Only Jewelry

Romancing the stones The Hindu

14.12.09

Fathima Babu sparkles when she sits down to read the news bulletin. Suhasini releases gorgeous ones in her TV shows. Stones of all colours sparkle as participants stick their neck out with comments on We The People . Anchors in suits wear them, so do TV stars in conventional clothes. Corporate women take them to boardrooms. From informal and occasional to formal and regular — stone-and-silver jewellery has made it to the mainstream. Did narikuravas beam off their popularity, selling them off the street?

“Women wear stones for a string of reasons,” says Ashok Kumar Kadel of Sri Jugal Kishore. Gold price is up, recession has made it unreachable. Coincidentally, women's wardrobes have expanded to include non-sari outfits, and colour is the concept. “You couldn't wear chunky jewellery with salwar-kurtas and slim trousers,” he says. “You mix-and-match jeans with traditional Kashmiri embroidery and bling work, and need accessories to go with that. You need new thinking.”

And, that is to buy multi-coloured stones strung together into chic jewellery. “Ten years ago, if you bought silver/silver-dipped-in-gold, the family would “aiyo paavam” you,” Ashok points out. Only toe rings ( metti ) and anklets ( kolusu ) were made in silver. Now, even brides wear funky jewellery, says a salesgirl at Sukra, Mylapore, which has a huge foreign/NRI clientèle for its temple jewellery.

“Gems have always fascinated me,” says Revathi Seshadri, 68, who's fallen hook, line and silver for the trend. “I'm happy to wear something valuable as well as beautiful. There's no resale value, and hence chain-snatchers keep away.”

Retailers are cashing in. “We exchange, and we modify what customers bring,” says Ravi Shankar of Narayana Pearls and Gems. “Fashions

Source: