‘Rattle up the industry’
Designer Raghvendra Rathore says there is a need to bring in freshness in jewellery designing, to survive the recession.

By Shubhdarshani Mitra
Raghvendra Rathore, the Jodhpur born designer, says the jewellery design industry needs a little rattling up, which will bring a new freshness and vigour in the industry. At the launch of Miasma collection at Zoya, the retail store of Tanishq, in New Delhi, Rathore said though his designs catered to the high-end customers, they could always increase the customer base by going for smaller diamond size or changing the shape and fabric while retaining the exclusive designs.

“One needs to make the designs reach to more number of people, democratically. Like if a piece of diamond is worth six lakhs, you cut it into four pieces, and the price will automatically fall. You keep the design same and change the size of the diamond. So, in that case you don’t compromise on the design. You can change the shape or the material.  Right now, the designers are working for other people or corporations so they are a little apprehensive to change the rules,” he told Management Compass.

In the times of recession, with the gems and jewellery industry being one of the worst hit, Rathore has solutions to cater to the problem.

“When you have the limited edition and the designs, the recession has no bearing on it. You can dispose this collection if you want to in between two stores,” he said.

Rathore is not just a designer but is involved in a number of other things. Talking about venturing into so many things, he feels that if one gets stuck with mastering one skill, one might lose on other opportunities but says the journey should be taken if you have the aptitude, else focusing on particular thing is the best option.

“I think some time back specialisation was a buzz word, now it’s a 360 degree. Out-of-the-box, localisation, are the key words now. If you keep worrying about specialisation, people will move ahead,” he said.

Miasma is a celebration of the coming of the rains when the heat wave is over. This black and white collection is the first in the series of four collections and the idea is to start a new trend by introducing the concept of seasons in the jewellery industry. This will not only enhance the scope of designers but also bring in freshness in the market.

“Fashion has now got two seasons, winter and summer.  What do you do in between, there is so much time a designer has. So you have to find solutions. But what is important is that your company should not be so derivative of seasons. It is very important to find out design solutions and we are working on that… We are going to bring out more collections, season wise. It will bring some freshness in the market,” he said.

The Zoya stores will exclusively showcase the collection, which is ranged between Rs 40,000 to Rs 8,00,000.