Editor’s Note
This article explores how jewellery remains a cornerstone of Indian wedding culture, evolving from traditional workshops to modern moodboards. It examines the intersection of heritage, personal expression, and the significant commercial opportunity this season represents for brands.
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Every Indian wedding begins long before the vows are exchanged. Sometimes it starts in the goldsmith’s workshop, where intricate bangles take shape; sometimes it’s at the tea table, as families gather to discuss bridal jewellery; or in the Pinterest moodboards that brides and friends painstakingly curate. For decades, jewellery has been a symbol of pride at Indian weddings. And for brands, this season has become a vital chapter in their marketing playbook.
Few industries capture India’s diversity like wedding jewellery. From the temple-inspired grandeur a Tamil bride dreams of, to the ornate gold sets treasured across Indian families, marketing in this landscape requires more than storytelling. It demands a delicate balance between hyperlocal authenticity and a cohesive national identity.
For Kalyan Jewellers, this balance can be seen in every campaign, amplified through a mix of celebrity ambassadors as diverse as the country itself, and rooted in regional traditions.
This wedding season, the jewellery industry faces a big challenge: historic gold prices. Yet, Kalyan Jewellers’ Executive Director, Ramesh Kalyanaraman, notes that wedding jewellery buying remains deeply sentimental, with customers carefully planning their purchases within set budgets.
In conversation, we look at how the brand navigates the great Indian wedding season, blending digital discovery with in-store rituals, highlighting the enduring value of gold amid rising prices, and crafting campaigns that reflect both tradition and the evolving tastes of modern brides.
Wedding jewellery purchases in India are intensely regional; a Tamil bride’s expectations differ vastly from a Punjabi or Bengali bride’s. How are you balancing pan-India brand building with the hyperlocal storytelling that wedding purchases demand?
While our pan-India campaigns reinforce the larger narrative of trust and legacy, the hyperlocal storytelling allows us to reflect regional bridal traditions authentically. This dual approach, amplified through our national, regional and international brand ambassadors from Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif to Prabhu Ganesan, Nagarjuna and Pooja Sawant or Ritabhari Chakrobarthy, ensures that we stay culturally rooted yet nationally unified.”
The wedding jewellery market is arguably one of the few retail categories where the purchase journey still begins offline, with family visits to showrooms being almost ritualistic. Yet digital discovery is increasingly influencing even these traditional purchase paths. What does your omnichannel strategy look like for wedding jewellery specifically, and what percentage of your wedding jewellery customers can be traced back to digital touchpoints versus walk-ins?
The jewellery industry sees extreme revenue concentration during festive and wedding seasons, particularly Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras, and the wedding months. Industry estimates suggest 60-70% of annual jewelry sales happen in these compressed windows. How does Kalyan Jewellers’ revenue distribution align with this pattern, and what strategies are you deploying to extend the wedding jewellery shopping window or create demand in traditionally slow months?
The jewellery industry is witnessing a fundamental shift with 9-karat gold gaining hallmarking recognition, and competitors are aggressively advertising in this segment. This represents a democratisation moment similar to what lab-grown diamonds did for the diamond industry. How does Kalyan Jewellers view this shift, and how does this impact your marketing?
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