Meet Kanika Agarwalla | Designer, Creator of Fine and Fashion Jewelry

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kanika Agarwalla and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kanika, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
”I don’t believe in failure. It’s not failure if you enjoyed the process.” By Oprah Winfrey.

All businesses have ups and downs. The jewelry business is no different. My passion for jewelry design, craftsmanship, manufacturing and presentation excites me every day. I thoroughly enjoy visualizing new designs, juxtaposing them with occasions, budgets and taste. Being a part of my client’s lives through jewelry made for their major milestones and daily lifestyle is a source of deep gratification for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Having been trained in a more Classical and traditional way of thinking about Jewelry design, the use of precious and semi-precious stones, I find it exhilarating to cast ideas through the dye of minimalist, modern ideas of fine fashion. Elegance at first glance but opulence discovered only upon close inspection, that is the hallmark of fine jewelry for daily wear.

In my journey, I detoured to Fashion and Silver jewelry for many years. It was this ‘departure’ that got me focused on daily wear fine jewelry.

My greatest lesson learned is that what may seem like a detour, what may seem irrelevant at first, if pursued with equal interest and passion, has a way of re-integrating itself back into life and often becoming an enabler of success. I often think back to what Steve Jobs said in one of his speeches. Had he not taken a class in fonts and calligraphy from the Middle Ages, a seemingly pointless art, it never would have been introduced in Apple’s early word processing programs and the early adaptation of Apple computers would be unlikely.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Day 1: Go to Cleveland Museum of Art in the morning and have lunch in their cafe. Day 2: Go for an early morning hike to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and go to Luna Cafe for Brunch.
Day 3: Go for shopping at Beachwood Mall and enjoy lunch at Bomba’s Tacos.
Day 4: Go to Chagrin Falls for a mid-day stroll and have a coffee at Heartwood Coffee.
Day 5: Go for an early dinner at Le Petit Triangle Cafe and go see a Basketball game.
Day 6: Go to Pinecrest for some shopping and lunch at Kitchen Social.
Day 7: Spend most of the day at Mentor Beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
If there was one word that could signify friend and teacher, I would invoke it here. In Kim Mettee and Cathy Paetz, I have found guidance, support and outright inspiration to take what was once a basic sense for Jewelry making into a structured business that revolves around Fashion and Fine jewelry. Having grown up in a family and town that revolves around the jewelry business, I always had a good sense for the jewelry business. But contextualizing my jewelry knowledge from India for local customers was always a missing link. Training under both Kim and Cathy helped me bridge that link.

Instagram: wearable_art_by_kanika