I was born into a jeweller family in India,Some of my earliest memories are not from a playground but from jewellery stores, community gatherings, and dinner tables where business conversations flowed as naturally as family stories. As a child, I would wait for school holidays just to spend time in the shop with my father and grandfather.Yet, despite growing up surrounded by jewellery, I always felt there was a bigger world beyond the traditional designs and familiar surroundings. While many around me were content within the glass bowl, I wanted to see the ocean.

Long before I travelled to Europe, I was already fascinated by it. Through food, travel documentaries, and culture programmes, I became curious about places I had never seen. France, Italy, and the wider continent felt strangely familiar, as if they were calling me long before I arrived.My journey through business education, boarding school, and later one of India's leading business schools expanded my world. It taught me that growth often begins where comfort ends. Alongside academics, I developed a love for sport, discipline, and continuous self-improvement—values that still shape my daily life.
 

Then came Covid.
 

While the world slowed down, our family business had to adapt. My first real contribution was surprisingly simple: Excel spreadsheets. What started with organising data gradually evolved into digital catalogues, online selling, customer databases, and process improvements. These changes were common in major cities but relatively new within the traditional jewellery markets where we operated. Seeing those initiatives generate results gave me my first taste of business transformation.Eventually, my curiosity brought me to Grenoble, France.

That chapter changed everything.For the first time, I was immersed in a truly international environment. I discovered that luxury was not simply a product or a price point—it was heritage, storytelling, craftsmanship, culture, and emotion. Subjects such as brand DNA, merchandising, client experience, and fashion history transformed the way I viewed both business and jewellery.

The most rewarding part, however, was the people. Every classmate carried a unique story and a unique passion. Whether their world revolved around watches, wines, fashion, fragrances, or jewellery, everyone shared the same desire to create something meaningful within luxury.
 

Then life interrupted.
 

A medical emergency brought me back to India, and shortly afterwards we lost my grandfather—the pillar of our family legacy.

Returning home was not part of the plan, but it became one of the most important learning experiences of my life. I helped restructure the business, build teams, improve systems, develop customer personas, strengthen supplier relationships, and better understand the realities of manufacturing, supply chains, and scaling operations.Professionally, the business grew.

Personally, something felt missing.The systems I had built were helping the business thrive, but I had gradually drifted away from the ambitions that had originally driven me.In Last Days of 2024, I revisited old journals from my student years and reconnected with a younger version of myself —the one who dreamed of learning, exploring, and building a career within the global luxury industry.

That reflection changed my direction.I continued improving the family business through automation, CRM systems, reporting structures, and emerging AI tools, while also investing in my own development. I relocated to Mumbai, pursued diamond grading studies, expanded my industry network, and spent time learning from jewellers, designers, and professionals who shared a global vision for the industry.

 

Today, I find myself at another turning point.
 

I am proud of what we have built as a family. Equally, I am excited about what comes next.

I am not looking for the fastest path. I am looking for the right one.

As Abraham Lincoln is often credited with saying: if I had six hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Perhaps that is what this journey has been—a long period of sharpening.

There is a saying I have always believed in: what comes fast goes fast; what comes slowly stays longer.

Maybe that is why this dream has taken time.

More importantly, I feel that the child inside me—the curious kid who sat in front of travel and food channels, who dreamed of distant places, who imagined walking through European streets and discovering worlds beyond his hometown—is finally finding his way back.

The dream of walking those streets again. The dream of working alongside artists, craftsmen, designers, jewellers—as the French say, savoir-faire—and storytellers who transform ideas into timeless creations. The dream of experiencing luxury not as a product, but as a culture, a heritage, and a way of life—where every piece of jewellery carries a story, every maison preserves generations of craftsmanship, and every detail has meaning.

The dream of starting my mornings with the aroma of fresh boulangeries and the food I call artisan fuel—the simple yet extraordinary meals that inspire creators, makers, and artists every day. The dream of sharing dinners filled with conversations, exchanging ideas, cultures, and happiness around a table, just as I grew up doing in my own family.

The dream of breathing the air of the Alps, feeling the breeze of the Riviera, walking through streets where history and innovation coexist, listening to the distant sound of pianos drifting through cafés and squares, and learning from people whose passion has shaped the world of luxury for centuries.

For many years, that dream remained in the background while life took me in different directions. Today, I find myself returning to it with greater clarity, experience, and purpose. The difference now is that I am no longer chasing it as a dreamer alone—I carry with me the lessons of family, business, loss, resilience, and growth.

And perhaps that is why I believe it is here to stay.

What comes fast goes fast; what comes slowly stays longer.

I believe this dream has taken its time because it was meant to stay with me for a lifetime—until my very last breath.

 

— VVS