Lounge
'Younger Indians want fine jewellery for everyday wear'
Summary
In an interview with Lounge, Biren Vaidya, managing director of the Rose Group, discusses the new luxury consumer, jewellery trends and why watches are getting more ornamental
The House of Rose, the jewellery maison, has unveiled its flagship destination in the historic Ballard Estate of Mumbai.
The space houses experience spaces for international luxury watches (they have limited edition watches by Chopard and Franck Muller designed just for the Rose brand) and jewellery brands, along with a bar and a fine-dining room that can serve as a space for a pop-up or a curated dinner meet.
Founded by Purnima Sheth in 1981, Rose began as a small boutique in the heart of Mumbai’s Opera House jewellery district, manufacturing jewellery for other jewellers.
When Sheth’s brother Biren Vaidya joined the luxury jewellery house, he believed that India's luxury and jewellery experience needed a facelift and opened The Rose Salon in Mumbai’s Breach Candy area, followed by another store in Delhi’s DLF Emporio. The newly opened experience centre in Ballard Estate marks a new chapter in the brand journey.
In an interview with Lounge, Vaidya, the managing director of the Rose Group, discusses the new luxury consumer, jewellery trends and why watches are getting more ornamental. Edited excerpts:
Also read: Why luxury watchmaker Franck Muller wants to expand in India
How has luxury consumer evolved over the years?
The generation changes every two decades. When we started, we were catering to my parents’ generation. In the 80s and 90s, they were decision-makers, buying luxury goods, jewellery and watches. They had a different thought process about buying luxury pieces and looked for three things— value, relationship in some form, and trust.
Being a doctor and a commerce graduate, I wanted to learn the field, and move away from the old tools. So I started selling jewellery to jewellers.
After two decades in the jewellery market at Opera House, I realised that my generation, in the early 2000s till 2020, had travelled overseas, the economy had opened, and we all were seeing lot of luxury brands abroad. This excited people and gave great aspirations. When I went to Basel for the first time in 1989, there was no Indian brand available there. With our heritage, culture and design aesthetics, there was no international luxury brand of Indian origin. That started my dream.
In the early 2000s, the generation changed and one more thing came into play, aspiration. We needed to create aspiration for the new generation to come to Rose, beyond the first three points of our parents’ generation.
This is why we moved to Breach Candy and created a salon that would be an extension to their home, they would keep coming to, and aspire for.
The high-network individual in India gets everything at home, so, by 2015, I realised we need to change again, we need to see what children see. When customers came with their daughters to purchase jewellery, they would be on their phone, disinterested, and were more excited about the clothes, the function, the food, the proposal, not the jewellery.
The need to stay relevant to the next generation gave rise to The House of Rose, with 15 experiences they could relate to.
Also read: Young India's luxury dream
What makes the curation of The House of Rose unique?
If you look at the store of any international luxury retail brand, the whole experience is catered around retail. The Breach Candy salon is the same. Here, it’s only a part of the store. We have an outdoor museum, different luxury design and retail experiences, and even an Insta spot, a staircase inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
The generation today doesn’t take a photo of the brand name of the store to post, but they capture something “iconic" (relatable) to the brand with the caption “those who know". It can even morph into an event space. Today, the luxury customer everywhere is the same, it is all about experiences. This is a luxury experiential store.
Your thoughts on the luxury watch market in India?
With people relying at their phone screen to know time, watches are getting more ornamental—boys' toys. Women wear watches as an ornament, like it has always been. Yes, they have interest in brands and will ask for a Rolex or an Omega, but with digital penetration of knowledge so deep, a first-time buyer will even come for a Bulgari Finissimo or a Franck Muller, knowing the exact piece they want.
Current trends in watches and jewellery in India?
Fine jewellery for everyday wear is a big category. During covid, my son pushed me to include it. We have four collections and they are doing well; Chopard fine jewellery is doing well too.
The younger generation wants fine jewellery they can wear every day. For wedding bridal jewellery, the customer is looking for layering, not one big piece and each layer doesn’t need to be perfectly matched, something they can wear separately later too. With watches, the brand is important but they are not necessarily looking for well-known and ask for independents as well.
Dhara Vora Sabhnani is a Mumbai-based writer.
