This bracelet centres on a silver drachm from the Kuninda kingdom, struck between 150 and 80 BCE under King Amoghabhuti, whose realm flourished along the trade routes linking northern India to Central Asia and the Mediterranean world. Nestled in the Himalayan foothills of today’s Uttarakhand, the Kuninda were shaped by the exchanges that followed Alexander’s eastern campaigns. Their coinage, struck to Hellenistic standards yet inscribed in Indian scripts, reflects a world in which ideas and artistry travelled with gold and silk.
The coin depicts Lakshmi, one of the principal goddesses of Hinduism, guardian of fortune, prosperity, and beauty. Her deeper significance lies in the equilibrium she represents: the union of the material and the spiritual, abundance guided by wisdom. She stands beside a deer and holds a lotus, the flower that rises unstained from water and signifies spiritual clarity, renewal, and inner balance.
On the bracelet, the lotus reappears in mother-of-pearl, some of its petals set with grey diamonds, twenty-two in total, echoing the flower held by the goddess on the coin. The ancient image and its contemporary counterpart enter into a quiet correspondence, allowing the symbolism of Lakshmi to unfold itself.
In early Indian art, the deer could signify gentleness, renewal, and the stillness through which insight emerges. Here it stands calmly beside the goddess, reinforcing the balance that defines her.
The coin is set in a flexible 18k yellow gold bracelet, carefully shaped to follow the natural curve of the wrist and to frame the coin with quiet precision. The setting remains deliberately restrained, allowing the ancient surface to retain its presence while the contemporary design unfolds around it. Through Lakshmi, the bracelet evokes an equilibrium between material beauty and inner harmony.
