Friday, 4th April 2008 (905 views)

Jewellery design students in India are introducing high-tech USB drives and hidden microphone to their luxury gold pieces in order to compete with "lifestyle" products such as mobile phones and laptop computers, according to reports.

Business Standard states that the innovative creations are the work of students at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad.

The aim of the designs is to ensure that gold jewellery, which has traditionally been viewed as a form of investment in India, can also compete in the country's booming luxury lifestyle market, alongside PCs, holidays and cars.

Spending on luxury goods in India has increased five times in the last five years, the site says.

In addition to the so-called "smart jewellery", students have also developed a line of "therapeutic" pieces, which incorporate gem stones that in traditional Indian culture have beneficial powers for the body.

Shimul Vyas, the NID's co-ordinator of the postgraduate programme in lifestyle accessory design, told the site: "While the products may be part of an academic research as of now, we soon intend to commercialise them."

India is currently the largest consumer of gold in the world, accounting for 715.80 tonnes of the precious metal in 2006-07.

 

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