Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has entered into a multi-year collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York, with high jewellery forming the first release under the partnership.

The inaugural collection draws inspiration from Byzantine art, covering the period from around 500 AD to 1500 AD. The collection comprises more than 100 jewellery pieces and will be unveiled during New York Fashion Week on September 15.

The jewellery uses 18-karat and 22-karat gold, alongside gemstones including tourmaline, spinel, amethyst and lapis lazuli. Design elements include large pendants, asymmetric forms and figurative motifs reflecting Byzantine influences.

Prices for the collection range from $2,500 to $100,000. Following its New York Fashion Week presentation, the pieces will be available at Sabyasachi’s Christopher Street flagship store, which opened in 2022.

The collaboration extends Sabyasachi’s association with The Met beyond celebrity appearances at the museum’s annual Met Gala. The designer has previously dressed Indian and international personalities for the event and has also presented his own jewellery at the Met Gala.

Mukherjee said the Byzantine world was shaped by the movement of people, ideas and craftsmanship across continents, including India. He also drew a connection between Byzantine trade networks and Kolkata, his home city, as a commercial centre influenced by trade and cultural exchange.

For Sabyasachi Jewellery, the partnership places its high jewellery business within a museum-led international collaboration and adds a new historical reference point to its existing design language, which incorporates Indian heritage crafts and Byzantine influences.