Farah Khan Decodes the Business and Cultural Value of Jewellery

For jewellery maven Farah Khan, nature, architecture, and love serve as eternal muses, forming the core of her design sensibility. Be it high jewellery collections or her prêt line, every piece stands as an ode to the places, people, and experiences that have shaped her life. Now considered one of India’s foremost jewellery designers, Khan started her journey by studying gemstones at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Santa Monica—an experience that taught her every stone has its own personality, strengths, and limits. She topped her gemmology class, spent years apprenticing and crafting bespoke pieces, and officially launched her fine jewellery brand, Farah Khan Fine Jewellery, in 2004.

“Inspiration is rarely a sudden moment,” Khan says, when asked about what inspires her, adding, “It’s usually something that stays with me—a flower I notice while travelling, the symmetry of a Mughal archway, the movement of water, or even the way light falls on an old building. I collect these moments almost subconsciously.” For her, creating a piece of jewellery usually starts with observation and emotion rather than sketching. She explains, “I ask myself what it is about that image or experience that moved me. Was it the softness, the strength, the rhythm, the colour? Once I identify that feeling, I start translating it into form.”