IANS

New Delhi, Sep 23: He is striking when the silver is hot. With gold prices hitting the roof, Britain-based Indian origin jewellery designer and entrepreneur Suveen Kapoor wants to take "sterling silver" - the new fashion alloy - to the masses.

Kapoor designs earrings, pendants, necklaces, cufflinks and bangles set in silver and embellished with small zirconia stones. He has just launched his new line of sterling silver jewellery, "The Real Effect", in the capital.

"Sterling silver is an alloy containing 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent by weight of other metals with a purity of 925. The silver alloy that I am using has 95 percent silver," Kapoor told IANS in an interview here.

He said since gold prices started going up in 2001, silver has became a "fashion statement across the world".

According to market figures, the price of silver fell marginally this week.

"The idea behind my range is cheap and cheerful. I have been targeting working women who wear light accessories. Silver matches almost every outfit. I had initially started the range with synthetic stones one-and-a-half years ago. The designs were light and the trinkets were small, priced between $5 and $30," he said.

But Kapoor later decided that he had to design a premium range if his sterling silver jewellery had to sell in India.

"It is a micro-pave collection in which small stones measuring nearly 1 mm in diameter were set together on a delicate silver base with a machine. The design is so intricate and clear that you can make out every stone.

"Some of the small earrings have as many as 500 zirconia or American diamonds. I have stayed away from ethnic designs because they are big, chunky and difficult to manage as daily wear. India, moreover, is full of ethnic silver jewellery," he said.

Kapoor, who has tied up with the Great India Place in Noida and the City Square Store in Rajouri Gardens in the capital to sell "The Real Effect", has kept the price range of the collection between Rs.2,000 and Rs.6,000.

"We will be setting up another outlet in Gurgaon next month," he said.

Silver was first mined in ancient Anatolia, present day Turkey, during the Bronze Age in 2500 BC. India traded silver as its currency, along with gold till the late 18th century when coins were replaced by metal alloys.

The lure of silver is more enduring than that of gold for it has a place of its own in the crafts history of India, Kapoor said.

"Now, the trend is sterling silver," Kapoor said. He started the "The Real Effect" range in Britain in 2001. "I often use platinum in the UK," said Kapoor, who has been in the business for the past 30 years.

"Earlier, I dealt with gemstones," he said. Kapoor's headquarters are located in Hatton Gardens in the UK and he employs in-house artisans to design his jewellery.

Giving insight into the buying patterns of Indians and the British, Kapoor said, "British buy silver as treasures while Indians buy silver as fashion jewellery.

"In India, silver is cheap and is found in abundance. Though Indian women are fond of ethnic silver jewellery, the steep prices have forced them to opt for lighter contemporary jewellery."

Encouraged by the response, the designer is planning a new range of coloured zirconia and silver in 2010.