If there’s one thing you can guarantee a cast member of Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives knows something about (apart from how to bring the drama and serve a look on screen), it’s jewellery. So, naturally, when it came to decoding what Gen Alpha expects from their jewellery, we turned to a Bollywood sibling and her offspring. Read: Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and daughter Samara.
Gen Alpha is growing up in a time when only the rare is designed to last. Objects are designed to be temporary, identities are endlessly editable, and ownership itself feels fluid. Clothes are rotated, devices are upgraded, ‘-core’ trends are cycled through at speed. In this landscape, the idea of keeping something for life—let alone passing it on—feels almost radical.
And yet, even this generation is not immune to attachment. They may resist rules, but they still respond to objects that carry weight. And natural diamond jewellery has always belonged to this category.
It’s within this shift that the modern heirloom is being redefined. And in a conversation between jewellery designer and Kapoor clan member Riddhima and young Samara it became clear that for this duo, heirlooms, especially jewellery, today are less about preserving the past exactly as it was and more about carrying it forward; honestly, personally, and with feeling.
“For me, diamonds aren’t about size or status. They’re about individuality. I see them as something you personalise, how you wear them, how you interpret them. It’s less about tradition, more about individuality,” Samara says. The 14-year-old is often photographed alongside her mother and her famous relatives, often dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt, a simple pair of hoops. Who has better fashion sense, your mom or your dad, someone asked her on a podcast recently. “Me,” she said with a cheeky smile. In her most recent appearance on Farah Khan’s YouTube show, she’s channeling a more moody, teenage avatar with black nail polish and a lace top. “Yeh heroine banegi,” exclaims Farah Khan, “Yeh ladki heroine banegi.”
When natural diamonds start being custodial
For Riddhima, daughter of Neetu and Rishi Kapoor, who also grew up in a famous household, natural diamonds were always associated with special moments. That feeling became especially stronger after motherhood. “Becoming a mother changes the way you see everything,” she says. “Diamonds stopped being just about style or occasion and started holding memory.”
Pieces she once wore instinctively began to feel archival not in a locked-away sense but in responsibility. “Some pieces were no longer just mine,” she reflects. “They were carrying moments, emotions, and stories that could one day belong to Samara.”
This is where natural diamonds begin to separate themselves from other forms of jewellery. They have this unique capability to travel with time without losing relevance. For Riddhima, this is precisely why diamonds continue to matter. “They represent permanence,” she says. “In a world that moves so fast, they ground me. They carry resilience, strength, and continuity. Trends will come and go, but that sense of forever never loses relevance.”
As for her daughter? “It’s about the emotional connection,” Samara adds. “A piece tied to a person or a moment. Something that can’t be replaced or replicated.”
The diamond ring that means two things at once
In Riddhima’s collection, Samara has always gravitated towards one particular piece: a diamond ring with a delicate heart-shaped stone. The ring was a gift to Riddhima from her husband Bharat Sahni to mark their first Karva Chauth as a couple. “That heart ring is incredibly close to my heart. It wasn’t something I went out and bought—it came into my life through love and family,” says Riddhima. For Samara, the jewel is already layered with the memories of her mother—watching her get dressed, wearing it for weddings and meetings alike. “From what I see, it’s both style and emotion for her,” adds Riddhima. “Pieces with a story instantly mean more to her—and somehow, they also look better on her because of that connection.”
This duality sits at the heart of how Gen Alpha will engage with heirloom jewellery. They aren’t interested in preservation for its own sake. They are interested in relevance and how something fits into their life now, without erasing where it came from. “What’s sentimental and layered for me becomes expressive and visual for her. That’s the magic of diamond jewellery—it adapts, it evolves, it grows with the wearer while still holding its soul,” says Riddhima.
How Gen Alpha will wear their inheritance
“Jewellery shouldn’t be locked away,” says Riddhima. “When heirlooms evolve, they stay alive. Each generation adds its own layer to the story.” Samara, she knows, would never wear an inherited piece exactly as it was. “I might reset it, maybe wear it casually, maybe mix it with something unexpected. But I would still respect where it came from,” says Samara. That balance—between reinterpretation and respect—is what determines whether something becomes a true heirloom or merely an artefact.
When asked what she hopes remains constant when she passes on her diamond jewellery, Riddhima doesn’t mention design or setting. “The emotion,” she says. “The love. The sense of connection across generations.” Styles will change. Settings will be reset. Context will shift. But the natural diamond—formed once, held onto forever—remains the constant.
