Stone jewelry is a precious possession that is designed and crafted to last a lifetime. They have always been an integral part of the Indian tradition. The components of such jewelries constitute precious and semi-precious stones embedded in the traditional gold, silver, diamond and even platinum. There has been a significant increase in the global awareness of the economic potential of jewelry stones in the recent past. This has accelerated the rate of production in this sector and intensified the demand for the gemstones producing countries.
The Industry: The organized sector of the gems and jewelry industry in India is estimated to grow at 40 per cent per annum to US$ 2.2 billion by 2010. The financial year 2009-10, as per the Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council's (GJEPC), showcased an upward movement in its efforts to spread trading relations and widen its markets. Gold Souk, the jewelry mall developer, in its effort to enhance the market strategy, has planned a sprawling gems and jewelry special economic zone (SEZ) spread across 40 acres with an investment of US$ 441.1 million. A total net imports of gems and jewelry in April 2009- March 2010, touched US$ 27.49 billion (app) taking the growth to the tune of US$ 19.9 million over corresponding month in the previous year, according to the GJEPC.
The Structure And The Suppliers:
* India has achieved a sustainable growth in this particular sector, as a prominent international source for high quality designer (precious and semi precious) stone jewelry.
* Based out of certain prominent states, spread across the North, West and East, production facilities owned by local as well as National brands have proved to accelerate the Indian stone jewelry sector, which is primarily an unorganized one.
* The primal strengths of these units are their state-of-art technologies and the skilled craftsmen.
* Some of the major and domestic suppliers in this division are:-
* Shrenuj & Company Ltd.
* Kerala-based jeweler Malabar Gold.
* Gitanjali Gems Ltd.
* Many other domestic players spread across the country are trading in these jewelries and fast growing to make an international presence.
Overview:
India is one of the largest exporters of gems and jewelry. She takes pride in being the diamond polishing capital of the world. India has evolved in being a major force in the global Gems and Jewelry business on the basis of the following strengths:
* Availability of highly skilled and low-cost labor
* Established manufacturing excellence in jewelry (both with and without stones) and diamond polishing
* Most technologically advanced diamond cutting center in the world ·
* Harnesses the opportunity to address the global market
Conclusion:
Apart from the beauty and legacy associated with the stone jewelries, the gems are of great curative value too. The ancient scientific scriptures stand tall in finding relationship between color, planets, and gemstones. The color stratification, ROYGBIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet), goes on to explain the presence of cosmic rays in various wavelengths (colors), giving rise to unique affects on the health of our mind and body.