Men’s Jewellery - The Emergent Market Segment

Women have always been considered the connoisseurs of precious jewellery!. But this was not always the case. History has shown that men have always worn jewellery to some extent and even surpassed women sometimes. Kings and leaders have worn jewellery as a sign of power and to stamp their authority over others.

Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, Aztecs, Greeks and Romans to modern rulers in India, Britain and Europe have worn several forms of jewellery according to their status and power. Crowns and diadems have always served as the supreme authority. Signet rings were often used as official seals or stamps.

Even religious heads have fallen for the appeal of jewellery with several articles of religious significance being worn by them Jewellery has always had some significance for men, whether as a sign of commitment with a simple wedding band or an affiliation to a club or educational institution. Celebrities from movies and music alike have also influenced the trends in men’s jewellery.

In today’s retail scenario, men’s jewellery is seen as a fast growing segment. With men across all age groups willing to buy jewellery as a fashion accessory, several designers have introduced special ranges of men’s jewellery. Younger boys are more influenced by fashion trends while men prefer classic styling.

The articles of jewellery available for men are rings, pendants, bracelets,cufflinks, tie-pins, hat-pins, chains and the list goes on. While gold and silver are classic metals, platinum, steel and titanium are also gaining favour.

The styling for men’s jewellery is also different. Geometrical shapes, crisp lines and angles are preferred. Colours if used are masculine and bold like red, navy blue or black and white. Themes also cater to male interests. Sports like grand prix, golf, football etc serve as inspiration to designers.

The technical and mechanical fields also influence design with circuits, rivets, bolts etc used as elements in men’s design. Symbols like crests, coat of arms or special league marks are commonly used on rings or cufflinks.

Precious gemstones and diamonds are also preferred by affluent men. However stone cuts

like the round, emerald, baguette, asscher and trillion are desired for their clean geometrical lines.

Designer and branded jewellery for men is a very viable business for designers to tap into as men are ready to spend the money to own that distinctive piece of masculine jewellery.

Branded Jewellery

A brand serves as a distinction of a product from others of its kind. Brand names create distinguishing images or identity for a consumer to recognize and desire. Brands exist in almost all industries and the Jewellery industry is no different.

In older times, jewellery was seen as the indulgence of the affluent society with court jewellers producing exquisite handmade one of a kind pieces. But with industrialization and better prosperity across the populace, jewellery is sought after by all classes. 

For better catering to this wide and divergent market, jewellery producers have started adopting a brand identity. Jewellery is typically worn for occasions or to commemorate certain events in one’s life. Identifying these segments, specific brands cater to specific requirements.

Wedding jewellery is a huge segment and several brands specialize in exclusive wedding bands, engagement rings, promise rings etc. The platinum industry and the diamond industry have also built brands for this specific segment. So you have platinum guild endorsing the platinum “love band” for celebrating your day of love. DeBeers also has engagement and wedding rings for this niche with the option of designing your own engagement ring.

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The working class is another large market. With women more independent and financially more secure, there is a requirement for work-wear jewellery. Special ranges are created to cater to this market with smaller but more elegant style jewellery like pendants, earrings and bracelets available. Also trends like the right hand ring are popular as women want to assert their identity.

Men’s jewellery and children’s jewellery are other growing markets. Several brands introduce specially designed ranges or lines to provide a variety of jewellery for these segments.

The greatest advantage of a brand is the assurance of quality. The purity of gold, the quality of the stones and the workmanship used in the jewellery are important. Brand names try to build up on these criteria so when a consumer buys a product from a specific brand, he is assured of the value of his purchase. Often certificates accompany the products as a mark of quality.

The process of building a brand is entirely based on trust. When a customer is satisfied with the product after investing a considerable sum of money, he will always prefer to return back to the same brand when he has a requirement the next time. This is known as brand loyalty.

With prominent jewellery houses and corporate names introducing jewellery brands, consumers now have a large variety of specially designed jewellery to fulfil their every wish and desire.

Art Deco circa 1920 – 1935

The Roaring Twenties as it was called is known as a fun-loving, decadent era. Women won the right to vote in 1920. With this development women became bolder and more independent. Women rebelled by wearing short dresses, red lipstick, and bobbed hair. Society embraced the new "modern art" brought about by Cubism and the Ballet Russe.

The boyish silhouette adopted by women was accessorized with long dangling earrings, long strands of pearls, diamond watches, dress clips and cocktail rings, and bracelets in multiples on both upper and lower arms.

Post-war also brought better prosperity. This broadened the market for platinum, diamonds and precious stones. Popularity of the white-on-white look carried over from pre-WWI days, with the addition of ruby, emerald and sapphire accents.

Society's emphasis on freedom of expression and uninhibited values gave rise to unexpected and dramatic combinations of materials in jewellery; for example, coral and diamonds, or turquoise and sapphire. Black enamel was often used to add contrast.

At the same time a random "jumble" of carved coloured gemstones, termed the "fruit salad" look, became popular. There are several beautiful pieces designed by Cartier in this look.

The influence of Cubism is apparent in the strong symmetry and geometry, and streamlined shapes of Art Deco jewellery. Geometric diamond cuts like the baguette, emerald, triangle, shield and calibre cuts were developed and widely used in jewellery.

In 1923 there was an archaeological landmark. King Tut’s tomb was discovered prompting a craze for Egyptian motifs like the scarab, sphinx and papyrus. Stones which had been used in King Tut's jewellery, like lapis lazuli, carnelian and chalcedony also became popular. India & the Orient also influenced design at the time with usage of carved gemstones, ivory, jade and highly stylized natural motifs.

The automobile industry also developed at this time. Art Deco culture came to symbolize speed and motion. Jewellery designs included motifs like autos, planes, arrows, gazelles and panthers.

Several unique jewellery forms enjoyed a particular prominence during this era, including dress clips, flexible diamond "strip" bracelets, and pearls worn as sautoirs or long ropes. The recent marketing of the cultured pearl created by the Japanese made these long necklaces more affordable. Also popular were diamond encrusted cocktail watches.

A historically important time, Art Deco continues to influence designers with several pieces of jewellery still being produced in this style.

WRINKLE – FREE PROCESSING OF FABRICS & GARMENTS

A resurgence of demand for easy care cotton containing casual wear led to the introduction of WRINKLE FREE cotton trousers. Blends of Polyester and Cotton and 100% Polyster suitings are naturally wrinkle free but the polyster being hydrophobic material it cannot give the comfort to the wearer what a 100% cotton suiting can give. The hygroscopic nature of cotton makes it a sought after material for garments especially in hot and humid climate. With global warming, 100% cotton material is preferred material for garments. But the problem with 100% cotton garments is that they wrinkle badly as they have poor wrinkle resistance. That is why 100% cotton material is given wrinkle-free treatment. 

         Wrinkle-free finish can be achieved in three different ways: PRECURE, POSTCURE & IMMERSION (Garments). For pre-cure, the resin is applied to the fabric & fully cured at the mill to crosslink cellulose. Precure gives good after wash, smoothness, imparts good dimensional stability & requires no additional wet processing treatment by the garment manufacturer.

         For post cure, the resin is applied at the mill but not cured. After the garment is assembled and pressed, the resin is cured by heating to cross link the cellulose and set the crease.

      For immersion finishing, assembled garments are soaked in or sprayed with the resin, dried, pressed & cured. Immersion finishing gives a very soft hand, & premature curing is not a problem. Distressed looks can be incorporated prior to curing and garments soiled during processing can be cleaned prior to immersion.

ENZYME FINISHING OF GARMENTS

       ENZYME FINISHING

In enzyme finishing Cellulose/ Amylase enzymes are used. The single component CELLULASE enzyme, alkaline-neutral cellulose, was introduced in 1992. This mono-component enzyme produced high – contrast abrasion & gave very good fabric strength retention. Hydrolysis of the cellulose, which is catalyzed by enzyme, causes the surface fibers to become weakening & later removed when subjected to fabric to fabric abrasion or fabric to pumice stone abrasion during the washing. The temperature & pH used are dependent upon enzyme used. Usually neutral cellulose (2 – 4 gpl) is applied at pH of 6-7

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      PEACH SKIN FINISHING USING ENZYMES:

Peach skin finishes are given to Chinoes suiting materials, Denim material and for Tencel fabrics. Tencel has high strength ( In dry & wet state) & dry tenacity is almost equal to that of Polyester. According to Mr. Rodgers production of the   Peach – skin effect requires that fibre be PREFIBRILLATED, DEFIBRILLATED & REFIBRILATED.

   Prefibrillation splits the surface hairs on the fabric similar to stripping back the bark on a twig. It requires mechanical action also such as tumbling in a wet processing stage. Prefibrillation creates tangled masses of fibres. Defibrillation of the pills of fibre (Entangled mass of fibres) with enzyme produce a very smooth fabric with almost no protruding fibres. Any of the acidic, mildly acidic or neutral cellulose enzymes are suitable for defibrillation. Refibrillation or secondary fibrillation produces SECONDARY HAIRS on the fabric surface, generating the peach skin hair. Prefibrillation is carried out in the desizing stage. Defibrillation takes place in washing stage & for Denim garments the same process is used for color washing also. Refibrillation is accomplished by agitation in the normal softener application stage of wet processing. 

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DENIM WASHING AND FINISHING OF GARMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The art of garment dyeing is an ancient one. There is evidence that prehistoric man applied colored pigments to vegetable & animal matter such as fibers & skins. Garments made from various fabrics are now being dyed & delivered to the customer in a short period of time. With today’s exploding clothing markets of casual & sportswear, garment dyeing has emerged as one of the better production routes towards meeting the quickly changing demands of the fashion market. Though any kind of material can be dyed in garment from but cotton is more popular to dye and finish in garment form than any other fibre. Processing of DENIM and some CHINOES is more common fashion in garment dyeing field.

VARIOUSTECHNIQUES OF WASHING & FINISHING:

Denim goods finishing has a longer history, the techniques used for denim finishing has been extended to other items such as chambrays, solid color indigo dyed fabrics & chinoes suiting. A variety of washing effects are achievable on denim goods dyed with the traditional indigo dyed, which is selected on accounts of it’s brilliant blue color & excellent fading characteristics to washing, finishing or abrasion. Depending upon the dyeing method, goods dyed with indigo dyes have poor color penetration with ring dyed yarns; thus after finishing them they give good acceptable faded look.

Some of the most popular common & advanced washing & finishing techniques for denim garments & others are given below.

1)      CONVENTIONAL WASHING :

This entails the desizing the materials with enzyme & detergent followed by washing at an elevated temperature. The degree of color fading is comparatively slight, but uniform.

2)      STONE WASHING :

Volcanic rocks also called as PUMICE stones are added to the garments during washing as abradant. Colour fading by this process is more but not uniform. The degree of color fading depends upon washing time and stone ratio (i.e. Wt. of stones: Wt. of Garments), size of stones, liquor ratio & garment load. Generally washing machine is run for 60 min. to 120 min. & it depends upon degree of fading.

3)      DENIM BLEACHING :

In this process a strong oxidative bleach such as Sodium hypochlorite or Potassium permanganate is added during washing, with or without stone addition. Discoloration is usually more apparent depending on strength of  the bleaches, liquor quantity and treatment time. A strong bleach with short treatment time is preferred for better bleached colors. The bleached goods should be adequately anticlored or after washed with peroxide to minimize subsequently yellowing & tendering of the goods. Some times optical brightening agent is added to get brighter appearance for white or near white shades.

     A recent innovation in decolorizing Indigo, referred to as enzyme bleaching using LACCASE enzyme(Mediator system). Laccase is an Oxidoreductase enzyme that accepts oxygen from air & attaches it to a mediator, which then reacts & decolorizes the indigo molecule. The mediator, which is an organic molecule, consumed during 10 – 20 min. period so the process is self limiting without any degradation or weakening of the product or no danger of over bleaching.

   Color can also be removed in denim washing by reductive processes. One process, some times called Sugar bleaching, uses carbohydrates like Dextrose, which contain reducing groups. The process requires high pH, elevated temperature & large quantity of Carbohydrates. The use of high level of Carbohydrates produces waste water & high BOD & COD.

4)      ACID WASHING ( STONE WASH) :

Acid washing is usually done by tumble drying the garments with Pumice stones presoaked in a solution of Sodium hypochlorite (5 – 10%) or potassium permanganate (3 – 6%) such that localized bleaching takes place resulting in a non-uniform sharp Blue/ White contrast. The color contrast after tumbling can be further enhanced by a subsequent optical brightening. Soft stones that are usually dust off are suitable for this process.

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Vogue college of fashion technology, Bangalore offers Fashion designing courses, 

Jewelry designing,  Diamond grading, Retail Management, Fashion Merchandising and management courses. 

It also provides classes on graduation and certifications including BBM, MBA and Diploma on many professional courses.