Statement gifts are stealing gold's sheen, says TBZ Nirmal Zaveri's MD Samrat Zaveri

Although the TBZ Nirmal Zaveri family has traditionally dabbled in gold and other precious jewellery, when its scion and MD Samrat Zaveri struck out on his own, he chose a different direction. Zaveri has his own lifestyle gifting venture Shaze, which offers non-precious jewellery items, statement home decor pieces, watches, leather accessories and the like.

"Precious jewellery as a category is losing its relevance today," says Zaveri. "People still buy it for special occasions but not so much for investment purposes. It's competing with so many other categories of splurging like holidays, cars or even watches."

Shaze was originally conceived as a silverware brand in 2001. But soon, Zaveri realised that customers were not hoarding silver like before. "The market for silverware was shrinking. At the same time, the price of the commodity went up five to seven times. So I decided to extend the brand to other product categories," he says.

Zaveri contends that brands like Shaze must keep pace with Indian consumers who are savvier than ever. He says, "They are priceconscious, especially when compared to their counterparts in other Asian countries, but they are more willing to experiment with design.".