There is a rather lovely story behind the name Athiiya. “I named it after myself because, quite simply, I had never heard the name before!” laughs the founder. Meaning new beginnings, the name felt instinctively right for the jewellery house she had always imagined creating. Although Athiiya was officially born during COVID, its roots go much further back. Growing up in a family involved in the jewellery business, she was surrounded by conversations about design, craftsmanship, and the pursuit of originality. The ambition was always to create something new, something people had not seen before and, perhaps even more importantly, something the family had not created before. Although her parents initially encouraged her to pursue a conventional corporate career, her creative instincts never left her. After studying liberal arts, she explored jewellery design through hands-on industry experience, learning about everything from manufacturing techniques to colour in Jaipur. When the pandemic brought the world to a standstill, she finally found the opportunity to turn years of inspiration into a brand with a design language of its own.

For the founder, inspiration begins with the India she experiences every day. “My biggest inspiration is the India I experience every day,” she explains. It might be an unexpected combination of colours in someone’s outfit, a painted wall, the details of a temple, architecture, or something found in nature. She loves documenting these everyday visual moments and translating them into jewellery through expressive gemstones and distinctive forms. Rather than looking at Indian heritage as something fixed in the past, Athiiya reinterprets familiar cultural references through a contemporary perspective. This curiosity also shapes the way the brand approaches adornment. Drawing on India’s rich history of body jewellery, designs such as palm cuffs, armbands, and nail jewellery challenge conventional ideas about how jewellery should be worn. “I want to keep pushing myself to create pieces that feel unexpected, while still retaining a sense of where they come from,” she says.

At Athiiya, individuality meets everyday wearability. The founder loves the idea of someone pairing one of her pieces with something completely ordinary and having it instantly add a little edge. Working with 925 sterling silver gives her the freedom to experiment with different forms and techniques while creating durable jewellery intended to be worn regularly. Gemstones are equally central to her design philosophy, bringing individuality, playful colour combinations, and personality to each piece. Beyond aesthetics, quality and craftsmanship remain fundamental to the brand. Rather than producing as much as possible, she believes in allowing each piece the time it needs to be made properly. Athiiya also maintains close, almost familial relationships with its artisans, recognising that their time, skill, and expertise are as important to the process as the finished jewellery. For her, creating a meaningful brand means respecting not only the craft but also the people behind it.

Looking ahead, the founder hopes to explore her Kashmiri heritage more deeply, drawing on its culture, stories, and visual language for future collections. It is a natural evolution for a designer whose work has always been shaped by personal experiences and the world around her. Yet, as Athiiya grows, the ambition is to remain true to the values that inspired it: thoughtful design, quality, and a genuine love for craftsmanship. “For me, the future isn’t about becoming bigger simply for the sake of being bigger. It is about creating with greater intention, reaching more people and continuing to grow without losing the intimacy, authenticity and love for the craft that brought us here in the first place,” she explains.

Through Athiiya, its founder is building more than a jewellery label. She is creating a world where heritage meets experimentation, gemstones become a language of self-expression, and everyday life becomes an endless source of inspiration. Perhaps that is what makes the story behind the name so fitting. New beginnings are not always about starting from scratch; sometimes, they are about looking at something familiar and discovering something entirely new within it. For Athiiya, that discovery continues, one gemstone, one design, and one unexpected inspiration at a time.