Kalyan Jewellers Timeless As Ever
Founder of Kalyan Jewellers, T. S. Kalyanaraman, started his jewellery business in the year 1993 with his sons, Rajesh Kalyanaraman and Ramesh Kalyanaraman. Today Kalyan Jewellers is one of the largest jewellery manufacturers and distributors in India with more than 140 showrooms. Over two decades, Kalyan jewellers has enjoyed a long standing presence in the Indian market. After opening four stores in Tricity, the Kalyanarams timeless brilliance comes to light at its new showroom in Chandigarh showcasing iconic pieces.
Meet Ramesh Kalyanaraman, who shares about their legacy and how they have carved a niche in the jewellery business.
Journey so far
Kalyan Jewellers was started in the year 1993, in Kerala, and today we have 145 showrooms all over the country. Kalyan Jewellers is in almost all the states in Indian now and we have showrooms in abroad too. The secularity of Kalyan is that we are a hyperlocal brand; it is not that we have a particular set of ornaments and sell it across the country. We try to understand the local needs and preferences, local pricing and local competitors and then set the product accordingly. For south India, we have local celebrity from the south Indian cinema endorsing the brand whereas, for the rest part of the country, we have Amitabh Bachchan and his family and Katrina Kaif as brand ambassadors. There are four to five showrooms of Kalyan Jewellers in many states- Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal. We always choose a local celebrity to market our product and try to connect people locally with the brand. We also have ‘My Kalyan Centers’, more than 700 stores, in villages around the cities, who help the villagers to understand things related to jewellery. All this makes Kalyan Jewellers, one of the biggest retailers in the country and hence, we are labeled as the local jewellers.
My involvement…
My father started this business in 1993 with my elder brother Rajesh. I joined them from the second showroom and have been there throughout the journey of Kalyan Jewellers of 2 to 145 showrooms.
Coping up with the different tastes of people across the country
It is not only about the different choices of South Indian or North Indian people. We started our second showroom in the year 2000 because my father wanted both his sons to look after each showroom separately. I started looking after Palakkad showroom and my brother Rajesh headed Thrissur showroom. It is then; we came to know that even in the same state people have different tastes and preferences not only for the product but for prices and sales too. Palakkad is near to Tamil Nadu so choices of people are more like the Tamil culture. Since then, we try to understand the choices of people properly and then set up our stores or products.
Transparency in the Jewellery business
The unorganized sector is coming down, day by day because people are more educated now when it comes to jewellery. They know about the pricing, real gold, certifications, billing, returns, policies, etc. That is the reason the organized sector is coming forward. There is transparency now in the jewellery business, and as a result, only organize sectors will be there in future.
Three things you can not compromise with when it comes to your jewellery
Restricting it into three is not possible, but there are some things that we especially look into
– We are very passionate jewelers, we swear by the purity of our each and every product
– We only charge for the gold content in the jewellery and not for the extra materials used on the same jewellery
– We tell the customers about the resale value of the product years after buying, at the time of selling
Future plans and coming with new trends of jewellery
Our team studies trends each and every day. This is not an apparel brand that we have to come with spring/summer collections or winter/fall collections, we are working on trends, preferences and choices of consumers, each day. Jewellery is a sacred business because it moves from generation to generation. In Indian culture, we worship jewellery and that is how we also look at the jewellery, as a holy object.
The best thing about jewellery business
People buy jewellery when there is some happiness in their life, marriage, birthdays, anniversaries, etc., so we try to maintain their happiness by proving them the best of things.
Alternate career choice
We did not get this opportunity to think about some other career. Since, the age of 19, I am working with my father. At the start, we were just 19 workers and we have worked as a salesman, as a cashier, even served coffee/tea to customers and everything possible. So this business is a passion for us and we have never thought of doing something else.