COOMI Bhasin

(???? -) Coomi Bhasin, who is known primarily by her given name among those who collect jewelry, was born in Bombay (Mumbai) India and is a graduate of Art History and Design. Her intricate gold jewelry lines are infused with spiritual symbolism that denote her childhood and her passion for remote cultures.

Handmade and handset with precious gems like rose-cut diamonds, each piece is an intricate work of color and texture. After careers as a textile designer, architect, and landscape designer, Coomi founded her firm in the United States in 2002 and realized her girlhood dream.

In an interview with InStoreMagazine.com, she said, “I grew up in Bombay, India. At every social level, you see women wearing incredible pieces from their foreheads down to their feet. I can recall as a very young girl, going to visit my grandmother and if I wasn’t wearing any jewelry, she would joke and ask if I was in mourning.”

While in her teens, Coomi began designing pieces for herself. She made these from beads, charms, and other found objects. After obtaining a BA in Art History, she worked as both a textile designer while creating jewelry for private clients.

In 1977, Coomi relocated to the U.S. with her husband Hari, a commercial builder, and drew on her sense of design and engineering to help create a family business. She worked as a builder and was also asked to do special commissions as an architect and landscape designer. It was not until 2002 when she finally felt the timing was right that she began in earnest to pursue her affinity for jewelry and launching the COOMI Collection.

Influenced by her background in textiles and architecture as well as naturalistic forms from India, her creations also combine inspirations from her experiences in New York including skyscrapers and the eclectic mix of people and street life. Her decades of artistic endeavor developed into styles that combine a feeling of ancient and modern, ornate yet delicate.

The pieces in her collections are hand finished and handset that give them a one of a kind appeal. Twenty karat gold and rose-cut diamonds are the mainstays of the collections and are accented by brilliant cut diamonds, precious gemstones, and diamond beads. Coomi oversees all the cutting of the rose cut diamonds with an engineer’s precision for detail and an artisan’s eye for beauty and design.

Coomi’s signature lines include the Affinity Collection; a patchwork of cultures with a combination of tumbled beads, stones, sliced diamonds, and gold that represent a celebration of human unity. The Antiquity Collection is comprised of rock carvings and paintings from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic periods. These designs reflect the time when human orientation was cyclical, i.e., aligned with birth, growth and renewal.

In the Eternity Collection inspiration derives from the flow of movement in shapes such as coils, spirals, wires, circles and ovals. These suggest continuity and completeness that is shown in boundless aspects with no beginning, end or division. Interconnected wires evoke unity, while circles and ovals represent a balancing force. Spiraling cuffs with diamonds climb up the wrist while openwork wire earrings draw attention to the face. Elongated necklace chains of hammered ovals and circles create an elaborate, combination that can be layered or graduated in.

The Luminosity and Luminosity Spice lines define themselves by the luminous quality of the flat rose cut diamonds that radiate energy in all directions like a celestial body. The Serenity Collection is Coomi’s commentary on the miracle of life in the desert. The finish is of desert sand, with colors that represent golden sand, life around an oasis, and cacti’s blooming flowers.

The Trinity Collection focuses on the trinity of earth, heaven, and water specifically the Ganges River. The Vitality Collection is inspired by Coomi’s background in textiles and her love of naturalistic silhouettes. She symbolizes these through the vines and tendrils which grow toward light. For this line she chose rose-cut diamonds because they are inherently more organic in cut and their character compliments rather than overwhelms the wearer.

In 2014, Coomi turned her design skills to jewelry that incorporates coins. Coins of antiquity have both historic and aesthetic value aside from their metal content and result in extraordinarily appealing designs. Coomi is preeminent among fine jewelers who utilize coins as a design motif that is accented by diamonds.

Her ads regularly appear in the pages of luxury magazines. One such profile appeared in the Fall/Winter 2014 issue of Town & Country Travel. The piece, by Stellene Volandes, takes note of contemporary designers’ newfound penchant for ancient coins. Volandes wrote that, “Coomi hangs them like charms off a bracelet.”

Among other notable Coomi creations is her Lucy necklace. Lucy was one of the oldest skeletons ever found, and Coomi designed her skeleton in gold backed by a sculpted arrowhead.

Her Bronze Buddah ring is covered with diamonds on its reverse side because Coomi believes that diamonds have the purest energy of any stone and must touch the wearer’s skin to release its energy. Coomi adds diamonds to every piece she makes.

Another project that has drawn Coomi’s interest is to create a diamond piece without any metal showing. After two years in development, she created a diamond and ruby necklace in which the gems seem to be floating.

Coomi has also launched a silver line available at Neiman Marcus and Wilke’s Bashford.

Coomi’s feminine yet powerful lines and motifs, inspired by antiquities and handcrafted in high karat gold, rose-cut diamonds and precious gemstones have garnered industry awards and acclaim. She is a serious collector of antiquities and often uses actual precious historical artifacts in her creations.

“Wearable art,” says Coomi, “is how I like to think of my designs.” Her distinctive juxtaposition of precious and semi-precious stones in elegant settings inspired by remote cultures are Coomi’s strongest influences and are the result of her many travels across India.

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