Giving Voice to Female Artisans

Founder of Nectar Nectar, Nutan Roongta, has been putting a spotlight on women artisans in India, the very same country where she was born. She began her journey in jewelry in her home country, before moving to New York City.

“This is an easy space to really have women more and more supported in it.”

When asked about why women, the founder goes on to explain, “I think the arts and the craft and everything, also the force, is predominantly women. And I think this is an easy space to really have women more and more supported in it.”

It’s been discovered that the majority of jewelry creators are women, whereas 90 to 95 percent of the wholesalers are men. This is the case both in India and the USA right now.

It should be no surprise, then, that we’re seeing an emergence of female wholesalers, and those that are looking to recognize the hard work of the women who create the jewelry imported from other countries.

Creating a mission statement for a jewelry brand seems easy enough. You bring in a specific look, you create a mission statement for that look and type of jewelry, and you hold steadfast to that mission. Having been at the forefront, and having seen how the jewelry itself is crafted and mined, Roongta was able to build her mission statement for Nectar Nectar after being given a first-hand look at how the jewelry she loved so much was created.

“I really wanted the core of that to be economic independence for women.”

“I was dealing with people right from the mines,” Roongta says, reminiscing on her original start in the gemstone industry in India. “They would break the crude rocks. And they were just so beautiful that, you know, really inspired me and made me look at the beautiful, different aspects of this beautiful art form.”

As things progressed, however, she discovered a love for the craftsmanship of the jewelry and she saw that there was something that moved her even more. As a woman herself she recognized what was at the core of her brand – at the core of demi-fine jewelry in India.

“The other (mission), you know, other than seeing the happy faces around me – I really wanted to the core of that to be economic independence for women.”

The name itself – Nectar Nectar – is rooted in that same mission.

“The name is very, very dear to me,” she says, when asked about the name Nectar Nectar. “So Nectar Nectar is born out of a bigger mission, and a project that is in progress, but it’s in infant and development stages. So, it’s basically putting together an answer to society.”

“Nectar Nectar is born out of a bigger mission.”

There are two definitions for nectar – one is the drink of the gods, and the other is the sugary fluid picked up by bees to create honey. This concept inspired the founder to name her company after that sweetness.

“My vision of the whole society that I want to create around Nectar Nectar, is where hardworking, dedicated women come together.”

“So I came up with the concept of the whole beehive and the honeybees. It’s how they bring in nectar from different flowers and, you know, there’s no distinction. What is nice? What is beautiful? What smells good? They come into the grid, and they have a whole colony.”

What is, ultimately, the concept behind Nectar Nectar? What is it that makes this brand such a spotlight for artisans?

“That’s my vision of the whole society that I want to create around Nectar Nectar, is where hardworking, dedicated women come together.”

Nectar Nectar is a demi-fine jewelry brand based in New York. Its founder, Nutan Roongta, has created a company that employs jewelry crafters in India – an almost entirely female workforce. Not only does the company provide a spotlight on the Indian demi-fine jewelry market, but they’re doing so for the women, who are considered artisans – artisans who make each piece by hand. Nectar Nectar has been featured in Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, and has retailed at Nordstrom, Anthropologie, John Lewis, Free People, Henri Bendel et al.