From Occasion Wear to Everyday Luxury
Tradition would have it that fine jewellery is for milestones only: a wedding, an anniversary or some other family affair. And when the festivities are done, the piece is put away in a locker to be forgotten for months, if not years.
Parekh set out to overturn such old habits. “Why should diamonds be confined to special occasions?” she asked. The answer was Araiya by Aza, a brand of fine lab-grown diamond jewellery founded on the premise that a woman’s jewellery ought to be part of her daily life, not just there to mark the major events.
With younger buyers now looking for luxury that is as ethical and personal as it is wearable, Araiya has made its home at the crossroads of everyday elegance and conscious luxury.
A Fresh Take on Fine Jewellery for Modern Women
The brand has come to India’s fine jewellery market with something of a different point of view. Where others might see a diamond as a wedding requisite or an heirloom, Araiya makes elegant work for it in the day-to-day.
Its pieces are for the woman who wants to feel empowered by her own accomplishments and not just tradition; they are personal and elegant, but never overdone. It is a response to urban professionals for whom jewellery is more of a style statement than an occasional investment.
Conscious Luxury and Lab-Grown Diamonds
There is a certain trust in the quality of Araiya’s IGI-certified lab-grown diamonds. They possess all the colour, clarity and cut of their mined counterparts, yet allow for a more responsible form of luxury. The brand goes so far as to use Type II and Type IIa stones, which account for no more than 2-3 per cent of global diamond quality. To top it off, each item is set in BIS-hallmarked gold. For the modern consumer, this speaks to the sustainability and transparency that are now front of mind when making a purchase.
How Araiya by Aza Is Building a Modern Luxury Brand
Versatility is what sets Araiya apart. You will find delicate pendants, rings and stackable bands here, as well as layerable necklaces that go as easily from an office meeting to a coffee date or a weekend brunch. There are statement pieces for the holidays too, but they keep a contemporary feel. The idea is that fine jewellery belongs in your wardrobe, not locked away.
And Araiya does not come to the table as some fledgling operation. As an offshoot of Aza Fashions, one of the country’s better known luxury retailers, the brand is well supported. It can draw on Aza’s customer base and offer a premium experience in any of the 13 stores the parent company operates in cities from Mumbai and Delhi to Surat and Kolkata. In an environment long associated with luxury shopping, customers are afforded the chance to browse the collections with the benefit of expert jewellery consultation.
The company has also made plans for two new Araiya boutiques to open as standalone operations. It is a move that speaks to its desire to put down independent roots while still making use of the robust retail ecosystem at Aza.
Market demand is evident from the outset. Araiya’s early numbers tell the story of a proposition that is striking a chord with consumers. In just one year the brand has put together a ₹10 crore annual run rate through Aza’s network. For any newcomer in India’s fiercely competitive jewellery sector, this is no small feat and it points to a shift in how people shop: there is more of an appetite for self-purchase and everyday luxury, and lab-grown diamonds are being embraced in greater numbers. Put simply, the modern consumer is less inclined to put off an investment in fine jewellery until there is a gift to be given.
Pricing is another way Araiya is setting itself apart. The use of lab-grown diamonds means the brand can present fine pieces at a level of accessibility that a mined-diamond equivalent would not allow. It removes the notion of something being “too precious to wear” and allows women to put together a collection they can layer and stack on their own terms, not just for the odd special occasion.
Then there is the matter of trust. Luxury shoppers of today want to see beyond the surface. With IGI-certified diamonds and BIS-hallmarked gold, Araiya offers the kind of transparency that cuts through the confusion of differing quality standards. For the younger buyer in particular, the ethics and lower environmental footprint of conflict-free lab-grown stones provide confidence in what they are buying.
The name itself is meant to have resonance. Taken from the Sanskrit for “divine and beautiful,” Araiya is also Devangi Nishar Parekh’s daughter; in this way the brand honours the next generation of a legacy Alka Nishar started with Aza.
What Araiya Signals for India’s Jewellery Market
One could say Araiya by Aza is part of a wider change in the Indian luxury market. Self-purchase is a key driver now, as is a preference for design and sustainability. With her mix of certified lab-grown diamonds, hallmarked gold and the backing of Aza, Parekh is putting to rest some old ideas about fine jewellery. Araiya is all about empowering women to mark their own achievements and express themselves without having to wait for a wedding or some other milestone.
