Talking to Deccan Herald Abaran Jewellers CEO Pratap Kamath said “Light weight jewellery is the current trend primarily because of the extreme flare up in gold prices. Also light weight jewellery can be worn more often safely.”
“We have observed a shift in consumer preference, more so with buying patterns of youngsters. They want jewellery which they can wear more often unlike bridal jewellery which remain locked away most of the time. Lot of western light weight jewellery is in trend now,” he added. Abaran Jewellers import jewellery from Italy, Turkey and Singapore to suit the preferences of today’s youngsters.
The size of the Indian jewellery market is Rs 1,25,000 crore annually and approximately 20 per cent of this is light weight category. No specific tactics are required to lure customers since their preferences by default are towards light weight jewellery. To join the lucrative business, smaller outlets catering to this segment have come up in various malls and duty free outlets at airports.
Shree Ganesh Jewellery House, Head (Retail & Marketing) Rahul Singh said “It’s a new vertical which adds new customers to our existing portfolio. Light weight jewellery is sold more frequently than heavy and medium range jewellery, thus an additional source of revenue.”
Trendy and chic designs and price points are unique selling proposition for the light weight segment. “Value addition would be in terms of design based collections and introducing Italian jewellery at affordable price for the woman of today. Jewellery for regular use and gifting purpose are other segments where we cater to out customers,” said Singh.
Reaffirming the importance of trendy designs, Malabar Group of Companies Chairman M P Ahammed said Malabar Gold gives more thrust on research on regional preferences to develop new designs.
“We provide lifetime free maintenance, one year free insurance and buy back guarantee for all kinds of ornaments including lightweight items. Light weight contributes 15 per cent of our turn over,” he added.