outsized.
It was maximalism and minimalism coming together in the most stunning way. Matching pear-shaped drops frame her face, while a sizeable diamond cocktail ring adds another flash of sparkle. There is plenty of jewellery here, but none of the visual heaviness usually associated with jewels of this scale.
Nita Ambani (Instagram/@mickeycontractor)
Radhika Merchant Ambani went for emerald. Her plum Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla ensemble is densely embroidered in ivory, with enough texture and ornament to make a traditional necklace feel almost inevitable. Instead, a giant emerald surrounded by diamonds hangs from a simple black cord. Pearl and diamond details fall beneath it, while emerald-led earrings continue the green.
What makes both looks feel fresh is the way these enormous stones have been stripped back to their simplest setting. Jewels of this scale usually come with equally elaborate architecture around them, layered chains, intricate mounts, more diamonds. Here, the cord is almost an afterthought. It gets the gemstone onto the body and then quietly disappears, leaving the stone to command the look.
Radhika Ambani (Photos: Instagram/@loveleen_makeupandhair)
There is something distinctly Indian about that simplicity, too. Gemstones worn on thread are hardly new, but taking that familiar idea and pairing it with diamonds and emeralds of this magnitude gives it a completely different attitude. The effect sits somewhere between heirloom jewellery and contemporary high jewellery, with the gemstone becoming almost sculptural against the body.
Against Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla’s famously maximal clothes, the editing makes even more sense. Four decades of the designers’ work have been built around embroidery, embellishment, colour and texture. Nita and Radhika’s jewellery does not try to compete with all that craft. Each look instead centres on one spectacular stone and gives it room.
It is less about more being more than knowing when enough is enough. For Nita, it is the diamond. For Radhika, the emerald. Both are enormous, unapologetic and held up by almost nothing.