Rising Graff

Niamat Bakshi is not your usual page-three person who loves dazzling high society with her diamonds and emeralds. She wants to add sparkle to the lives of those battling eating disorders. There are very few people who are honest about what they have been through and are keen on helping others going through the same. Niamat Bakshi is one of them. Besides being one of the well-dressed women in Delhi’s high society, Bakshi is a University of Oxford graduate. She has also worked with the UN High Commission for Refugees as a lawyer. For years she battled an eating disorder and finally managed to overcome it. Currently working in the Fortis mental health department, she helps women with a poor body image. Bakshi says, “I’ve seen women suffer as they are told they are not thin enough or beautiful enough; I help them regain their self-confidence.” She adds, “The sad part is that no one takes mental disorders seriously. I want to be the agent of change.” Being the daughter-in-law of KS Bakshi, Managing Director, Oriental Structural Engineers Pvt. Ltd., she is used to the bourgeois life. “When I was younger, I used to wear bright pink and jewelled butterflies in my ears—thank God that phase is over,” she says. “Now I have graduated to Graff diamonds, a British company founded in 1960 by Laurence Graff, which offers superlative diamonds with a marking that can be traced back to its origin anywhere,” she smiles. Interestingly, Bakshi stays away from anything adventurous and buys pieces with timeless charm. The luminous green is a statement piece and the cushion-cut diamonds pack a punch and go with anything I wear.” Christie’s is another place that Bakshi often turns to, when she is in the mood for Boucheron, Cartier, Bulgari or Harry Winston. “They have everything understated, with a great attention to detail,” she elaborates.

She also never takes off the cushioncut ‘brilliant’ diamond with a pillowlike shape, a ring her husband Sanjit Singh bought her as a 10th anniversary present. But what is dearest to her in her jewellery box is her Golconda ring, which was her great grandmom’s and was given to her by her paternal grandmother. “It has a special place in my heart as my grandmom’s blessings are in it,” says Bakshi. And it works out well for her because she is not a necklace person and prefers bracelets and rings.

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Cushion-cut solitaires are Bakshi’s favourites and are constants in her wardrobe. What she looks for always is great quality, so when she shops in India, it is only at jeweller Arun Sankhwal. “I bought this gorgeous pair of Burmese ruby earrings from him and what I admire about him is his integrity and quality along with unparalleled service,” she says with a charming smile.