Costume jewellery now the rage

By Ananda KANNANGARA

You will be surprised to know that only two percent of women in our country wear gold jewellery.

A variety to choose from Pix. by Vipula Amarasinghe

Looking to purchase jewellery

A recent research, carried out by a group of students from the Colombo University has revealed that 98 percent of Sri Lankan women prefer costume jewellery rather than the expensive gold jewellery.

The research also found that 95 percent of young women adore costume jewellery, while a small percentage of older people love to wear costume jewellery.

Now costume jewellery is also known as fashion jewellery and is the rage among many women. Costume jewellery is large and chunky and looks expensive, but is made with low cost material. The way the jewellery is made the difference between costume jewellery and gold jewellery is difficult to make out.

These days women wear costume jewellery not because gold jewellery is expensive but due to various other reasons. Colour matching of costume jewellery is a major preference. Much of the costume jewellery can be easily matched with the clothes that young people wear which is not the case with gold jewellery. Teenagers are fond of wearing chunky costume jewellery which for them is a preferred choice.

Kamal Deen of Maradana said that although his wife had gold jewellery, she preferred to wear costume jewellery as she was wary of wearing gold jewellery in the open, with the increasing number of robberies taking place.

He said even pickpockets were now well aware of the difference between gold jewellery and costume jewellery but in certain instances the costume jewellery resembles gold jewellery and do not look like fake and can be mistaken for gold jewellery at first glance.

Sea Street in Colombo is famous for authentic gold jewellery but now Keyzer Street has become a popular hub for varieties of costume jewellery. There is a wide variety of costume jewellery available here An employee of the popular costume jewellery shop in Keyzer Street, Ravindra Raja said among women, at least 99 percent prefer costume jewellery as they look elegant and is available in varieties of colour and shapes to suit the wearer and the dress they wear.

According to Ravindra, most of the costume jewellery, worn by Sri Lankans is imported from Mumbai and Madras in India, Bangkok in Thailand, Korea, China and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Observer last week visited Beruwala, Down South to meet costume jewellery manufacturers and sellers. We met five people involved in the costume jewellery business.

A long standing jewellery manufacturer R. K. Samath of Beruwala said that the costume jewellery he manufactured cannot be matched with the quality of the jewellery, imported from foreign countries. "I manufacture costume jewellery for brides and bridegrooms who wear Kandyan costumes", he said.

We also visited several shops in Beruwela to see the sales of costume jewellery. The owner of `a popular costume jewellery shop in Beruwala, M.S.M Shimas said he started the costume jewellery business about ten years ago. According to Shimas a majority of young women visit his shop everyday as we have all kinds of costume jewellery such as bangles, necklaces, ear rings, wedding rings, chains, Kandyan sets, Western jewellery items, going away jewellery settees and a variety of bridal items in our showroom.

The owner of a popular costume jewellery shop, F.R. Narayansamy said they sell costume jewellery not only to ordinary customers, but also to actresses, models and other artistes.

He said they often conduct bridal shows with the objective of selling costume jewellery to young brides.

He said unlike in the past, customers visit his shop at Keyzer Street from distant areas such as Jaffna, Kandy, Kurunegala, Trincomalee, Ratnapura.

An employee of a Jewellery shop in Beruwala, N.S.M. Nafrata said they sell a variety of costume jewellery to people every day.

A 36-year old jewellery manufacturer, Gamini Samarasinghe of Kalutara said generally the owners of costume jewellery shops are Muslims and Tamils.

I took over the business from my father twenty years ago and I make frequent visits to Thailand and Bangkok to bring costume jewellery to Sri Lanka.

He said he has two shops in Colombo and a large number of people, especially women visit his shops to buy jewellery.

According to Gamini, the Government should introduce jewellery manufacturing even to Sri Lanka, then customers would not go to foreign countries to buy costume jewellery.

M.R. Mohomad of Bambalapitiya said that high quality jewellery could be purchased from India and some countries sell low quality jewellery.

He said the Government should stop importing low quality costume jewellery to protect customers from purchasing inferior jewellery. Mohomad also said in addition to low quality jewellery, some mporters are in the habit of importing low quality cosmetic items and these items are harmful to the health of people. A-30-year old costume jewellery importer, A.H.M. Niyaz wanted the Government to develop Kandyan style jewellery manufacturing industry, otherwise traders will import Kandyan style jewellery even from foreign countries.

He also advised women to wear costume jewellery even for weddings, parties and functions to protect themselves from robbers.