Ambaji Shinde, 85, who was born in Goa and worked for the House of Harry Winston, the reputed New York jeweller, died in Manhattan this week.

Shinde, who started his career as a painter, was an alumnus of the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai. Later, he chose to become a jewellery designer, a profession that would bring him worldwide fame.

He designed the coronation jewels for the maharaja of Baroda and also created jewellery for the maharajas of Porbandar and Dhar. All his designs were inspired by the great temple sculptures of India.

After India's independence the maharajas had stopped commissioning special designs, for which he was famous. Around this time, Shinde's work came to the attention of the late Harry Winston, the founder of the firm, and he offered him a job in Manhattan.

Shinde accepted the offer and went to Manhattan, leaving behind his wife and six children.

Since then Shinde, who remained the firm's chief designer until his retirement in 2001 after 36 years of service, never looked back.

In 1997, Shinde designed the princess necklace worn by Gwyenth Paltrow when she accepted her academy award.

Among the other celebrities who have glittered in Shinde's creations at Oscar ceremonies are Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Julianne Moore, Marcia Gay Harden, Halle Berry, Madonna and Mira Sorvino.

"Mr Shinde was one of the great jewel designers of the 20^th century and one of the moving spirits of the company," said Ronald Winston, head of the House of Harry Winston.

"The company has a worldwide reputation for the exquisite designs of its legendary jewelled fantasies. A large part of the credit goes to the firm's principal designer Ambaji Shinde," the company said in a statement.

In preparation for a new design, Shinde would draw a detailed rendering of the proposed creation.

Officials at the House of Harry Winston said there are plans to hold an exhibition of these renderings, which provide a pictorial record of the creation of some of the company's most prized pieces.

"Shinde is that rare phenomenon, an old-world craftsman who has moved easily into the fulfilling the demands of the modern jewellery customer," said the company.

"Mr Shinde's talent lay in his understanding of the way stones are cut, his sense of proportion and scale and his way of offsetting one stone against the other," the New York Times quoted Simon Teakle of the jewellery department ay Christie's as saying.

"He took his Indian jewellery and cultural heritage and background and used them to create distinctly Western pieces," Teakle said.

Shinde is survived by four sons, two of whom live in the US, and eight grandchildren.