Women drive ninety per cent of the world’s jewellery consumption. Their taste and choice of designs and patterns largely influence the jewellery market. Yet, the proportion of women in the jewellery industry is highly negligible. The jewellery industry has always been a male-dominated business, however, gone are the days when men predominantly ruled the industry. Breaking all stereotypes and setting new benchmarks in this highly competitive yet opportunistic industry is Dishi Somani, a jewellery designer, born and brought up in the princely state of Gwalior amid the culturally rich environment. A place is known for its glorious royal past that provides a fine balance of art, aesthetics, beauty and business, Gwalior was indeed a natural catalyst in driving Dishi towards the precious stones and their crafting. From working in the banking industry as a professional to pursuing her passion for working with precious stones, Dishi has come a long way. Today, she makes sure that despite her rising success, each piece of jewellery gets her personal attention with the minutest of details.

Appreciating the different facets of Dishi Somani’s accomplished life, Women Entrepreneur India recently engaged in an exclusive conversation with her. Below are the highlights of the interview:

Tell Me About Your Educational Background And Prior Industry Experience. How Did Dishis Designer Jewellery Come Into Existence? What Is It That Motivated You Into This Industry?

Belonging to a family with a business background, entrepreneurship runs deep in my veins. As my early education, I completed my MBA from IMT Dubai, post which I picked up a career in banking and worked with several leading banks like ICICI Bank, ING VYSYA Bank & AXIS Bank. However, this did not give me satisfaction as my passion always lied in jewellery. Growing up in Gwalior which holds a long history of jewel crafting was a major reason behind my interest in this field. This state has a glorious royal past providing a fine balance of art, aesthetics, beauty and business. In my growing years-I would often see artisans/karigars visiting my house and sculpting fine jewels for my family which caught my interest and soon over the years I became intrigued by the beauty of stones, diamonds and pearls. Hence, picking passion over profession became an obvious choice, and this is what eventually led to the establishment of DishiS Designer Jewellery.

Hence, I quit the banking industry and took a plunge into the jewellery domain. I thereafter took advanced training courses to get skilled in diamond jewellery designing and its manufacturing from the Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery (IIGJ).

“I make sure that each piece of jewel gets my personal attention with the minutest of details. I have kept a dedicated team of master craftsmen and traditional artisans. I have opened a door of opportunities for these people which gives me immense satisfaction”

What Is It That Gives You An Edge Over Other Competitors In The Industry? Who Is The Brand’s Target Audience And How Do You Reach Out To Them?

At DishiS Designer Jewellery, my main emphasis is on creating designer jewellery that is comfortably accessible by everyone in just one click. In our busy lives today-we do not have enough time to go searching each and every shop in the market. The idea is to create a one stop shop for unique and chic designs. The beauty is that they can fit into grandma jewel box as easily as it can adorn woman of today. Be it office, day to day wear, a casual lunch, a romantic date, a marriage either own or someone else's, or a bubbly party- there's a Dishis jewel for every need. I invite one and all to take a peek inside my jewel box and adorn / dress yourself like never before. Buyers can browse through all my designs each created with a special touch to ensure they are buying good designs. My target is to be a global brand online soon. My effort is to give my hundred per cent to meet customer satisfaction through quality and craftsmanship and to meet this objective, my traditional master craftsmen are using their age-old skills and talent.

“Dishis Designer Jewellery is a preferred brand now for many popular celebrities like Soha Ali Khan, Raveena Tandon, Shweta Tiwari, Erica Fernandes and so on. The jewellery is admired by them a lot and they can be seen wearing my jewellery on various occasions”

About the target audience, DishiS attempts to meet the needs of both modern as well as traditional women. My range of jewellery not only caters to each and every special event like weddings and other cultural and religious functions but also addresses the requirements of today’s working women who are looking for smart and fashionable gold and diamond jewellery which is easy and light to carry to meet their daily/party needs. I am currently selling my designs on my own website-dishisjewels.com and have a presence on various trusted marketplaces like amazon India and global, ajio, etc.

What Are Some Of The Roles And Responsibilities That You Currently Shoulder At Dishis Designer Jewellery? What Are Some Of The Design Techniques And Tools That You Leverage While Creating Jewellery For Dishis Jewels?

At DishiS Designer Jewellery, I make sure that each piece of jewel gets my personal attention with the minutest of details. I have kept a dedicated team of master craftsmen and traditional artisans. I have opened a door of opportunities for these people which gives me immense satisfaction. My dedicated team of craftsmen makes sure that there is no compromise on quality and hence, each piece of jewellery that I make is hallmarked by BIS standards and diamonds are certified by known labs like IGI/IGLI and more. At Dishis Designer Jewellery,

I also make sure that a buyer gets everything right from design inception to manufacturing the piece with quality.

“I have received many awards and accolades in my field, the most notable ones among them being “brand of the year” award by Juhi Chawla in 2017. I was also awarded as a “powerful woman achiever” at the Nexa Brand Vision Extraordinaire Award function by Times Now in 2018 where celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Arjun Rampal, Madhur Bhandarkar were also recognized for their work and contribution”

While there are numerous challenges that come along the way of being number one, the first and foremost is to create a niche for ‘DishiS’ in a highly competitive market dominated by large industrial homes. Buying gold and diamond jewellery still remains a new concept in India especially online and even today people would prefer a big brand to cater for their wedding/ daily wear needs than a startup. My emphasis is on creating different and stylish designer jewellery that has helped me make a special place while competing with other well-established brands. I am also customizing designs for buyers as per their own idea.

How Do You Keep Yourself Ill Aligned With Periodic Evolutions Occurring Within Your Field Of Work? What Has Been The Most Significant Milestones That You Have Achieved So Far?

With the explosion of information technology, online stores have become popular worldwide. Moreover, the onset of covid pandemic has given further impetus to online-based stores with people feeling safer in purchasing their jewellery online without visiting the store. An online-based store provides a much larger platform with a wide range of choices of jewellery for the customers to pick from. I also customize jewellery as per the demand.

While the initial days post inception was full of highs and lows, with the struggle at the beginning and hard work, I have been successful in establishing Dishis Designer Jewellery in a highly competitive market. I always try to motivate the designers, craftsmen, and traditional artisans in bringing out their best talent in jewellery designing and manufacturing. I believe all the people working with me in DishiS Designer Jewellery are one single family.

There have been many significant milestones in my journey as I have received many awards and accolades in my field, the most notable ones among them being “brand of the year” award by Juhi Chawla in 2017. I was also awarded as a “powerful woman achiever” at the Nexa Brand Vision Extraordinaire Award function by Times Now in 2018 where celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Arjun Rampal, Madhur Bhandarkar were also recognized for their work and contribution. Apart from this, Dishis Designer Jewellery is a preferred brand now for many popular celebrities like Soha Ali Khan, Raveena Tandon, Shweta Tiwari, Erica Fernandes and so on. The jewellery is admired by them a lot and they can be seen wearing my jewellery on various occasions.

What Is Your Vision For Your Brand In The Days To Come? As A Successful Businesswoman, What Would Be Your Advice To The Young Women And Girls Who Aspire To Become Business Leaders And Future Entrepreneurs?

With Dishis Designer Jewellery my vision is to break the stereotypical idea associated with designer jewellery that is being very expensive. For me my jewellery is unique and my idea is to make it reachable to everyone. Further, I want to make everyone aware of the fact that designer jewellery promoted by Dishis Jewels is not only exclusive but very affordable. am also working in terms of customizing designs for our customers by getting to know their preferences. We at Dishis Jewels give full freedom of choice to our buyers as it is great to see the creative bent of the people and I bring them alive with my designs on the paper.

My advice to future entrepreneurs is to become a job creators through entrepreneurship. Definitely, there are various challenges in the way but one should not give up and overcome those challenges through hard work and perseverance. Also, through my own journey, I will advise the younger generation to follow their heart and with hard work, it is always possible to overcome all the difficulties that one may face in the journey.

Quick facts

Education:

MBA from IMT Dubai, jewwllery designing and manufacturing from India Institute of Gems and Jewellery.

Services provided by the firm:
Dishis jewellery is the business of manufacturing gold and silver jewellery making dianond, precious and semi-precious stones. DishiS jewels also sculpt costume jewellery.

Headquarter and office location: New Delhi

Awards and Recognition:

DishiS jewels was awarded during the brand vision summit organized by Times Now in 2018.

DishiS jewels was awarded brand of the year by Juhi Chawala in 2017.

Jewellery from DishiS jewels has been worn by celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Erica Fernandes and Shweta Tiwari.