Naveli Choyal is bringing India’s men’s jewellery heritage back into focus

Jewellery is more than the stack of plastic rings you impulsively picked up at Pull&Bear last week or the pair of earrings you had made last month. Whether we’re talking about scanty trinkets or generational heirlooms, adornment is rooted in history, identity, and self-expression. It is a reflection of lineage, of defiance, of belonging – even when we don’t consciously realise it.

Across centuries and cultures, jewellery has carried spiritual, political, and traditional weight. It has shaped personal and collective narratives. In fact, today’s fashion landscape is built on these histories. Nose piercings were – and still are – symbols of marriage and religious devotion in South Asia. Septum rings, now a fixture in international fashion, were historically markers of status and spirituality in Indigenous communities. Ear lobe stretching, a practice integral to the identity of Kenya and Tanzania’s Maasai people, has been co-opted into alternative fashion circles worldwide.

Similarly, men’s jewellery, too, has long been woven into cultural traditions. In India, it was once a marker of royalty, caste, and community – until colonialism, modernisation, and the rigid gender norms (some of which were imposed by the British Empire) pushed it to the peripheries. Today, it is uncommon to see men in India’s sprawling megacities adorned with earrings, necklaces, or brooches. 

Photographer, stylist, and designer Naveli Choyal wants to change that.

Her men’s jewellery project is a deeply personal and evocative revival of male adornment, inspired by her maternal great-grandfather – a jeweller in 1970s Rajasthan who not only crafted exquisite pieces but also wore them with remarkable style. “Jewellery has always been an essential part of dress up for men in India,” Naveli explains. “I want to restore that history and reframe it as an expression of style, heritage, and selfhood.”

In her project, Naveli breathes new life into Rajasthan’s traditional men’s jewellery, reviving designs that have faded into obscurity or been confined to specific castes and regions. By bringing archival research together with personal storytelling, Naveli is challenging the rigid notion that jewellery belongs only to women in India.

Over the past few years, she has documented men’s jewellery across India, collecting references and designing contemporary pieces that honour the past while reimagining the future. Her photographs capture a sense of familiarity and nostalgia, but also defiance.

A key element of her work is how it engages with the youth in her hometown, Rajasthan. She photographs boys wearing her designs, their expressions oscillating between curiosity, delight, and intrigue. “It was interesting for me to watch these boys react to the pieces and wear them with a lot of fascination and fun,” she says. Through them, jewellery becomes a bridge between tradition and modernity, heritage and a redefined masculinity.

As part of this project, Naveli has also redesigned a range of earrings, a brooch, and even a perfume bottle – paying homage to the history of the region. “Each piece holds a story of its craft and region,” she explains.

By reintroducing these designs in a contemporary context, Naveli isn’t just reviving lost traditions; she’s issuing a call to Indian men to reclaim jewellery as part of their individual and cultural identity. “I hope to restore the rich history of menswear jewellery and reframe it as an expression of personal style and heritage.”