Padma Lakshmi's jewelry box tells story TV host designs line of graceful items

BY SAMANTHA CRITCHELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

The inside of Padma Lakshmi's jewelry box tells a bit about the model-turned-TV host-turned-entrepreneur: There's the traditional Indian handpiece, the 85-inch Fred Leighton diamond strand necklace and the workhorse diamond stud earrings she reaches for when there's no time to think about her outfit.

Jewelry has always been a favorite item, and, over the years, she has amassed an impressive collection.

Not every piece is fancy and expensive, reflecting how real women put together their wardrobe, with a mix of high, low and everything in between, she says.

"I think most women have one or two pieces on their nightstand every night. Those are the most worthwhile purchases."

Other than the studs, Lakshmi's other go-to items are a gold-chain watch and gold hoop earrings.

The earrings come from her own line, launched earlier this year. It hits the middle range of the fine jewelry market with pieces priced between $350 and $6,000 (availably nationally at Neiman Marcus). Her specialty is matte gold in pod and bean shapes -- which the "Top Chef" host was inspired to do because she so often works with food -- dotted with subtle, colored stones.

"I wanted delicate jewelry that wouldn't upstage a woman," Lakshmi says as she tries on a series of graceful bracelets, necklaces and earrings as if it were second nature. She doesn't have to interrupt her conversation -- or even a thought -- to put on, take off or even admire any one of them.

Lakshmi was born in India, raised part-time in the United States and worked in Europe before settling in New York. Bridging Eastern and Western fashion and philosophy is a constant theme in her work.

Among her own designs, her favorites are those inspired by the Vedic notion of Navaratna, a belief that simultaneously wearing gems and stones that correspond to nine celestial planets provides the wearer with balance, serenity and well-being.

The other special things in her jewelry box were collected over time. She remembers wearing her first pair of hoops at age 6, but she says that it's her gold bangle bracelets that she imagines passing down to her children someday. (The 39-year-old is pregnant with her first child.)

She had a set of 22-karat, brushed gold bangles made for her wedding to now-ex-husband Salman Rushdie. Lakshmi says she's not much interested in flashy bling, but she added a bevel edge to the bracelets so they'd catch the light when she moved.

"Movement in jewelry," she declares, "captures sensuality."

Even more than aesthetics, though, Lakshmi says the biggest rewards are the emotions that jewelry stirs within. "Jewelry is pretty and fun, and makes the wearer feel good."

And, she adds, jewelry is a better investment than clothes. "Clothes get worn out, but jewelry is forever."