An exhibition of Indian traditional and contemporary jewellery takes place in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, May 12: Stunning jewels and intricate craftsmanship in ornaments created with a blend of ethnic motifs and contemporary styles are attracting a number of women to a jewellery exhibition that began today at a city hotel.

A plethora of striking designer jewellery, mostly based on royal collections of ornaments, are on display at the exhibition held by Art Karat.

Gorgeous necklaces, pendants, earrings, bracelets, bajubandhs, tikas, rings and pins are being exhibited at the jewellery fair.

From elegant sets compiled with an assortment of emeralds, rubies and other precious gem stones studded together on metals like silver and gold, to classic designs in pearls, various adornments from head to toe are attracting connoisseurs to the event.

Based on personal collections of royal families of India in Jaipur, Patiala and the Nizams of Hyderabad, a special line of jewellery — the Maharaja collection — displayed here includes an ensemble of artistic patterns and antique ornaments.

These have been designed by gemologist Asha Kamal Modi, whose creations have been showcased in films such as, Devdas, Monsoon Wedding, Kamasutra and Zubeida.

“Women all over the globe have been charmed by jewellery for ages. But with the price of gold climbing up everyday, attractive alternatives have come up over the past few years to flaunt designer ornaments,” said Vikas Gupta, design expert from Art Karat. “With a little touch of contemporary styles, India’s timeless designs of royal jewellery have found a great market all over the world,” he added. Traditional designs like kundan chokers and trinkets, minakari lockets and jhumkas, rope wire and zardosi bangles and kadas are also finding a strong following at the exhibition.

“The designs exhibited here look gorgeous and are yet affordable to a great extent. Most of the pieces are worth collecting,” said Archita Sahoo, an Oriya film actor, who was present at the inauguration of the jewellery exhibition. More than 700 designs have been showcased at the event where the accessories come within a range of Rs 2,000 and Rs 1lakh.

The designs have been crafted by over 500 craftsmen from across the country — from different parts of Rajasthan and Ahmedabad to Hyderabad and other south Indian cities, apart from the filigree artisans of Cuttack.

“Almost all the designs displayed here have been crafted on silver as the base metal with gold vermeil and studded with authentic precious and semi-precious gemstones,” said Gupta.The exhibition, which is on at the hotel Trident, would continue till April 16.