There’s something to be said about swimming against the tide. To be in Goa and not head off in the direction of the sea at any given time of the day with the haplessness of an incurable beach bum is empowering. Here’s my checklist of dos minus the sun, surf, raves and quaint culinary hideouts serving sushi and Lap Pat Dok. Haggling with bloodsucking taxi drivers at Dabolim airport. Traversing the landscaped rocks and greens at the Park Hyatt, which houses Goa’s most expensive spa, besides being a haven of minimalism. (Proof that there’s life – and one of decadent old-world luxury – beyond Anjuna, Baga and Kandolim.) And partying at the Marriot with the cream of jewellery buyers from America, Japan, Russia, Europe and China. Pandit Ravi Chary’s sitar (has played for the Queen of England) and Bollywood veteran Shyam Raj’s clarinet consort as conversations see-saw between diamond (falling supplies) and gold (shooting prices).

Over dinner by the poolside, there’s a collective jaw-dropping exercise when Dubai-based ARY group reps let loose hush-hush plans of a humungous diamond and jewellery production and retail facility, decked with designer studios and a full-fledged jewellery academy, right in the heart of the Golden City. The project has all the hallmarks of Burj-ian Dubai showmanship. While their digital tower in (standing at 45 storeys, a proud follow-up the original developed in the UK) is in the shape of an A, the architectural facade of this new facility resembles, hold your breath and that hors d’oeuvre, a treasure trunk!

That blinding vision is a precursor for all things grand at IIJS, a yearly trade event coinciding with Mumbai’s monsoons.
This year the organizers choose Goa as the venue for an invitees-only premium luxury show, the IIJS Signature 2008. Thousands of carats of rubies, sapphires, diamonds, polki, quartz, tanzanites, topaz, tourmalines, turquoise, rose quartz set in cardiac-arresting kilos of gold, sizzling on the backdrop of susegad at the epitome of coastal cool.
Occupying centre stage at Signature are India’ biggest jewellers and exporters, represented by the Palampur community, big daddies of razzle-dazzle, boasting three generations brought up on a steady diet of cuts and carats. Their karigari has graced treasure trunks of Indian royal families as well showcases of US and Europe’s most exclusive names in luxury retail, from Harry Winston to Cartier.

Showcasing the latest collections of 250 exhibitors with similar credentials, my Goa weekend promises bling elevated to epic proportions. Union Budget 2008 has left the gems and jewellery industry, India’s second largest forex earner sulking. The industry had rallied against duty on polished coloured gem stones and championed the creation of a brand equity fund. The finance minister has responded with a duty cut only on zircons and corals, adding insult to injury over falling dollar prices and burgeoning gold costs (an expected high of $1500 this year).

Nonetheless, India maintains its position as an acknowledged world leader in gems and jewellery. And that’s not my lay opinion. Travelling to the venue, I talk shop with Texas-based Pakistani businessman Nasru Rupani and his wife who’re super jetlagged after back-to-back flights from USA, Karachi and Mumbai. Despite a sore back and gloomy industry stats, Nusru sketches a silver lining. “Since the Gujarat earthquake/riots and the stock market crash, there’s been a steady decline in the industry. Many merchants have sold off their businesses to invest in real estate. But in the next two to three years, this chaos will weed out the chaff from wheat and only the best will survive.”

At Kala Academy, which is hosting the fair, the indolent Goan air brings in whiffs of Xacuti and Vindaloo. Pairs of four-inch patent leather heels in bubblegum colours, exhausted after one round of the fair, are recuperating at the lounges, cafeteria or the restored boat by the beach which serves as floating restaurant. Signature is not only a debutante, but also fashionably late. International trends have already been set in BaselWorld, JCK and Vicenza, followed by Hong Kong.

This year in January, Vicenza focussed on innovative techniques and production to combat rising prices and diamond shortage. Design trends included concentricism, pop art, giant proportions (think rap-style rings and shield-like pendants) and macabre art (skulls, skeletons and black crosses!)

What distinguishes the Indian experience is the unapologetic indulgence in luxury. Choc-a-bloc with diamonds (the rose-cut trend continues blissfully), laden with gemstones, the look is prefixed by maxi and multi. Some international trends spill over, especially the element of ‘discovery,’ with ancient coins, cameos and buried treasures given a modern twist. Think Harappa and Egypt brought to life for adventurous modern women. The frighteningly done-to-death Victorian look is out. Most designers showcase hammered, patterned, textured and beaten gold, with or without gems in large and playful earrings, jingly bracelets in 14 and 18 carat toned gold. Exploiting the malleability of gold to the maximum, this is the season’s biggest and most fun trend. A Junagadh-based exporter, Pooja Choksi of CVM Jewellers shows youthful long neckpieces with beaten gold stones and chains.

If that’s too flashy, there’s a pendant with matt gold fruit charms strung on leather chords. Kolkata-based Anindya-Parekh has used traditional Bengali filigree to create whole balls (usually there are two halves fused together) and used them in large yet fun necklaces, bracelets and cuffs.

There’s a whiff of freshness to the show this time. The profusion of colour puts the ‘Jaisalmer’ collection at Fiera De Vicenza to shame. If trendspotters called that dramatic, what would they call this? A diamond and enamelled gold ensemble which incorporates symbols like the national flag, Taj Mahal, chillies, elephant, swan, flanked by Hindu-Muslim-Sikh heads, a diamond paved cross screaming secularity. Luxury kitsch with dollops of patriotism. It’s named – like you’d ever doubt it – Made in India, and attracts wandering eyeballs along with de rigeur gold bustiers and bikinis.

Among the more outstanding displays at the show is Jaipur-based Jewels Emporium. Their collection, titled Arzoo, sounds deceptively desi but brings Medieval France to contemporary India.
There’s enamelling in more than 300 different shades using techniques like ‘Basse Taille’ (low-cut) ‘Champleve’ (troughs carved into the surface of a metal object and filled with vitreous enamel. A similar technique is used in Japan and is called known as shippou-zogan) and ‘Plique-a-jour’ (open to light, a filigree technique). These are combined with sumptuous Mughal motifs, kundan and meena and fused into a contemporary style.

“The colour and richness of Indian jewellery and landscape is always an inspiration” opines Anna Maccieri. Designing luxury watches for Jaeger Le Coultre under the disciplined gaze of the Swiss has somewhat controlled her flamboyant Bologna roots. Being in India unleashes the Italian within. It’s not just the westerners who are enthralled. The Goan feni is putting everybody in mighty good spirits. I’ve just delivered a one-hour lecture to Fion Chui from Hong Kong on ‘where the elephant-headed god got an elephant head’, and how all Hindus are not vegetarians. She’s been delightfully receptive to my culture feeds as well as Goa. Like India, traditional Chinese jewellery is largely plain gold, with a jadeite fixation, but Fion says young and ‘with it’ Chinese prefer white and pink gold and pastel gemstones like pink sapphires.

Many designers stick to international soothing colour palettes but innovate in other ways. Chaitali Menda’s collection brings in a strong element of movement to her designs. I’m checking a ring with a bunch of individually set diamond solitaires, which doesn’t tickle me, until it’s flipped over; the diamonds tinkle downwards and collapse gently in a melodious heap. Another ring with coloured diamond petals closes at one angle and blooms outwards when turned up. Chaitali has experimented with material (“I even tried plywood, until I finally chose rosewood, lacquered for protection) as a base for diamond setting.” Targeting her designs at second buyers, who have had their fill of classic jewellery, she predicts “a lot of colourful funky leather, and of course, sea-shells” for the next season.