Zambian emeralds and hand-painted pendants: Inside the heirlooms worn by Jaipur’s best-dressed crowd

Some heirlooms live in glass cases, lit by museum spotlights. Others live around our necks. They’ve survived wars, crossed continents and outlasted generations, preserved not through documentation but through stories passed down within families. They stay personal, worn at weddings, brought out for traditions, handed over in moments too intimate to record.

Heirlooms carry the spirit of an era, reflecting tastes, materials and values of another time. Many were given during weddings or as part of trousseaus. They aren’t just ornaments or garments; they are gestures of love, of protection. To send a daughter off with jewellery is to give her something that can survive anything. Because not all heirlooms belong to the past. Some are still writing their stories in gold, silver and silk.

Ahead of the Vogue Wedding Atelier, presented by HSBC, Rochelle Pinto, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue India, along with Sunita Shekhawat, Niharika Singh Shekhawat and Digvijay Shekhawat co-hosted the Editor’s High Tea in Jaipur, which brought together the city’s tastemakers at The Oberoi Rajvilas. The setting, curated by A Wedding Design Company, was equal parts intimate and regal, with vibrant florals setting the mood. Guests left with thoughtful gifts from Nicobar, but what lingered was the conversation about legacy, jewellery and what we choose to pass on.

Ahead, Jaipur’s best-dressed crowd tells Vogue India about their heirlooms.

All images: Six Ways to Sunday