The diamond, undoubtedly, is the most romanticised among jewels. It is also the most coveted. If owning a piece of diamond jewellery can make one feel special, imagine if one could design the very piece.
Kirtilals Kalidas Jewellers gives an opportunity to diamond lovers to put their creativity to good use. At the swanky design lounge in the showroom, a customer can design her own piece of jewellery with the help of the in-house designer. As one describes the design in mind, the designer would fine-tune the pattern to suit one’s needs.
The customer could also choose from a collection of hand-drawn designs in the e-catalogue. The online catalogue can be accessed at the lounge and it has about one lakh designs. Every branch of the jewellery has a designer, who comes up with different designs every week. The designs collated from all the branches are analysed at the head office in Coimbatore and the best are sent to the jewellery’s own artisans. Pictures of finished products are uploaded on the e-catalogue.
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The lounge was launched two years ago in the Kochi showroom considering the buyers’ penchant for customisation, says Suraj Shantakumar, Director of Kirtilals. Though the concept is still evolving, it seems to have gone down well with the people of Kochi, as they prefer light-weight and unique patterns in diamond jewellery, he adds. Kirtilals has a design lounge in its Bangalore showroom, too.
The lounge in Kochi would soon launch a virtual imaging software, which would enable the customer see how the design she has chosen would look on her. A photo of hers will be clicked and it would be displayed on the big screen in the lounge with the picture of the finished product superimposed on the image. “It would help the customer decide what is best for her,” Suraj says.
Designing options are not just for necklaces. The e-catalogue has hundreds of designs of earrings, anklets, rings, bangles, pendants, and brooches. Customers can tweak existing designs to suit their preferences, too. For instance, if a customer wants rubies instead of emerald on a diamond necklace, it would be done. A chunky piece of jewellery can be scaled down to a sleek model too.
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However, this would not result in charging the customer more, says Suraj. “We have designed this concept with the aim of giving the customer a different experience,” he adds.