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Indian Women's Transforming Love Affair With Gold The concept of gold jewellery has transformed with changing times. The designs are becoming increasingly playful and the aim is to flaunt your gold in new ways

By Saroja Yeramilli

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Indian women have always been reckoned with exemplary fortitude, wit, and a penchant for embracing change. When it comes to fashion and jewellery, they have been known for their fine taste and setting trends. Traditionally, India has been a country fascinated with gold. Most households consider gold jewellery to be an asset, which is carefully stashed away in lockers.

Chunky and highly ornamental gold jewellery is usually passed from one generation to another as an heirloom to be occasionally displayed during weddings or social events. Until a few decades back, gold jewellery designs were inspired by culture, heritage, local elements, and the preference was to go for heavier jewellery pieces. Each jewellery piece came with a cultural and emotional attachment, and the idea was to keep it hidden and locked away until a special occasion.

However, the concept of gold jewellery has transformed with changing times. The designs are becoming increasingly playful and the aim is to flaunt your gold in new ways. The preference is to opt for designs that can complement western dresses perfectly. For instance, you would want to wear a different design with a business suit, and the same can't go with your beachwear.

Similarly, gold accessories worn with a summer outfit will not match winter wear. Neon finger ring to match a bright neon coat or stylish gold hoops to go with a flair dress, the aspirations are countless. The urge is to wear gold jewellery as an accessory or a style statement. But you can't really wear a heavy bangle, clunky floral earrings or a beady necklace with your work clothes, for instance. Thus, the millennial women are on the lookout for light-weight, unique, and eye-catching jewellery designs that match their everyday wardrobe. The fact that gold prices keep soaring, also makes the lighter and trendier jewellery a better option.

This is where the concept of fine gold jewellery found its roots and has become a roaring success among women over time. The conventions of gold jewellery are now fading out, almost as if the styles and designs have been set free from traditional shackles. The recent Covid-19 outbreak has also accelerated this change. There is an atmosphere of uncertainty related to the financial and health scenario. In such trying times, people are not keen on buying heavy gold jewellery which has only become costlier due to the rise in gold prices. The availability of lighter and more contemporary designs that can be used daily is enabling the women to fulfill their aspirations without causing a dent to their financial budgets.

Jewellery brands like ours have an in-depth understanding of this transformation and have thousands of runway-inspired fine gold and diamond pieces on offer. The focus is on creating pieces that address people's needs to make the most of the present and enjoy each day of their lives. Instead of heavy, limited in design options and expensive pieces, the idea is to create trendsetting and unique designs that can garner eyeballs at any gathering – be it a physical one or digital!

These trendy designs allow women to wear the finest of gold jewellery that perfectly complements anything they wear. Whether one wears a dress with polka dots, frills, feathers, bright neon colors or geometric, floral designs, etc, there is always something to go with it. The idea is to ensure that the women never run out of options to wear stylish, trendy, and unique jewellery pieces. The added convenience of low cost, multiple design options, and online availability make it attractive to women. With apprehensions around going to physical stores now, people are more than willing to buy fine jewellery online.

Fine gold jewellery is made for the 21st-century aspirations and signifies the independent, wise, career-oriented, fashionable, and caring women of today. Every design creates vibes of style and substance apart from being practical and minimalistic. Gold has thus truly come out of the confines of tradition, only to be reinvented as an all-weather ingredient of the Indian woman's wardrobe. Let your gold define you and give you the wings to soar free!

Saroja Yeramilli

CEO and founder, Melorra

Saroja Yeramilli is the CEO and founder at Melorra, one of the fastest-growing, fashion-inspired jewellery brand. Founded in 2016, the brand aims to create fashion-forward fine jewellery to meet the changing wardrobe needs of a modern woman. Melorra was born with her passion for innovation and her extensive collaboration with industry bodies like the World Gold Council, Diamond Trading Corporation (DeBeers), and Platinum Gold International.

She is a seasoned professional with 20 years of diverse experience in building successful brands in India and the USA. Saroja is responsible for transforming the brand Tanishq into an aspirational jewellery brand in the country. Her professional milestones include launching Tanishq stores in the USA and launching work-wear jewellery for the first time in the Indian jewellery segment.

An entrepreneur with immense experience in retail and expertise in setting up multicenter retail chain, she has leveraged her knowledge to redefine the contemporary fashion jewellery space in the country. An alumnus of Xavier Institute of Management, she started her career in Ogilvy and Mather as an account executive. With the passion for gaining knowledge, she had joined Mudra communications to develop her sense of the market. She joined Titan in 1994 as the advertising head and internally moved to head sales for Tanishq. During her tenure at Tanishq, she proved her expertise in generating consumer demand and received high profitability. She later moved to head operations at the Marico-Kaya skin clinic. With vast proficiency in various fields from sales to advertising, Saroja was still on the lookout to acquire new knowledge in the field of marketing. She shifted to Dell Pvt ltd. to understand the retail space better. 

After two decades of profound experience, she founded Melorra - India’s leading technologically advanced fine jewellery creators who deliver ground-breaking designs that are original, contemporary and fashion-forward. 

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