Mughal jewellery shines bright at Hong Kong Palace Museum exhibition

India’s Mughal dynasty (1526–1857) was famously one when creativity, design and opulence flourished in art, architecture and adornment – in particular, jewellery. The era produced some of the world’s most beautiful objects of function and finery thanks to the blending of Persian, Islamic and Indian influences, as well as intricate craftsmanship, a deep appreciation of the materials, besides attention to symmetry and balance.\nSuch artefacts are currently on show at the Hong Kong Palace Museum as part of the exhibition “The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Treasures of the Mughal Court from the Victoria and Albert Museum”, which runs until February 23, 2026. The show is designed around the reigns three great Mughal emperors – Akbar (1556–1605), his son Jahangir (1605–1627) and grandson Shah Jahan (1628–1658) – and examines how their patronage shaped the court’s visual culture through jewellery, painting, textiles and architecture.\n“There is a unique beauty, sophistication and refinement to Mughal design,” says Emily Hannam, curator of South Asia at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). “We can credit it to the great creativity and mastery of these makers, but also the whole economic ecosystem that underpinned it.”\n\nAt its peak, the Mughal empire extended from southern India up to modern-day Kabul and across from Gujarat to Bangladesh. It was responsible for 28 per cent of the world’s industrial output up until the 18th century, and its economy surpassed that of China’s Qing dynasty and Europe, resulting in a wealthy royal court.\n“The intricacy and complexity is simply inimitable. The best jewellers and designers in India today will tell you that it’s impossible to recreate the best examples of Mughal design from the 1600s, because those skills [and ecosystem] no longer exist,” adds Hannam.\nHowever, that has not prevented today’s jewellery designers from carrying the Mughal design legacy forward, whether through honouring traditional techniques, adopting a global approach to jewellery making or merging real history into unique pieces.\n\nRajvi Vora, founder of London-based Kastur Jewels, is deeply influenced by heritage jewellery – a key reason she started making jewellery 13 years ago. Her pieces combine the splendour of the past with modern wearability and she has worked with the V&A for seven years to develop exclusive collections for the museum.\n“One of the techniques I use [from the Mughal era] is kundan and we set uncut diamonds, called polki,” says Vora of her bestselling designs. Kundan uses very highly refined pure gold, meaning you can set stones just by using pressure to bond them in place. “It’s only really [done] in Rajasthan and [more specifically] Jaipur, and I think it’s still so original – even though it’s a 500-year-old technique.”\nAnother technique Vora often employs is meenakari, colourful enamel work that dates back to ancient Persia and which flourished under the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century. “The pieces we’ve created have [been] contemporised a bit, but not too much – they still have that old-school feel to them. I’m a firm believer that [traditional] techniques never go out of fashion. They’re timeless.”\n\nDuring the earliest period of the Mughal dynasty, workshops were melting pots of artists trained in different traditions. This avant-garde approach of blending cultures to create jewellery is another reason their designs still resonate today.\n“You had Iranian artists bringing Persian motifs and migrant artists from Central Asia and Europe,” says Hannam. “Then new materials [like jade and emerald] that came from China and the New World started being used in Jahangir’s reign.”\nHong Kong-based Sagiri Dayal has an international sensibility when designing for her eponymous label, like that of the Mughal approach. Rather than exclusively making historical references, she has developed her own maximalist and multicultural style that emulates the hybridity of the period.\nDayal’s eclectic pieces are harmonised by her attention to symmetry – an inherently Mughal trait. “The proportion and visual appeal [of Mughal architecture] was spectacular, which influenced the jewellery and was beautiful but also very well balanced,” she says.\n“When I started my business 17 years ago, I began with jade and Chinese knotting, which I was fascinated with. Then I started adding elements from my travels: silver from Thailand, carved gold beads from Indonesia, cloisonné from China, cameos from England, then finally, Indian [pendants and pieces].”\nHannam says, “One of my favourite objects [in the exhibition] that shows [such] cultural exchange is the nephrite jade pendant [inlaid with rubies and emeralds]. On the front, jewels form Hoopoe birds which, in Persian literature, were associated with Solomon the wise king. In Mughal poetry, Jahangir was often referred to as the ‘Solomon of the age’. Because of its incredibly high quality and the poetic association, we think it was made for him.”\nMuch of the Mughal empire’s gold and jewelled treasures did not survive, as many were melted down during the empire’s decline. In addition, few gemstones retain their original Mughal cuts, since later owners often had them recut to match the styles they were familiar with – for example, the Koh-i-noor diamond was recut in 1852 by Prince Albert’s lapidary to suit European tastes.\nKrishna Choudhary of the London-based Santi Jewels is equal parts jeweller, educator and collector. He sources original 17th and 18th century Mughal gemstones as well as other historical relics, and incorporates them into one-of-a-kind pieces that are dazzling yet proportionate – think an articulated spinel and diamond bracelet or an emerald ring with high-relief carvings.\n\n“It’s important to bring out the stone in its truest nature,” says Choudhary. “I do like to stay timeless to celebrate the stone, but I also want to make Mughal designs more relevant by challenging the aesthetic use of colour and metals.”\n“Indian craftsmen practised very unique and highly developed techniques in stone cutting,” says Hannam, explaining that gemstones were often cut to enhance their natural shape while retaining their size, rather than achieving total flawlessness.\n“It’s a big responsibility to take these stones and repurpose them into contemporary pieces – I try my best,” adds Choudhary. “Ninety per cent of what we’ve sourced, we don’t find another piece like it.”\nHe emphasises the importance of educating people about the history of gemstones – Mughal and other – and where they originate from, to help them better understand that “what you’re looking at is not categorised as one part of the world”.\n“People want to connect to history, but [don’t always have contextual knowledge],” says Choudhary. “[We can’t] forget how many centuries it took for [these gemstones] to arrive to us, and how many hours craftsmen took to enhance them. Hats off to those [Mughal] craftsmen, they’ve attained true enlightenment in their designs.”\n