As the holiday season approaches, it’s time to bring out the traditional adornment. Based in Jaipur Mirana by Megha helps you do it on a budget.

Founded by couples-entrepreneurs Megha and Yogesh Rawat in 2018, Mirana by Megha’s semi-precious handcrafted jewelry is made keeping in mind the traditional concept of Indian shringar, with its 16 steps. Their popularity is evident because of the celebrity support they have received from TV star Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya, Marathi actress Abhidnya Bhave and many more.

“We make distinctive and elegant jewelry, using metals that are safe for all skin types. Our designs are contemporary, but stand out from the crowd on the market.

“Our main goal is to recreate the look of Indian women of the past, using a centuries-old traditional Indian aesthetic. We use a combination of real American diamonds and kundan to create each of our pieces,” the founders explain upon joining. YS weekend to discuss their brand and its growth.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

YS Weekender (YSW): Why did you start your brand and what do you think its USP is?

Megha Rawat (MR): I am an accountant by profession but I have always been drawn to creative projects. Shortly after giving birth to our child, I decided to change careers and follow my passion instead of facing the drudgery of a financial job in a bank. My husband Yogesh, a graduate of IIT Kanpur, comes from a family of jewelry makers. He wanted to extend the family adventure to digital offers, so we created this new vertical together: Mirana by Megha. I am the creative director of the company and Yogesh manages the operations. We think the time was right, as our page quickly started to gain a lot of attention on Instagram.

Yogesh Rawat (YR): As for our USP, we think we’re primarily targeting millennials. While some people still view jewelry as an investment, most young people wear it to keep up with ever-changing fashion trends. With the constantly rising prices of gold and diamonds, the continued exchange or purchase of precious jewelry to follow the current trend is not an economically viable option. This is where our brand fills the void.

We use real American diamonds and an assortment of kundan and other semi-precious stones. These look so much like precious jewelry in appearance that only professional eyes can spot the difference.

YSW: Who is the Mirana by Megha muse – your ideal client?

SIR: We believe that the extensive collection of Mirana by Megha is suitable for every woman and every occasion. It is suitable for birthdays, weddings of friends or for bridal needs – without burning a hole in your pocket. We also customize parts to meet specific requirements.

Our artisans are seasoned professionals with extensive knowledge in the field of jewelry making. We pride ourselves on the uniqueness, finish and creativity of our designs. Our pieces recreate the traditional look of Indian women of the past who would stand out in a crowd.

AN: We welcome clients of all ages and create comfortable, manageable, hypoallergenic pieces made with skin-safe metals. Our most popular collection is actually our Bridal Collection, which is created to give the appearance of the “Royal Bridal Look”. The pieces are specially designed to keep the different rituals that a future bride must attend from start to finish.

YSW: What has been the history of the brand’s growth since its inception?

SIR: Our brand is fully self-funded. We made an initial investment of around Rs 50,000 from our own savings. The investment consisted mainly in bringing in craftsmen to carry out my new designs, as the requirement was not met by the family manufacturing unit.

AN: Our growth over the years can be attributed to several interrelated factors. The main driver of growth for the list will be customer satisfaction. Many of our parts are designed based on customer feedback. The other is the quality we promise. Of course, our competitive prices have also contributed to our growth. Due to our in-house manufacturing units, we offer much more reasonable prices than other brands.

YSW: How did you cope with the challenges of the pandemic?

SIR: Because we had a digital presence, we weren’t that badly affected. During the first lockdown, our offices and day-to-day business operations were closed, so our team took the time to connect with our customers online. We believe this decision helped us build trust among customers and led to more online orders. It also helped us understand people’s changing jewelry needs, so that we can plan for the future.

AN: Buying behavior changed dramatically during this time as weddings shrank in pomp and grandeur, and people looked to buy lighter, more economical jewelry instead of bigger and heavier sets.

So we’ve changed the way we operate and believe it was this meticulous planning that led to 60% revenue growth and almost 80% more customer conversions.

YSW: In what other ways have jewelry buying trends changed?

SIR: A significant portion of the population who previously preferred to shop offline are now much more in favor of online shopping. We’ve seen a good chunk of orders coming from Tier II and Tier III cities, which previously were never in our top 10 cities.

AN: There was also a flip side to this practice. Many people have been duped while shopping from certain online suppliers, and therefore it has become doubly important for us to build the trust and satisfaction of our customers. Lots of fake pages and brands popped up promising items for a fraction of the cost and taking money from customers in exchange for promises of something that never happened or that were shoddy products.

We spoke with a number of clients who had been duped in this way and had lost faith in all internet companies. It was difficult to persuade them to trust us again for internet orders.

Another issue we faced was reassuring them about pricing, as counterfeit pages and brands gave them similar items for less. Fortunately, having our offline store in the heart of Jaipur has helped us gain trust.

YSW: What do you think is the future of jewelry retail?

AN: The future looks bright for online and offline fashion jewelry retail. The opportunities are plentiful as fashion trends are changing at a rapid pace. Many offline stores and brands have started investing in online channels so that they can tap into this online market. More and more brands are emerging and competition is increasing. Consumers can also choose from a wide range. So it’s a win-win for both parties.