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A top fashion designer is set to create a new range of gold and diamond-based jewellery for Kirtilals.

Rohit Bal and the jewellers will launch two lines over the course of the year, with a set of men’s accessories also planned, reports the Indo-Asian News Service.

Speaking to the news provider, Mr Bal said: “There is lot of intricate embroidery design work in garments. And we plan to have jewellery with embroidery designs.”

The fashion expert may also release a range of jewellery based on his own sartorial creations, he added.

According to Seema Mehta, who oversees the design department at Kirtilals, Mr Bal has been designing bridal wear for the family who run the jewellers for some time.

The first collection of jewellery from Mr Bal is expected to be launched in September.

In 1996, Time magazine dubbed the designer “India’s master of fabric and fantasy”.

Mr Bal created his first line of clothing, traditional wear for men, in 1990.

A collection of gold coins from Afghanistan are to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

On display will be a gold aureus of Tiberius, Emperor of Rome, which is the oldest Roman coin to have been found in Afghanistan.

A first-century B.C gold medallion from India, which depicts a lion on one side, will also be on view at the exhibition along with a semi-circular gold ingot.

The collection, which will be on display until September, was organised by the National Museum of Afghanistan and the National Geographic Society.

Some 228 artifacts will be on display in the museum and range in date from 2200 BC to AD 200.

The US museum said: “Many of the objects were long thought to have been stolen or destroyed during some 25 years of conflict until they were dramatically recovered from a vault under the Presidential Palace in 2004.”

An Italian jewellery collection has been launched in America.

The Lera de Marini line will be premiered in Santa Monica, California at Fred Segal Rocks, according to the National Jewellery Network.

The collection uses 18-karat yellow, white and rose gold in its creations.

Lera Lasater Lee, co-founder of Lera de Marini, said: “We design for today’s stylish, modern woman, offering up fine jewellery that complements her busy lifestyle.

“Fred Segal’s clientele is a great fit for us and I’m delighted to share my designs with new customers on the west coast.”

Jewellery from the collection has been worn by celebrities Samantha Harris, host of the American Dancing with the Stars programme and television presenter Giuliana Rancic.

Plans to create stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal are currently underway.

Fred Segal is a fashion and clothing range with two stores in America, one in Hollywood and the other on Santa Monica Boulevard. The shop in Santa Monica is 700 sq ft.