Inspired by Ancient Egyptian wisdom, Khepri Jewels’ founder and designer Reema Chopra ensures that every piece in her collection tells a story, with each gemstone representing themes of protection, transformation, and rebirth. Her pieces aim to push the wearer into an existence that feels as beautiful as the energy her stones carry. She believes that no piece is finished until it is placed into the hands of the owner, hence the name “Khepri”, which means “to finally come into existence.”

Reema Chopra has always had a sentimental connection to jewelry. Most of her early personal collection consists of heirlooms passed on to her from family members, inspiring her to create timeless and transcendent jewelry, free of details defined by short-lived trends. The Diamond Suman Choker from her Adamas collection, she says, gets its name from Chopra's grandmother, who was gifted the piece during her early years of marriage. Though the piece has now been modernized into a choker, it retains its classic and traditional elements that make it uniquely enduring. Like the diamond Suman choker, all of Khepri Jewels’ creations aremade with the same goal of fashioning jewelry that feels like a modern heirloom.

Today, Chopra finishes every one of her pieces with the same star stamp to remind her clients of the beauty of moving forward. Whether she is creating something new or revitalizing something pre-loved, each piece is mindful of helping one feel one's most reformed, sacred, and beautiful. See below how the designer begins a new dawn through pieces that provide protection, transformation, and life.

‍Can you walk us through your creative process when approaching a repurposing project, and how do you ensure the final piece reflects the wearer's journey and story?

I am very sentimental towards older pieces, especially family heirlooms. I find in today’s time, people fall into trend traps and are very quick to diminish these pieces to create newer trendier pieces. I have been doing this for long enough that I can read my clients within a few minutes of meeting them- their lifestyle; everything from where they travel to what they eat. I always suggest repurposing a piece or a diamond based on what’s most wearable for them based on their lifestyle and what will give them multiple wear- casual or evening. Not to say I don’t love selling my clients new pieces but I am equally as passionate helping them repurpose and bring old jewelry to life.

What qualities do you feel make a piece of jewelry timeless? How do you ensure your designs stay true to those qualities?

Using larger diamonds wherever possible as that never goes out of style. Pieces made cheaply with tiny pave diamonds have a zero lifespan; diamonds tend to pop, chip & look unwearable as they age. I tend to be generous when using gold in making my pieces, everything has weight & feels substantial. Gold is expensive so a lot of designers tend to go light on the use of gold when making pieces, unfortunately the jewelry wears quicker, diamonds tend to pop out & pieces lose their longevity. Sure, everyone likes wearing extravagant ornate pieces but unfortunately post COVID the world has changed, we all tend to lean in for a more casual chic look & people tend to invest in pieces that make a statement but are wearable. Keeping the designs clean cool & classic, ensures that these piece can be worn in multiple ways. I like the pieces to be modern but functional, should be able to pull them out of a vault a 100 years from now & still be wearable.

‍The brand ethos emphasizes the importance of gemstones carrying an energy that can affect the wearer. How does this approach have significance for the creation of modern heirlooms at Khepri Jewels?

We have heard for hundreds of years that various stones can be worn for a purpose & carry an energy that can negatively or positively affect people differently. I mostly avoided wearing these stones when they were gifted to me as I found it was tricky to figure out which stones suited me or which didn’t especially for daily wear. When I was a fairly young girl, my mother had inherited a 5ct light shade Kashmir sapphire from her grandmother after she died, within few short weeks of wearing it she began to get strangely ill and was hospitalized due to a tape worn in her brain and than later pneumonia, and spent almost a year in the hospital. Somebody, she was close with knew she was attached to this stone and kept it close to her, and asked her to immediately remove it. We all felt it was superstitious and bizarre, but she agreed and shocking enough her health began to turn for the better and she soon made a full recovery shortly after.

Coincidence or not my mother has been skeptical with stones ever since then and only stones she would wear daily asides from diamonds were the emeralds I gifted her few years back. Diamonds are a neutral stone to wear daily and mostly carry the energy and transfer energy of the wearer and does not negatively affect the wearer in anyway. Emeralds happen to be one of those stones that have this beautiful transforming affect on all people who wear it daily, especially when they are not opaque dark tones of green but translucent or transparent bluish green in light medium tones of the ocean. These are the tones of emeralds I travel great lengths to hand select, not only are they magical for the wearer the color in itself is mesmerizing. I love making various designs in emeralds and diamonds to suit any type of daily wear for all sorts of my clients and their taste. I know the magic in these modern heirlooms and I implore them to wear daily.

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The name Khepri certainly reflects the essence of your brand. How does this concept of "finally coming into existence" resonate with the journey of each piece of jewelry, from conception to reaching the hands of its owner?

Whether my client chooses to buy from my website, repurpose an old diamond or a piece of jewelry, or make a custom one. Each piece is made with the thought process of helping one feel invigorated, beautiful, & sexy whether they woke up in their pieces, dropped their kids to school in their pajamas wearing them or took them out on the town. The purpose of my pieces are to push you to come into your own “existence” & not only feel comfortable in the most basic version of yourself but also be the best version of yourself

Photographed by Cody Lidtke