Priyal Jain is a London-based Indian jewellery designer whose work blends materiality, memory, and cultural identity. With an MA from Central Saint Martins and a background from NIFT Mumbai, she explores sensory design and sustainable narratives. Her practice reinterprets traditional craftsmanship through a contemporary lens. Exhibiting her “Baari” collection at New Designers 2025, she is also nominated for the Hannah Martin “NEW REBEL DESIGNER” Award.

This review explores the evolving meaning of jewellery for the contemporary Indian consumer, focusing specifically on the question: Why does jewellery still mean “gold” in India, and what are the opportunities for alternative materials as gold increasingly becomes an investment asset because of the increasing prices? Set within the broader context of material culture, consumer behaviour, and sustainability, the review investigates how traditional perceptions of value and adornment are being challenged—and potentially reshaped—by shifting economic,generational, and environmental dynamics.

The key terms include “gold”-defined here both as a cultural sentimental material and a financial commodity, “alternative materials” -opportunities for alternative precious or more innovative materials , and “investment space” - referring to the shift in gold’s function from a wearable heirloom to the asset sector seen as a hoarding asset.

Importance of the discussion

The importance of the discussion lies in its exploration of a critical cultural and economic shift happening within the Indian jewellery landscape — one that has implications for design, material ethics, sustainability, and consumer identity. framing the cultural resistance to alternative materials,It underscores the depth of emotional and symbolic investment in gold. It also opens the door to questions like:

• Can this “obsession” evolve?

• What happens when younger consumers seek new definitions of value?

The review functions on 3 key themes

1. Cultural and Emotional Value of Gold in Indian Jewellery-Where we are rooted

2. Opportunities for Alternative Materials and Material Innovation-What new possibilities exist

3. Changing Consumer Aspirations and Market Shifts-Who is most likely to drive change

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my MA tutors — Simon Fraser, Dr. Elizabeth Wright, Felicity Jury Camp, and Dr. Ulrike Oberlack — for their invaluable guidance, and to our technicians, especially Campbell, for their constant support throughout this journey.

I am deeply grateful to Mr. Parmanand Ji for his exceptional craftsmanship and collaboration on the Baari collection. His skill and hard work were invaluable to this project, and it was an honour to learn from his artistry and get his insights through an interview .

I am grateful for jewellery journalists ,Mrs Richa Goyal Sikri and Ms Priya Raj for providing me an unbiased opinion of the consumer behaviour of Indian jewellery consumers. I am also grateful to Vivek Rambhadran’s team for their kind response to my outreach and for guiding me to his published work that enriched my research

I would like to thank Jagrit Sachdeva for photographing my collection.

Most importantly, I extend my gratitude to my family and friends for their unwavering

encouragement and for always standing by me.

This journey would not have been possible without each of you.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My Practice

SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION

– Importance of the discussion

– Key Themes

– Methodology

– Structure of the review

SECTION 2 – EXPLORE

– Cultural and historical significance of gold

– SustainableAlternative Material

– Changing Consumer Behaviour

SECTION 3 – EXPERIMENT

SECTION 4 – EVALUATE

SECTION 5 – STRATEGY TO LAUNCH

SECTION 6 – REFERENCES

– Image References

SECTION 7 – RESEARCH APPENDIX

To read the full essay please refer to the following link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WDeAUFRavli_6ZfdetZjmVtmXEodP70n/