“When I came back to India from business school in 2003, I did not join the family’s textile business, but got an internship at one of India’s largest jewelry factories. I fell in love with the sight of liquid gold melting in the casting machine, the whirring sounds of 3d printers and triple axis robots carving gold rings.

 

But my heart lay in the workshop- with the metalsmith artists, gem setters and technicians. I spent the next few years managing the production of handmade and 3d printed jewelry models, crafted to precision, which would be replicated in the hundreds and thousands. 

 

A few years later, my mother, Swati, and I collaborated with 6 Italian jewellers- IoSI, designed by an architect; Calgaro and Rosato who crafted jewelry from gold and silver threads; La Nouvelle Vague, a pioneer in the art of enamelling; Stefan Hafner and Roberto Porratti, both contemporary design geniuses. I learnt the art of the craft of fine jewelry making, not meant for the hundreds and thousands.

 

In 2010, we co-founded Estaa, our own store and workshop in Mumbai. We craft and customise bridal haute couture and contemporary jewelry in gold, silver, and more recently in titanium and recycled aluminium; all set with natural diamonds and colored gemstones.

 

Over the past 12 years, we am very grateful to have partnered with the prestigious Barbier Mueller museum in Geneva, and with American e-tailer 1stdibs.com, through which Estaa is now available everywhere in the world. This year we were thrilled to present our collection at PAD Paris and London in partnership with Karry Berreby.

 

In 2021, we also launched our conscious and sustainable jewelry collection, Neel. Inspired by the film My Octopus Teacher, the jewelry is crafted in recycled aluminium set with diamonds. Some of the proceeds were donated to Project Sea Change, who won the Oscar for the Best Documentary for this film last year!

 

Our newest project is KARI, a space to collaborate, create and exhibit art as jewellery. We are happy to announce their first collaboration, Pomona, with French artist Mailys Seydoux Dumas, which has just been presented in Paris. Under KARI, we have also started three new collaborations with tribal and folk artists from the Warli tribe from Maharashtra, and the Sangtam tribe from Nagaland, and walnut wood bangle painter from Kashmir, India.

 

In July this year, Estaa opens its new flagship store and atelier at Kala Ghoda, Mumbai’s most buzzing art and retail district. Estaa’s jewelry has been worn by many celebrities and actresses including Kim Kardashian and Deepika Padukone.”

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Pratik Shah

Co-Founder