A traditional Paithani sari

A traditional Paithani sariof master craftsmen From the intricate enamelling on timepieces to the Murano glass bottle that preserves a Bottega Veneta fragrance, fine craftsmanship is luxury incarnate Ganjam Breguet Timeless Tales Watch a craftsman (or woman) at work and you’ll know that for him (or her) time stopped the minute they got started on their work of art. Whether he’s blowing a glass giraffe into life at his furnace on the island of Murano in Italy. Whether he’s painstakingly applying a layer of enamel on his Breguet masterpiece timepiece, or weaving the double ikat designs that will form an exclusive Patan Patola sari—for an artist at work time has no meaning. A traditional Maharastrian Paithani sari for instance, can take anything from 15 days to over a year to create, based on the level of intricacy involved. Umesh Ganjam, Joint MD, Ganjam, known for it’s intricately designed customised gold jewellery agrees, “The finesse and intricacy of handmade creations distinguishes them from mass-produced machine-made goods. The hard work, time and precision involved in handcrafting is what makes it truly luxurious”. Ditto for fine Swiss watch-making traditions where a complication in a watch may take as many as three months to create and perfect in the mountains of La Chaux de Fonds in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Artful Endeavours Radhi Parekh, founder of ARTISANS’, a Mumbai-based gallery that curates art, craft and design, points out that, “Originality defines the work we select from artisans; this makes it a luxury, not only because of its limited availability, time-intensive production and the highly-skilled artisans involved, but also because it is infused with the artisans’ creative spirit”. Living heritage In the world of nanoseconds and upgraded technology by the minute, laborious hand crafted traditions does not appeal largely to the younger generation and hence this luxury is endangered. The Swiss are scouring the world for young master craftsmen. The good news is that there are people who are attempting to keep traditional techniques alive. Watch conglomerates have introduced schools of watch-making while in the world of jewellery Umesh tells us, “The aim is to preserve age-old skills and techniques—such as the wax technique—which are slowly becoming extinct.” The magic