Prabuddha Dasgupta?s images often have instant recall. And few perhaps have been as widely noted as the Japanese jewellery designer Kazuo Ogawa?s fire and ice pendant wrapped around curved neck. It has been argued that the monochrome images helped take the jewels to new level of awareness.
That may well be true for those who have only seen the jewels in photographs, but ask any self respecting Bangalore jewellery shopper, and she will testify to the real thing ? any piece of jewellery by the Ganjam Nagappa and Sons of Palace Road. Local jewellers just about a decade ago, today Ganjam is preparing to take on the best name in the game. Globally. ?Eight to ten years ago we decided to become a brand,? says Umesh Ganjam, MD, with disarming simplicity.
Well, the history had been charmed well before. From being a traditional jeweller, the brand has traveled far and wide, becoming part of the swish sets in fashion capitals like Milan, London and Tokyo. Nor is Ganjam apprehensive about the size and reach of global brands like Cartier, Tiffany or Van Cleef & Arpels. ?They deserve what they are getting, but India has great jewellery traditions too, along with strong consumers,? he explains as a reason for his confidence at his new store in Delhi?s luxury mall, DLF Emporio. ?If we look at the international luxury market, about 80% of it is dominated by Indian craftsmanship. The English took out materials and our skills, and took it to the world.?
Ganjam is sure that the post independence period of austerity, which put India?s luxury market on the backburner, was nevertheless essential. ?But leaving aside this period, can we find a place as beautiful,? he queries. ?Indian brands want to be recognised in the luxury category, and it will take a while. We have to improve quality and be virginal in our design. Indian traditions and spirituality are our USPs, and none of the global brands can take that.? The business of luxury is all about being distinct, he stresses, in response to a query about carving a space in the crowded north Indian jewellery market. ?The north has tremendous potential, and has a lot of influences. Our jewellery is about what they do not see in the local markets.?
While traditional designs continue to be the base for the brand, designing has also seen a lot of innovations. Today many of the collections eg Le Jardin or Contemporary, cater to a more international look. Perfect is a continuous process, and even the diamonds used are ?of a minimum VVS1 standard. For the uninitiated, like me, that stands for Very Very Slightly Imperfect, which are about a quarter of the diamonds used in the company. Most are FL, Flawless or IF-Internally Flawless. Ganjam also explains that international crafts like Florentine art were identified and combined with the traditional skills to impart a more contemporary feel. ?We are part of the art jewellery movement, and have earned respect as someone very different,? says Ganjam. To further the brand conscious however, the brand also sponsors a polo competition in Windsor, UK as well as in Delhi.
Just about any piece of art from the brand is special. For most collections, explains Ganjam, a one-off lead piece is made, and then one slightly lower level for each boutique (there are now four ? including one at the Taj in Mumbai, which was the first outlet outside Bangalore for the brand, and was destroyed in the attacks on the hotel on 26/11). One piece each is made for Japan and Europe, two of the brand?s major outside India. He also mentions Dubai and Russia as major customers. After that four to six pieces are made for general retail. ?A product manufacturing cycle generally takes about two years.? The brand employs three traditional designers, who have designing for four generations and 13 contemporary designers. Though there is no outlet, the brand has 30 to 40 shows in countries like Japan, where there is high demand.
Ganjam admits the transition to being a brand was not easy. And distribution and retail are challenges still. He is however encouraged about the response of the younger generations. ?They understand traditions, and are also willing to look forward,? he says. A great learning came boutique at the Taj, where he says unlike in Bangalore, about 50% of the sale comes from repeat customers, almost all the sales are from non-Mumbaikars! Another challenge is the rapid extinction of family craft traditions. ?No crafts have training centres,? he mentions as a bane of Indian society, pointing out that education is not pragmatic. To this end, the brand has established a training centre in Bangalore, where batches of 10 to 20 students are admitted after stringent psychography tests for a year long course followed by on the job training for a further three to six months.
As for further, the brand has put planned expansion on hold. ?We had plans to go to more cities, but the current market scenario has put paid to all plans,? Ganjam says. ?Consumers are just not walking in,? he says ruefully. Nor is he as confident about the near future. ?There was tremendous growth, but how much of it was real,? he muses about the past few years. ?If we grow at 4-5%, then we have to rejig our plans, he discloses. For those hooked by Ganjam designs, however, such ups and downs are unlikely to matter.
History as a muse
Arguably the most famous name in high-end jewellery, the origin of the house of Ganjam can be traced back to the Vijayanagar Empire, when a group of merchants trading in precious gemstones migrated from the town of Ganjam on the east coast of Orissa. The crucial turning point came when in 1889, Ganjam Nagappa was appointed jeweller to The Maharajah of Mysore. As Bangalore grew in the late 19th century, the Ganjams moved here. During the reign of Maharaja Jayachama Rajendra Wodeyar, the firm received the Royal Appointment. Ganjam is credited with introducing diamond jewellery in Karnataka and it is recognised for its expertise in dealing with pearls and rubies. Today, among the specialisations are the ‘Benaras Cut? of diamonds, also called as Rose Cut, and Kaashi Vajra, a blend of the contemporary designs and the Rose Cut. Moving from gold, other precious minerals used include South Sea pearls, platinum, rubies and coloured diamond.