mumbai diamonds always draw attention but its rare when the diamantaire seems to shine brighter than the stones he setsdespite making a late entry into the retail business in 2010 nirav modi quickly gained a reputation as indias jeweller to the stars as hollywood alisters from kate winslet and dakota johnson to taraji p henson walked the red carpet in diamonds from his eponymous brandlate last year priyanka chopra was roped in as brand ambassador by 2013 he had made it to the forbes billionaires listthe allegations of bank fraud that have emerged against modi tarnished a brand that had been as carefully crafted as his signature stretchable bracelets his public relations team made sure he got his share of flattering profiles in the mediaone luxury writer from los angeles was clearly floored after modi closed his entire delhi store just for me so that the journalist could experience the luxury that most wealthy buyers have and drove him to the airport afterwardsthough modi 48 comes from a family of diamond brokers in antwerp belgium and grew up in the trade hes often told journalists that he didnt plan to join the business he got into wharton studied finance for a year dropped out and decided to get into diamond trading after all as a 19yearold he was sent to mumbai to learn the ropes from his maternal uncle mehul choksi chairman of gitanjali gemsin 1999 he set up firestar diamond to source rare diamonds and acquired a string of international companies that helped him build his network and get into contract manufacturingapart from india it has manufacturing units in russia armenia and south africa it was in 2008 that a request from a friend for a rare piece of jewellery got modi interested in retailread also rs 11000 crore pnb fraud will have a domino effect on banksmodi opened his first flagship boutique in new delhis defence colony in 2014 a store in mumbais kala ghoda followed the next year at the glittering opening of his madison avenue store in new york in 2015 actors naomi watts nimrat kaur and lisa haydon and model coco rocha were among the celebrities who showed up he also has boutiques in london singapore beijing and macaulast year he purchased rhythm house the iconic mumbai music shop for a reported rs 32 crore with plans to turn it into a retail spacemodi who is often described as softspoken and unassuming is reported to have strategically picked up rare diamonds at bargain prices during the slowdown in 2009 the move paid dividends in november 2010 christies auctioned his golconda lotus necklace with a flawless 12carat golconda diamond for over rs 16 croreand put it on the cover of its auction catalogue the first for an indian jeweller without a 100year historymodi cant draw but explains his ideas to his craftspersons who go back and forth with the designs and prototypes until they match the vision in his head hes told the media for now