This year’s Artisan Awards theme, Quantum Couture, curated by Paola De Luca, Creative Director & Trend Forecaster, explored three directions. The second theme, Micro-Painting, brought together nine exceptional finalist pieces, all competing for the top three honours—now officially revealed. Micro-Painting – The Intimacy of Detail in the Age of Acceleration is a manifesto of slowness, precision and narrative density. In a world of scale and speed, this direction magnifies the power of the minute. It honours heritage techniques—meenakari, jadau, miniature painting, micro-mosaic—while recontextualizing them through contemporary storytelling and technological enhancement.
WINNER
Designer: Kavitha Rajendran
Manufactured by: GRT Jewellers
Palimpsest of Memory: The rotating pendant earrings are conceived as a microcosm of memory, where movement reveals layers of history and craft. A hand-painted Mughal queen rests beneath portrait-cut clear quartz, recalling the historic use of crystal to preserve miniature imagery. Within the stone, a reverse-intaglio lotus appears to rise gently from the queen’s hand, coming alive as light shifts across the surface. Slender baguette-cut diamonds frame the hexagonal motif, which rotates to reveal richly coloured meenakari enamelling on the reverse—transforming the jewel into a hidden narrative.
FIRST RUNNER-UP
Designer: Elena Pari
Manufactured by: Arun Jewels
Silent Archive: The signet ring, conceived as a microcosm and portable archive, features hand-painted miniature scenes. Engraved details embellish both the surface and interior, revealed only upon close observation. The piece celebrates slow luxury and layered perception.
SECOND RUNNER-UP
Designer: Archangel Caszo
Manufactured by: Farah Khan Fine Jewellery Pvt. Ltd.
Chitra Katha: The art form of Odisha’s Pattachitra forms the base of this white gold ring. Known for its detailing and mythological narratives brought to life in deep, earthy colours, patta (Sanskrit for cloth) and chitra (picture) together refer to a tradition of visual storytelling. Adorned with delicate enamelled florets fashioned like stylised scrolls, the ring reflects traditional continuity with a fresh, new-age lens, entrusting the wearer to carry the tales of yore.
FINALIST
Designer: Ankita Kothari
Manufactured by: Anan Jewels India LLP
Echoes of Blue Pottery: Rooted in Jaipur’s craft traditions, these front-back earrings reinterpret the lyrical beauty of blue pottery through a contemporary lens. Two curved, tubular forms align in fluid harmony—the inner arc illuminated with round diamonds, while the outer sheath, rendered in blue electroplated gold, lends a vivid, enamel-like intensity of colour. A cabochon tanzanite, set within a circular disc, punctuates each fi nial with a striking counterpoint. Architectural yet nuanced, the design distils artisanal legacy into a refined, modern expression of luxury.
FINALIST
Designer: Brightia Ignacious K
Manufactured by: Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers
The Living Lineage: The 18-karat gold earrings are conceived as a living legacy of Ayurveda. Shaped like a mortar and pestle, the design features a detachable screw-in element that subtly evokes ritual and intention. Inside the bowl, micro-engravings of seven chakras create a microcosm of knowledge; while root-like forms suggest the transmission of Ayurvedic wisdom across generations.
Micro engraving, plique-à-jour, green enamelling, along with pear- and round-shaped rubies, emeralds, blue sapphires, and brilliant-cut diamonds, enrich the piece—elevating it into a vibrant expression of healing, continuity, and tradition.
FINALIST
Designer: Janvi Kesarwani
Manufactured by: CVM
Secret Watcher: Celebrating mosaic artistry, the watch’s face is composed of intricate mosaic patterns, enriched with mother-of-pearl, hand engraving, meenakari, and jali work. The dial evokes an inky blue night sky, centred on a constellation rendered in micro mosaic.
Encircling it, rings of blue sapphires and green emeralds lend a sense of understated opulence—at once hypnotic and comforting.
Flora and fauna bloom through hand-painted meenakari, all encased in delicate gold fretwork. On closer observation, the inscription Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All) emerges, suggesting that love shapes destiny, with time as its silent witness—an ode to the tides of time.
FINALIST
Designer: Nisha Singh
Manufactured by: GRT Jewellers
FINALIST
Designer: Priyanshi Gangani
Manufactured by: Mani Jewel
Celestia: The gold ear studs are miniature works of art—set against a semi hemispherical base, adorned with trellised scroll motifs. Delicately enamelled flowers bloom across the surface, lending a painterly, mosaic-like quality to their sculptural form. The triangular earrings, edged with diamonds, strike a balance between geometry and grace. Designed to be worn in dual ways, the ear studs
Effortlessly shift from understated elegance to statement of allure, making them a seamless companion for any occasion.
FINALIST
Designer: Yamini Devasree
Manufactured by: Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers
Aether: The white gold Aether earrings emerge from an inherited love for storytelling, conceived as a microcosmic jewel. Inspired by a myth in which the moon sheds luminous dewdrops into the ocean, this celestial gift is entrusted to oysters that shelter and transpose them into pearls. Crafted in Bidri work, characterised by darkened metal with intricate silver inlay, and enhanced with enamel and blue moonstone ear posts, the drop-shaped earrings evoke a night sky dotted with twinkling diamond stars. Mimicking nature, the earrings are transformative: when worn closed, they resemble a sculptural pod; when pressed gently, a concealed spring mechanism opens to reveal a cascade of pearls that fall like dewdrops from the moon.