Inspired by the Maldivian lagoons, Chennai online jewellery brand Ivar mimics the island’s colours 

Crystal azure waters, the sun-soaked island and the need to just lay back and relax — it’s  this vibe of the Maldives that 25-year-old jewellery designer Ritika Ravi loves and takes inspiration from. The Chennai girl recently launched Ivar in Maldives, a sophisticated and elegant line after majoring in jewellery design at London College of Fashion. The designer who flies back and forth from the island, has been one-tracked about her vision — to work with handcrafted jewellery. So, as soon as she got back from London two years back, she dove straight into researching and developing the brand. 

With a flagship store at the St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, Ritika invested two whole years into the brand that she calls her ‘baby’, travelling and meeting different people on the way. “I started designing the concept then, and also started looking for sources for the stones and manufacturers as well,” says Ritika, who did her schooling at KFI in Chennai. Ivar, which is a reverse of her father’s name Ravi, has launched two collections — The 10.18 Collection and Troubadour. While the former is a stunning collection of bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings in a combination of gems with white or rose gold, the latter is a vibrant collection that uses the best Indian enamel crafts in combination with gold. “They’re both very fluid and easy to wear, and both collections are inspired by Maldives — so while 10.18 has muted tones, Troubadour is more whimsical, and vibrant,” she explains.

 Ritika wanted to strike a balance between the contemporary world and traditional aesthetics, so she sourced gems like sapphire from Sri Lanka and polki from India, and put them together at her factory in Jaipur. “I started with uncut diamonds, which is untreated and are in their purest form. No two stones are the same and they’re all made by hand,” says Ritika. “We also have multi-coloured sapphire, garnet and amethyst — their colours really have a summer feel going on.” All of Ritika’s pieces are made using traditional Indian jewellery techniques like meenakari. “We also work with a lot of polki,” explains Ritika. The designer is in the process of chalking out a pop-up in October in the city. 

Starts at  `31,000 . Available online.