When Sucheta Khandwala and Priti Mehta joined Inter Gold, neither had the slightest vision of the future and their part in the company’s turnover. Inter Gold commenced its joyride in 1988 and it was in 1992 that it entered into collaboration with Hammer and Sohne of Germany. At the time, the company was branded as the largest diamond exporter in the country. With a growing demand to make the product a domestic one, Sucheta and Priti decided to join hands and create an Indian market for Inter Gold that would now be catering to local clientele. “At the time, when extensive research was conducted, we discovered that there wasn’t a market in India so we didn’t know people’s tastes nor did we know whether our product would do well here,†says Khandwala. Opening the first branch at Hughes Road, the two women jumped onto a carousal and from then on there was no looking back.So, after a training period of three months in Switzerland where the two ladies were equipped with information about lighting, height of counters, jewellery designs and other nuggets that would aid them, it was work, work and work. And today, Inter Gold, with an emphasis on quality, finesse and service, has opened out retail stores in Goa and Surat as well. “By March we intend to open outlets in Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Each outlet in a cosmopolitan city will have a chain of smaller stores,†explains Khandwala. And the target audience has always been “every strata of society.†With women’s jewellery ranging from Rs 500 to 5 lakh, and with a varied collection, Inter Gold positions itself as a universal store catering to all demands. And with a collection that ranges from Career Carats, Denim Diamonds to the Couples Collection and Spiritual jewellery, the evolution of Inter Gold is quite apparent. “Customers’ desires are changing and accordingly so will our collection. Today’s woman is determined to adorn herself with jewellery that is exclusive in taste and quality, that she can don for casually to the office but with a little bit of flash to convert it into evening wear. With Career Carats for example, we made sure that the jewellery was designed in a way that would not interfere with the woman at work,†adds Mehta. Incidentally, Inter Gold is the first jewellery house to come forth with a bridal wear collection. “In India, even Hindus have begun to wear the wedding band. So we designed a collection that would cater to the bridal couple with wedding bands for both men and women. And since a married couple wear their bands for life, there is a smooth layer that runs through the inner portion of the ring for comfort,†she reveals. “To create a market for custom-made jewellery in a country, where every woman is accustomed to visiting her goldsmith, is a kind of a revolution because we had no one to learn from. So, we can say that Inter Gold’s domestic presence is our brain child,†chimes the two in unison. And do the sales women at counters in Mumbai’s five branches undergo a rigorous training programme to acquaint themselves with the business at hand? Of course, each one of them is put through the updating process,†insists Khandwala. Mehta says that the two have merely completed the first phase during which they’ve grown from just women working in the industry to being manufacturers, retailers in visual merchandising. And their product, a blend of the west and the east, will continue to remain a notch above the rest.
