How Hanut Singh's jewellery captivated stars like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Oprah Winfrey, and Meryl Streep

Jewellery should make a statement. It should be sexy, voluptuous. It should have a point of view. It should be uniquely the design should be from the designer, uniquely theirs, not imitative or anything. Jewelry is hedonistic. It's talismanic. It's protective. It always has an emotion attached to it. People feel such an emotional connect with jewelry because, you know, it's given them birthdays and anniversaries, and it's always meaningful. You know, the thing with jewelry is it's always meaningful, and there's always an emotional attachment to jewelry.

Yes, I do believe that. Design schools fill you with a certain ideology. I don't think you can be then as expressive if you attend a school. If you're being untrained you can be less strained in the mind, as far as design goes.

No, I don't believe that at all, especially in the design world. AI can generate design ideas, but it can never capture your rasa [emotional essence]. You can prompt it with 'Art Deco jewelry,' and it might produce countless interpretations of Deco. However, it will never replicate my style, my DNA, or my consciousness when I'm creating a piece—my unique reference points. AI can certainly produce a piece based on a given movement, but I don't think it can embody the rasa of the individual designer.

Beautifully put. As much as it can do for you, it doesn't have emotion.

I feel blessed because my jewellery appeals to all ages. Oprah had specific preferences—she loves baroque pearls and linear jewelry. Kareena chooses her own pieces. She’s a class act. In the West, pop stars buy more than actors. Rihanna and Miley Cyrus have bought my pieces … When it comes to stars wearing them, it’s often a stylists’ game and they reach out to us. Who knows whether the stars themselves have good taste or not? They hire the best stylists according to their taste, and then they go with that. So the stylist is the one who's pulling off everything for them.

Never. I do exactly what I like, and if they like it, great. I don't ever get take briefs from anybody. I do exactly what I like, and if they like it great.

It’s a crucial conversation and I try to use a lot of my stones that are ethically sourced, especially when I buy them from Brazil or Madagascar mines. Many in the West, especially my dealers, are honed into ethical mining. It's much more expensive. But in India, I don't know whether they truly care. But I try my best! If I know that a certain vendor has the ethically sourced to, I will use those.

In my opinion, that whole market has crashed terribly. Even the lab-grown ones are in dire straits. Certain companies were trying to push it and make a giant global market out of it. It picked up, but badly crashed … With lab grown stones, you don’t know what you’re buying into. There are too many people doing it and you never know about the quality. Pricing is inconsistent too.

Old mine diamonds. They’re the titan of all stones. And I’m obsessed with emeralds.