…Vilasam, Vamsam and Menaya, featuring diverse design themes
India, Chennai, September 11, 2025: Luxury jewellery designer Meenu Subbiah today unveiled three new brands, Vilasam, Vamsam and Menaya, based on different design themes. Each brand carries its own story – one revives heritage, another reimagines legacy, and the third challenges the limits of design.
Vilasam: The Chettinad Revival
Vilasam is a heartfelt homage to the grandeur of Chettinad’s cultural legacy. This collection celebrates the region’s distinctive aesthetic and intricate craftsmanship. Born of two decades of research, Vilasam is inspired by traditional Chettinad art and architecture, like the paintings on ceilings in Chettinad homes and the patterns on Athangudi tiles. Vilasam is a true revival of Chettinad jewellery.
This collection’s uniqueness lies in how flexible gold links have been incorporated for fluidity and comfort. These designs are crafted to fall effortlessly on the body, rather than resting as rigid ornaments. Peacock motifs are an integral part of Chettinad jewellery and Vilasam abounds with these dancing birds. Every piece in the Vilasam collection has been meticulously handcrafted by traditional Aasaris, each intricate detail is the result of painstaking manual craftsmanship. Meenu Subbiah’s Aasaris have their ancestral roots in the historic Chola and Pandya kingdoms, carrying forward techniques that have been perfected and passed down through centuries.
Some highlights in Vilasam:
Mayil Maguri: This piece showcases exceptional craftsmanship. The feathers have been individually crafted and then lavished with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Intricate enamel work breathes life into every detail and the string of pearls accented with sapphires, lets this peacock dance its dance.
Kalinga Tara: The Kalinga Tara, or Naga Tara, meaning “Serpent Star” features a focus central emerald, rising through a trail of square-cut emeralds, with a ruby-tipped spiral. This exquisite piece can be worn as a head ornament, a brooch or a pendant. This unisex adornment is a timeless celebration of grace and power.
Poo Malar Infinity Jhumkas: Tradition and elegance come together in these diamond blossoms with interlocking petals and emerald centres. This piece offers a wistful reminder of the traditional arched windows in ancient Chettinad mansions.
Vamsam: A Legacy Reimagined
Vamsam is a brand that celebrates the vast tapestry of India’s heritage to inspire modern women to embrace tradition. It’s also about bringing two different traditions together to create something new. Like, embellishing Kerala’s traditional Mullai Mottu pure gold necklaces with a hint of precious gemstones. Or adding a touch of contrasting enamel work in traditional Jadau.
This collection reimagines Kerala’s Kasumala, Andhra’s Guttapoosalu, the regal artistry of Rajasthani Kundan, the Mughal Jali work and many more to present them as timeless heirlooms.
Some highlights in Vamsam:
Divya Alankaram: This rich Nakasu necklace from the grand Chola era, centres around a fully adorned Goddess Lakshmi seated with a pot of good fortune. Her divine form is encircled by rose-cut diamond studded petals. The Goddess is held by a kaasu maalai with a row of intricately carved Ganeshas, the God of auspicious beginnings. The piece is embellished with delicate starshaped drops and finished with shell-like motifs and soft pearl drops.
Ranakpur Chakra Choker: Inspired by the celestial geometry of the Ranakpur temple, this cylindrical Rajasthani jewel, centres around a wheel of radiant rose-cut diamonds. From the central chakra, the choker unfolds into a meticulously detailed cylindrical body, adorned with intricate lattice and architectural motifs that pay a tribute to the temple’s sculptural brilliance. This then flows into a descending trail of gold filigree work, ending in a refined closing clasp. The hidden key in the choker allows it to perfectly contour every neck lending it grace and grandeur.
The Eternal Emerald Heirloom: This classic bracelet celebrates lush green and regal cabochons, each encircled by diamond halos bringing together legacy and opulence in one jewel.
Menaya: Everything Unconventional
Menaya looks ahead. Sleek yet statement-making, this line interprets contemporary design with fluid forms that lend themselves to both everyday wear and occasion dressing. It reflects an understanding of how jewellery today is less about convention and more about self-expression. It asks why diamonds should only be cut in familiar shapes or why design should wait for technology when technology can be invented for design.
Flexible chokers that hug the neck, foldable rings that move with the fingers, day and night bracelets that shift from white to rose gold—Menaya offers pieces that are versatile, confident and resonant with the personal journeys of those who wear them.
Some highlights in Menaya:
Touch Me Not: This playful neck piece where the ends never meet, features a flexible collar of finely woven gold. At its centre, an emerald flower is formed by 4 square-cut emeralds. It is further
illuminated by sparkling clusters of invisibly-set diamonds, showcasing a variety of shapes that come together in a seamless display. This piece is meant for beautiful candle-lit evenings.
Chandeliers Every Way: These 360-degree rotating diamond chandelier earrings are designed to dazzle from every angle. With their brilliant movement and sparkle, they catch the light effortlessly making a bold statement that needs no accompaniment.
The White and Grey Wave: This piece evokes the image of a dark matte finish wave on gold. Each element is not a single stone, but a masterful invisible setting of various cuts – pear, princess and marquise. It’s a jewel that moves fluidly with a very flexible, invisible link, just like the wave.
Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Meenu Subbiah, said, “With over 3 decades of doing what we’ve been doing, we’ve earned a legacy of immense trust. Our customers, over the years, have become an integral part of our family. This launch is a redefining moment in our journey. With Vilasam we are renewing our Chettinad identity, with Vamsam we are seeking to celebrate legacy that transcends time, and Menaya is our tryst with the future. It has been a labour of love and I am so happy to share these new brands with distinct design themes with our customers.”
For more details, please visit: www.meenusubbiah.luxe (corporate) and www.msdjewels.com (online store).
About Meenu Subbiah – The Designer:
Meenu Subbiah was one of South India’s first few Graduate Diamonds from GIA-USA. Meenu blends Chettinad heritage with modern design, preserving traditional craftsmanship while creating pieces that are both intimate and effortlessly luxurious. She experiments with rare cuts like portrait and pie cuts and works with a rich palette of gemstones including rubies, emeralds, sapphires, tourmalines and more.
Meenu Subbiah – The Brand:
At a time when most jewellery brands source readymade pieces and focus mainly on retail, Meenu Subbiah is holding on to something rare. Across their outlets in Chennai, Coimbatore, Karaikudi, Trichy, and the US, known in the name of Meenu Subbiah Diamonds for the last three decades, every piece of jewellery has been designed and manufactured in-house.
Founded by Meenu Subbiah along with her father SM Subbiah in 1993, this brand stands apart owing to its deep-rooted connection to the Chettinad aesthetic and expertise in Chettinad jewellery. The brand is also one of the few globally that still practices the dying art of traditional close setting, a meticulous technique used in less than 10% of traditional jewellery worldwide. Their artisans come from a lineage of illustrious craftsmen committed to protecting the traditional techniques of their region, carrying a legacy of a thousand years of craftsmanship. Today, Meenu Subbiah caters not just to India, but also to clients across Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, the US and UK.
Media Contacts:
Nithya J, 20:20 MSL, [email protected], +91-8248270253
Sai Sahana, 20:20 MSL, [email protected], +91-8939205072
