Imitation jewellery business flourishes in Gurgaon

"The local imitation jewellery market has seen almost a 50 percent rise in the past five years and is set to grow while the exports must have seen a rise of 20 percent ," said Gurgaon-based Sonia Walia, owner of Zara Hues which exports imitation jewellery to US, Moscow, Canada and Hongkong.

The use of imitation jewellery has been prevalent from much before in the West but its acceptance is finally catching up in India since the past decade or so. Walia entered the imitation jewelllery market 10 years back seeing the huge demand and necessity for semi precious jewellery. "In India, the trend is recent as compared to western countries especially in affluent families. They wear it as a fashion statement but now due increasing prices of precious metal, more and more people are settling for imitation jewellery," she added.

Walia says the domestic market holds a huge potential but to realise that the players need to be innovative. As per Gurgaon-based Chaitanya Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Juvalia & You India, the Indian jewellery market is pegged at Rs 1.40 lakh crore with imitation jewellery market pegged at approximately Rs 7,000 crore and significantly growing at the CAGR of 15 to 20 percent year-on-year.

Juvalia & You is a Europe-based imitation jewellery player that aims to encash the huge potential the Indian imitation jewellery market holds and is betting big on NCR. "Our major customer base is in Delhi-NCR which is growing double fold. Juvalia & You India innovative jewellery designs fulfill the needs of the middle class segment in NCR which desires to own beautiful but affordable jewellery and admire heirloom pieces," said Aggarwal.

"Our major customer base belongs to this region so all in all there is still a lot of scope in this market. Juvalia & You India intends to be India's largest fashion accessories brand and direct selling business in the near future by catering to the unfulfilled consumer need to purchase fashion accessories of international quality at affordable prices in the market. There is no single known brand that operates in this category and we are very much here to address that gap," he added.

The main reasons that the players attribute to the increase in the demand for imitation jewellery include volatile gold prices which have jumped four times in the past one decade, easy to carry, imitation jewellery being comparatively cheaper to worry in case lost or stolen and humongous variety that it has.

However, some players say that the rising gold prices is not the only reason for the rise in demand for fashion jewellery. "Considering the high disposable incomes in cities like Gurgaon, everyone can afford to buy gold or diamond if they want to. The rise in imitation jewellery demand is all about fashion. Accessories have become an important part of dressing up and looking good in India. With so much international exposure fashion has become important," said a city-based player in the imitation jewellery market who did not want to be quoted.