Though armed with a Master’s degree in Commerce; a Bachelors in Business Administration from Bradford University; and a diploma in Information Technology, it was jewellery business that was Ashish Sand’s calling…
Today, as the founder and partner of Savio Jewellery, Jaipur, Ashish runs the company, albeit with the family backing in all fronts.
Coming from a business family, which has been dealing in coloured stone for the past 50 years, it was a natural transition for Ashish to get into jewellery business
In an Interview with Rough&Polished, unable to hide his pride that Savio Jewellery is a Guinness Book Record holder, Ashish talks about his company and plans for the future.
Some excerpts:
Please give us an overview of ‘Savio Jewellery’, its history, growth graph and its present position as a leading designer jeweller in India.
Hailing from the beautiful city of jewels – Jaipur, Savio Jewellery was founded in 2006. It received the rich legacy from its parent company, headed by Shri. Narendra Kumarji Sand and Shri Rajendra Kumarji Sand, the eminent leaders of colored gemstones, for the past 50 years in India.
By the grace of god, today in India, Savio is one of the top designer jewellery house, which is giving tough competition to other jewellery houses.
Holder of 6 awards in designing and manufacturing, our company has also received the prestigious Guinness World Record for most diamond studded in a ring. And this is first ever Guinness record for diamond jewellery in India.
Are you manufacturers of solely diamond studded jewellery? Or you are into gold and precious stone studded as well? Can you give an insight into your business?
We are into gold jewellery studded with diamond and precious stones. We are also working for top jewellery designers of US and UK, who are making jewellery on wood and leather.
I hear that you have won numerous awards for your exclusive jewellery. Also, that your company holds the Guinness World Record. Can you elaborate on this and present some of the images as well?
We started to design a ring with the largest number of diamonds ever set in a ring. We designed the 18k white gold ‘Peacock Ring’ with 3827 VVS-VS quality diamonds mounted on it. The ring has been designed in the shape of a peacock spreading its feathers. The Peacock Ring weighs 50.42 gm in total and the diamonds used in the ring have a combined carat weight of 16.5 cts.
Apart from this, we have won 6 prestigious Jewellery Awards - IJ Award, JAS, IIJS to name a few.
Are you into exports of jewellery? Is there any overseas market/s you would like to cater to in the future?
Yes, we are in exports of gold studded with diamond and colour stone jewellery to USA, UK, Africa and China.
Certainly we want to grow our roots in these market, apart from catering Australia.
Over the years, what transformations have you seen in jewellery demand in the domestic market. What is the trend at present?
Jewellery market is completely changing day by day. Jewellery customers are totally fascinated with the ‘design’, rather than seeing jewellery as investment. The young generation of today is educated and going in for diamond jewellery rather than traditional gold jewellery in India. It’s the design and craftsmanship which is selling, not gold and diamond. Jewellery connoisseurs feel that their jewellery piece will speak about their personality.
So, it is actually good in a way, because we have to be on our toes always … in creation as well as in implementation.
According to you, what percentage, in terms of demand, would you place for pure gold jewellery, diamond studded jewellery and colour stone studded jewellery in India?
In India pure gold jewellery covers more than 75% of market but things are changing and gradually and percentage of diamond jewellery is increasing day by day.
Going back say about 10 years, we can easily say that this percentage was more than 90% for pure gold jewellery.
However, there is a good scope for diamond jewellery in domestic market.
Where does Savio Jewellery stand in the already crowded Indian domestic market? And how many stores does the company have now and where? Plans for the future?
We are creating ‘Savio’ as a brand, which represents designer diamond and colour stone jewellery. And hopefully, seeing the present graph, in a matter of 4 to 5 years, you will see Savio shining in its glory across India.
Currently we are having a single store in Jaipur (India) but we do trade shows - JCK Las Vegas, September Hong Kong Show and Shows in Gulf …to name few.
We are planning to open 4 stores in India by end of 2017 across the metros in India.
With gold prices on the rise, is silver the new gold at present? How does diamond studded silver jewellery fare in India in terms of demand?
In a jewellery piece, if we talk about calculating gold jewellery studded with diamond, and silver jewellery studded with diamond, the difference is of 20-25%.
In India, even till today, it is gold that is preferred as it is a tradition, especially to gift at the time of marriages etc. Personally I don’t think that silver jewellery with diamonds will ever overtake diamond studded gold jewellery in our country.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
