From precious metals to paper jewellery- three women, three different styles

From precious metals to paper jewellery, everything is up for grabs online.

At a time when the online sector is booming, it does not come as a surprise that jewellery, too, has joined the bandwagon, and the people associated with it are raking in the moolah. This is great news, for ladies with a penchant for fine jewellery.

Here’s how three women entrepreneurs are doing things differently for the women, by the women and of the women. Take a sneak peek into their innovative jewellery design labels.

Namrata Kothari-  At Radiant Bay, the attempt is to make diamond, silver and gold jewellery part of everyday wear. They launched in May, 2015, with an enviable collection of 250-designs and they hope to expand it to approximately 1,000 designs by end of this month. “We have a singular motto – to spread the message that diamonds are affordable and can be bought by all,” says Namrata Kothari, co- founder of Radiant Bay. The key to this strategy is a fairly simple one – they source, manufacture and design the diamond jewellery pieces in-house.

Namrata has a Management, Marketing and Finance undergrad degree from the Wharton School of Business in University of Pennysylvania. She was away in the US for seven long years, of which she spent four years studying and three years working at Goldman Sachs and AQR Capital. She then got interested in the startup space, famously associated with Silicon Valley.

“Lots of products were being sold online but jewellery did not seem to be top priority. So I decided to explore this largely untapped market,” says Namrata. With a view of scaling up in the near future, she adds, “We are working towards creating the largest catalogue of affordable jewellery.”

Janani Balasubramanian: This handmade jewellery brand specializes in designing and selling paper jewellery to women across the globe under the brand name of Kaagitham.

Kaagitham, ‘paper’ in Tamil was the inspiration behind the name and they boast of an unparalleled growth story. They started with a Facebook page and 100 likes in November, 2013, and are now a registered brand selling online through leading E-commerce sites. They are also in the process of creating their own website for buyers to actually create their own jewellery pieces. Kaagitham has indeed come a long way as they have exported several jewellery collections to foreign markets like US, New Zealand and Dubai.

“When women chose a dress with great care, they have a tendency to pick up matching jewellery, too. It is often seen that it becomes a struggle to find the right jewellery piece to go with the dress, as the design, size and colour have to be in sync. Therefore we offer customization to suit the jewellery piece according to their need,” says Janani Balasubramanian, founder and designer, Kaagitham.

The uniqueness of the Kaagitham’s jewellery line is that it is waterproof, sturdy and long lasting, full of vibrant colour, and light-weight.

Nitya Arora: Started in 2008 by Nitya Arora, Valliyan is an accessories label. Nitya works with semi-precious stones, glass, crystals, metals, acrylic, woods and other rare materials, everything combined with gold plating.

It was while pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Jai Hind College and simultaneously assisting designer Kunal Rawal that she came to her calling – she wanted to do something creative. Nitya then went on to pursue Fashion Design at the Parsons School of Design in New York, and graduated in 2011.

Apart from doing shows in the foreign markets of Bangkok, London, Egypt, Nairobi and many other countries, Valliyan has also done accessories for Bollywood movies, one example being the Sonam Kapoor starrer Aisha.

“I saw a huge potential in this industry and decided to stick to it. When I started off, there were only a handful of accessory designers. I am happy with the growth that this sector has witnessed and look forward to being part of it,” says Nitya.

Valliyan started with a handful of stores but now their line of products are available in over 20 stores. They have also entered the online retail market and are all set to launch their own website soon.