Meet Ageerika Hari, whose jewellery brand Vaitaanika has a 'one piece, one design' policy

During her childhood, Ageerika Hari remembers taking out her mother’s heavy dupattas and draping them as sarees. Her favourite part was choosing jewellery to wear along with them.  This is how her romance with jewellery began. 

The 29-year-old has translated her love for jewellery design into a business venture - Vaitaanika. She was raised in a family of business owners, however no one had ever ventured anywhere close to design. Ageerika decided very early on that she was going to take the path less travelled. Even in her high school, fashion studies was her main subject. 

From designer to entrepreneur

Ageerika strengthened her design and creative skills by pursuing a BDES in Jewellery Design from Raffles Design Institute, Singapore. While studying there, she interned with jewellers and a French designer. She furthered her expertise by completing the Graduates Diamond Programme from the Gemological Institute of America. 

However, her deep rooted love for her home country, brought her back to India. She started freelancing in Delhi before launching Vaitaanika in 2012. 

When asked about how she came up with the name, she takes us back to her studentyears in Singapore. 

“When I was in Raffles, we had to give names to all our design projects. In one such assignment, I named a ring Vaitaanika, which is a Sanskrit word that means peace and purity. I fell in love with the name and decided to call my design label Vaitaanika.”

Beginning the venture was not easy, reveals Ageerika. Her desire to start her own label meant that she was in it for the long run. She says that it not only required financial support but also guts because of the risk involved.. Fortunately, her parents provided her with the financial support necessary to launch the design label. 

The ‘one piece, one design’ label

In India, the jewellery market is teeming with big and small players. From big players that have been running stores pan-India for years, to small shops on market streets to entrants in the online jewellery lane, the industry is wide-reaching and highly consumer driven. Festivals, wedding seasons, investments, gifting, are year-round activities in the country that drive growth in the industry. 

In such an environment, Ageerika decided to stand out and initiated a policy of ‘one piece, one design’. No piece of jewellery is ever recreated or duplicated for another customer, says Ageerika. This philosophy makes her jewellery sought-after as they are one-of-its kind pieces and become a rare find, which is why the pricing for any piece produced by the label is upwards of Rs. 10,000.

Since starting up, Ageerika has created nine silver collections and designed fine jewellery with gold, Kundan and diamonds. Her collections are inspired by one element and every piece in the collection reflects  the inspiration behind it. 

“Last year, I launched the Bhava Collection - bhava means prosperity. It is inspired by the Mauryan empire and this collection has a range of pendants, brooches, cuff bracelets, earrings, cocktail rings. The Mauryan period was a rich period in Indian history and this collection is a tribute to that,” she explains. 

In another set of her collection called Buddha, every piece of jewellery reflects the essence of Buddhism. 

Every collection is inspired by  “the essence of being Indian”. “I don’t generally go out looking for inspiration; it just walks up to me. My designs are all very Indian in nature. Each piece has a core base of Indian-ness because I absolutely love my country, its architecture, and culture,” she says. 

With a team of four , Ageerika creates and produces her collection in her studio in  Delhi. She has one head karigar who designs the pieces with her, a store manager, and a sales head who take up multi-tasking roles.

Her store, where she retails from is located in Santushti, Chanakyapuri, in the capital. Her target audience comprises upper middle class women from the city. Apart from the store, the brand’s website and social media pages offer more information on her collections. 

Future plans

“As a designer, it is very tough to keep aside the creativity and go with what the market desires,” she says. However, she wishes to continue to create and expand the brand by being different and not go fully commercial. 

(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)

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