Introduction:

Mumbai is a city of diverse cultures and various communities. Each of them has

their own set of traditions, patterns and beliefs. The varied culture has an

impact on the jewellery preferences with respect to the design and the

purchases of the jewellery.

I started my project with the study of various communities in depth and their

jewellery preferences. I tried to find out the buying behavior and the jewellery

preferences by interviewing many people of different communities. I went to

many competitors brand of Tanishq to research on various parameters. I

covered Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Juhu, Malls, Zaveri bazaar, Kemps corner,

Ghatkopar. I visited showrooms like: The diamond factory, Razwada, Orra,

Carbon, The Notandas, Kiah jewels, Popley, Varuna d jani, Amrapali, Roopa

vohra, Tribhuvandas Bhimji Zaveri, Mahesh Notandas.

I also visited Vaman hari pethe and Reliance jewels. I got the knowledge of

various things like the type of product they keep, price, communities of people

visiting there, their promotion strategies with reference to the schemes and

offerings. I also visited few jewellery designers dealing with diamonds and

antiques. Then I visited various malls like Rcity mall, Shoppers stop, Big bazaar,

Pheonix mall. There I interviewed many people in order to find out whether

people purchase jewellery at malls.

There are 6 main communities i.e. Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Marwari, Muslim,

South Indian. I took the interview of almost 40 people from each community.

Few interviews were taken to find out their culture in detail. Few of them was to

know the jewellery purchasing behavior. Then I visited few markets like Gandhi

market, Sion market and Dharavi. People there were very co – operative. It

became easy for me to interview them.

I met few customers of tanishq in order to have their feedback. Many were very

hard core loyal to Tanishq. Few customers found that Tanishq was very costly

but the designs were very unique. Few relied on Tanishq because it is a Tata

brand. Just for the Trust factor people prefer other local brands than tanishq.

Community study:

South Indians: They generally prefer plain gold and simple designs. They are

very particular about their designs and hence prefer family jeweler or some

jeweler from their hometown. Their main festivals are Onam, Pongal, Diwali,

New year Vishu and Dassera. They purchase maximum jewellery during the

weddings (eg. 101 tola gold). I interviewed nearly 35 - 40 people. They take

diamonds only if their grandfather uses them and it is in their tradition. Their

design depicts more of horoscope designs. Their jewellery consists of necklace,

long gold chains, earrings, stomach belts, baju band.

Gujarati: They prefer more of diamond studded jewellery with different

designs and variety. They prefer any familiar jeweler whose designs are

unique and have low prices. They generally prefer semi precious stones,

polka, uncut diamonds. Their main festivals are Navratri, Paryushan,

Diwali, Mahavir jayanti. They purchase jewellery from big brands like

Tanishq, Bharti jewelers, Sunil jewelers, Tribhuvandas bhimji zaveri and

many more. They prefer purchasing jewellery during weddings. Their

jewellery consists of necklace, ring, earring, baju band, bindi.

Muslims: They prefer more of gold jewellery. Most of their designs

include leafs and flowers. Their jewellery has mina kari work. Their

jewellery is very different from others. I found it very difficult to meet

people and interview them because they are very shy and do not

respond easily. Somehow I managed to get interview of Muslim people

when I visited dharavi and sion area. Their main festivals are Ramzan, Id,

Bakri id, Shabi barat, Eid Milan. They frequently purchase jewellery

during festivals. Their jewellery consists of mainly shaugband, jhumar,

pauzab, nathni, bindi.

Maharashtrians: They generally prefer pure gold jewellery. They

purchase jewellery either from their family jeweler or from big brands.

Many prefer those showrooms which are just specialized in their type of

gold jewellery. They purchase from popley, vaman hari pethe. Ladies are

very particular about their jewellery which they have to wear after their

marriage. Their jewellery includes Mangalsutra – corel, jodvi, bangle,

earrings. They generally do not purchase diamonds since it does not suit

them. So they bring diamond jewellery for 8 days and see if it suits them

and then purchase. Their main festivals are gudi padwa, mangla garh,

akshay truitiya, diwali, dassera. They have the tradition of purchasing

gold coin during akshay truitiya and dassera.

Punjabis: They generally prefer gold with stones, kundan, diamonds.

Their designs are very huge. Their main festivals are diwali, baisakhi,

karva chowth. They purchase jewellery during karva chowth. Their

jewellery consists of necklace, rings and earrings. They don’t mind

spending money for purchasing gold and diamonds. They prefer any

branded shop where they find designs suitable.

Marwaris: They generally prefer gold studded with stones, diamonds.

Ladies wear very delicate kind of jewellery. Their main festivals are

diwali, dassera. Their jewellery mainly consists of necklace, earrings,

rings, payal, belt. They purchase major jewellery during weddings. They

spend money more on purchasing gold biscuits and diamonds.

Research Methodology used: Exploratory Research (Questionnaires,

Surveys, Interviews, Observation method)

26%

74%

People purchasing jewellery from malls

Yes no

Purchasi

ng fro

m mall

s

visiting t

anish

q

010203040

Yes

No YesNo

61%

39%

People visiting Tanishq

Yes No

familiar with the brand

31%

Don’t know44%

Prefer local dealers15%

great variety3%

costly8%

No

Variety and designs40%

Familiar with the brand10%

Customer of tanishq13%

it is a Tata brand, hence, more reliable

8%

Have problems with the cost, design, gold

quality25%

Prefer other brand than tanishq5%

Yes