When she made her personal appearance at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco, she didn’t need her voice to sell her jewelry line simply called Padma – but it certainly didn’t hurt. Actually, we welcome it with open arms. Huge open arms.

Casually adorned in black and radiating with maternal beauty (the former model is pregnant, but it certainly did not look like it), she gave me a tour of her jewelry line. As much as I wanted her to say “Hands up! Utensils down!”, I was more than happy to hear her out about her collection.

“I’ve always designed jewelry,” said Laksmi. “I have a big collection of antique ethnic jewelry. This collection happened organically.”

Not as ostentatious as some of her ethnic jewelry and small enough to translate on a TV screen, Lakshmi donned them on Top Chef and then on a special “Sandwich Challenge” episode of Oprah – and once you go on that show, people start to notice things – in a good way of course.

“People started emailing Oprah about it,” says Lakshmi. “One of my producers said that perhaps I should try copying them. Then I got a Pantene endorsement and I took my paycheck from Pantene and I turned it into a jewelry company.”

Her collection of jewelry fuses her Indian culture with a modern aesthetic. She says that the delicate and hyper-feminine pieces are designed to “dance on a women’s skin, ear and throat” as well as be layered with other pieces.

With a nod to her love for food, her pieces include a “bean and pod” theme. IT include hoops, stackable bangles and front-to-back necklace that can be beautiful from the front and –you guessed it – the back. (Be thankful that I spared you the “Sexy Back” quip)

“The back is the most beautiful part of a women’s body, yet you never see it adorned,” says Lakshmi.

Pulling from her culture was a big thing for Lakshmi. She says that there are certain periods of a culture’s creativity that are so iconic and for Indians, it’s jewelry design.

“The craftsmanship and the sheer beauty of the jewelry is eye catching,” says Lakshmi. “When you think of jewelry, what do you think of? You think of either Cartier diamonds or beautiful Rajasthani with all these ornate heavy jewelry. Indian culture brings about certain jewelry and fabric.”

Lakshmi is fully aware that the outsized costume quality of Indian jewelry can potentially be too dramatic and that’s why she created this more attainable and timeless collection.

“If you wear a lot of those big statement pieces it can look ornamental or you might end up looking like a Christmas tree,” says Lakshmi. “Jewelry like this should stay with a woman forever.”

I don’t think that she could have said it any better.

For more about her jewelry, visit www.padmalakshmi.com.

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