Gold continues to be one of the most traded commodities in the South, thanks to the ever-increasing demand and overall economic growth in this region.

This is precisely why the South is turning out to be the hottest destination in the country for jewellery retailers. Jewellery retailers from Mumbai, Gujarat, Jaipur and various other places are flocking to the South to tap the lucrative market here.

Biggest consumer

While industry sources say South accounts for 60 per cent of the Indian gems and jewellery market (which according to them is over Rs 90,000 crore), the World Gold Council says, with 40-45 per cent, South is the biggest consumer of gold in the country.

Though the gems and jewellery industry is fragmented in the country, South has more number of organised retailers in this segment. This, in fact, is in addition to branded jewellery chains with pan-India presence such as Tanishq, Gitanjali and Reliance.

In the South, gold has traditionally been valued as an investment vehicle and today investing gold is the second most popular instrument after bank deposits, says an analyst. “That's why people here buy mostly plain gold jewellery in comparison with their counterparts in the North who mostly buy jewellery studded with precious and semi-precious stones,” the analyst said.

Mr L. K. S. Syed Ahmed, Chief Advisor, Tamil Nadu Jewellers Federation and Chairman of LKS Gold House, says plain gold jewellery forms more than 75 per cent of the Indian jewellery market, with the rest coming from studded jewellery that includes diamond and other gemstones studded jewellery.

According to Mr Ahmed, there are over a million jewellery retail outlets in the South alone and most of them are family run.

Recently, announcing his company's first outlet in the South at Hyderabad, Mr Jai Begani, Managing Director of the ‘Forever Jewellery' retail chain, said the company has over 140 retail outlets across the country, and is now entering into the southern market as “this is the biggest and the fastest growing jewellery market in the whole country”.

Dubai-based Joyalukkas too has launched a number of showrooms in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, says Mr Princeson Jose, Chairman of one of the leading jewellery retailers in Tamil Nadu. Mr Yogesh Shah, Chairman of Gems and Jewellery India International Exhibition 2011, said South India's participation in the exhibition will be a major draw with regard to gold jewellery this year as this is the biggest market for jewellery of all types. He said, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala are known for plain gold jewellery, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are good markets for studded jewellery.

According to jewellery retailers here, South Indian jewellery's design element is very unique and has great appeal even in the international market. They say though many new and sophisticated styles have emerged in urban centres, the traditional style of jewellery is still in vogue and is usually the first choice in jewellery when it comes to wedding or other traditional occasions.

Inspired by mural paintings

They say, South Indian Jewellery has been inspired from ancient mural paintings. The characteristic arrangements of stones on South Indian jewellery in grid patterns are an abstraction of timeless features found in temple architecture.

For example, the 12 rubies which surround the pearl Nandi suggests the Rasi Mandala or Zodiac ceiling panels of the kind found, for instance, in the 12th century Subrahmanya temple at Pollachi in Coimbatore.

The nine stones at the centre of the forehead ornament that is quite famous as South Indian jewellery probably comprises the Navaratna but the arrangements are again that to be found in temple architecture, like in the 17th century Adikesava temple in Kanyakumari district.

In Kerala too, traditional ornaments continue to influence even present gold designs and patterns of jewellery. Every household boasts of owning at least one of them.

Traditional gold ornaments remain a main asset of Kerala families, said Mr Alukkas Varghese Joy, Managing Director of Joyalukkas.

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