Silver gets a makeover

Designers are reviving the old metal with innovative designs.

When Deepak Whorra, partner of the House of Whorras involved in the silver busines for generations, saw his friends bring back fancy silver home accessories from Peter Jones in England, he realised that it was time to do something. After all, it was his company that was exporting the silver products to Peter Jones and many similar retail brands abroad.

Whorra found a solution in Episode "" his retail outlet in Delhi "" that stocked the same design-led, high quality silver accessories that he supplied to Lambert (Germany), Sabattinni (Italy), Verawange (the bridal brand in USA), Elcorte-Ingles (Spain) besides Peter Jones in England. Today, he claims, the domestic business is growing at more than 100 per cent a year. "The market for such products back home is so huge that I might have to get out of exports," he beams.

Whorra may not be exaggerating. A consumer survey shows that share of spends on lifestyle products and services has risen sharply. Though traditional silver products have always been popular, there's a sudden spurt in demand for innovative silver products such as bar accessories (peg measures, goblets, chillers or cocktail picks), lampshades, baby books, wedding albums and candle snuffers.

Manufacturers say that the latest craze is silver furniture. Silver clad on wooden coffe tables, centre tables, dining sets or bed steads is in big demand. While Whorra claims he will roll out his first batch of silver tables in a month's time Ravi Chawla, chairman, Ravissant, claims to be furnishing demand for silver love seats, chaise lounge, cradles, swings besides chandeliers and champagne tables. The price range of these products hovers between Rs 50,000 and 12,00,000.

The market for home decor items in silver is pegged at about Rs 400 crore, and growing. Manufacturers say that the demand for design-led items has shot up. "Since homes reflect the owners' personality, today' consumers are looking for elegant silver items in clean lines for use as well as for display," says Chanda Narang, CEO of the silver company, Frazer & Haws, India. Frazer & Haws and Hennell of Bond Street in London have been designing exquisite silver collectibles and precious jewellery for over 250 years.

Though luxury may be a big buzzword, consumer demand may not always be aesthetic. For instance, a wealthy client who was regular customer at one of the silver outlets asked for a silver bath tub for himself to give him the feel of a maharaja. "We convinced him, with great difficulty, that it would require tons of silver but there was little scope of design and that it would be difficult to polish," says the store's director.

"Ostentatious acquisitions," is what Ahmedabad-based interior designer Canna Patel terms the silver furniture . "I tell my clients to go for pieces of art instead. I think people need to be more progressive in their thinking," she says. Monitoring of silver products in a house is often difficult, she adds. Concurs Rabia Gupta, a Mumbai-based design consultant: "Owning silver accessories has practical problems as they require constant elbow grease. Though some are very functional too."

But manufacturers are not complaining as they have celebrity clientele. "They are people with tastes," says Chawla. Frazer & Haws claims to have Ambanis as clients while Ravissant's list include L M Mittal. Clearly, silver accessories are for those born with a silver spoon.