YNY Jewels: Designer Surbhi Pandya
A dazzling pair of carved tanzanite earrings (figure 1) caught our attention at the GJX show. Designer Surbhi Pandya of YNY Jewels (New York), who goes by the single name Surbhi, described the significance of the carving featured on each of the large unheated tanzanite crystals. Depicted in violet and green is the lotus blossom, a flower with ancient cultural significance in India, rising with its deep roots from the mud without stains, symbolizing purity and strength. As the blossoms close up at night and reopen the next day, they also symbolize rebirth. Each carving is immediately surrounded by a ring of blue Kashmir sapphires and emeralds, followed by colorless diamonds and bright green tsavorite garnets. Each upper dangle contains faceted slices of tanzanite and emerald with a central hot pink sapphire. She also shared a pendant with a paisley-shaped unheated tanzanite similarly containing a lotus carving (figure 2). She explained that the paisley shape represents continuity and life.
Surbhi (figure 3) has been making jewelry for 20 years and was trained by her father, Yogendra Sethi, a renowned artist in India. She described designing jewelry as a journey filled with energy. She does not make jewelry to please herself, but out of a drive to create things that speak to others. Surbhi shared stories of customers’ deeply personal connections with her jewelry, a profoundly rewarding experience for her as an artist.
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