THE LIGHTWEIGHT PROMISE

As gold becomes dearer by the day, retailers are looking to stock up on affordable, light-weight jewellery crafted in 18K gold as that’s where the consumers are headed. Manufacturers on the other hand are trying to push all boundaries to create feather-light pieces without compromising on design and quality

- Vijetha Rangabashyam

Jewellery buying in India has mostly been occasion centric. Women are seldom seen wearing heavy pieces of jewellery at work place. With more women being employed and having more disposable incomes, they are increasingly looking at light-weight options to wear every day. The little nest built for buying jewellery is splurged on buying multiple, smaller and lighter pieces as opposed to one large piece during occasions like Akshaya Tritiya. With gold prices soaring, light weight jewellery in 18K gold seems more affordable. On the other hand, for weddings and such other occasions were gifting comes into play, there is a growing market for jewellery that looks big, but is not heavy in weight. As the demand for such jewellery is on an uptick, manufacturers are pushing the envelope and are coming out with light-weight collections even in antique and jadau. Rajkot today is a bastion for light-weight jewellery, wherein a handful of players use powerful technology to create light-weight magic. They travel the world, especially to places like Italy, Turkey and Germany to not just buy the latest machinery but also find out about trends in light-weight jewellery.

18K for the Win