Jewellery is in our DNA. We Indians have been using jewellery for adornment since centuries. The significance of jewellery in the country is evident from the fact that jewellery forms an essential part of the fabric of births, birthdays, marriages, anniversaries and festivals in India. Indian jewellery is unique in its design and workmanship. Jewellery made with emeralds, diamonds, pearls, rubies, sapphires and other precious and semi-precious stones have been in practice for long.
Further jewellery is not only limited to the purpose of adornment but in a country that does not have social security also plays the all important security and investment role. Gold and diamond are still the most popular and precious jewellery choices among people. Interestingly we still do not consider gold below 18-karat as ‘real gold’ or an investment. Even today gold is the metal most widely used for ornaments for various occasions such as wedding ceremonies and other festivals. A rising trend which has been seen over the last decade is the increasing popularity of diamond jewellery.
One other emerging aspect is that of daily wear jewellery. The modern day working woman prefer to wear jewellery that is real, light in weight, comfortable to wear and which can be worn in her normal office schedule. It should also be noted in this context that most organised jewellery retailers provide their customers authentic hallmarked gold and certified diamond jewellery with designs on par with international trends.
In our opinion the growth of the Indian imitation jewellery demand has been fuelled by the rising fashion consciousness of the Indian woman and also resort weddings and other travel related factors. Due to its affordability, it is much safer to make a travel collection for wedding as well as wedding-related wear. Also due to the relatively lower cost imitation jewellery can be worn and discarded according to latest trends.
We therefore believe that while costume jewellery will grow and play its own role in the Indian market, the preeminent position enjoyed by precious fine jewellery is unlikely to wane for time to come. It should also be noted that the precious Indian jewellery industry is undergoing significant transformation. We are seeing the emergence of contemporary, modern, trendy, light weight jewellery. It is this constant design evolution that will keep the precious fine jewelry market relevant and dominant.
