The return of Tamil retro jewellery: Whats driving the trend?

Fashion trend cycles often turn like the steady and familiar hands of a well-worn clock. But at the heart of this cycle is a quiet rhythm of nostalgia, for when the noise of fleeting trends grows too loud, there is always a natural pull toward the timeless. Often, this nostalgia draws fashion back to its roots, where it is shaped by cultural memory and not seasonal whims. Tradition here doesn't just resurface. It reclaims its place, reminding wearers that style can be both personal, and a thread that connects generations of ancestry. This festive and wedding season, nostalgic charm for vintage jewellery is being revived a trend fueled by an appreciation for simplicity, timeless beauty, and the allure of celebrity style. From attigais and kaasu maalai , to koppu and bullaku , the trend is all-encompassing, celebrating every facet of the vintage aesthetics that has its roots not merely in the glamour of the 70s and 80s, but far deeper. It delves into the timeless elegance of Raja Ravi Varmas late 19th century muses. In almost every portrait of a Tamil woman he painted, including the Lady playing the Swarbat , these jewels glimmer boldly on his subjects. Today, women are embracing these designs which were once dismissed as grandmothers style. Viikram Vijay Subbaiah, chief diamonds officer at Vee Star Diamonds, reasons, A lot of young women, aged between 23 and 25, are choosing these age-old designs and patterns because they want their jewellery to tell a story. Many of them even ask us to integrate some patterns from their grandmothers or their mothers' wedding saris along with traditional patterns and designs. He adds that women are curating jewellery, by choosing pieces that carry meaning, memory, and even a sense of belonging. Many of these vintage pieces, Viikram explains, call for skilled goldsmiths who spend months crafting them by hand. Choker a ttigai designs and long harams are jewels with intricate, close-set designs where each gem is secured from the sides and base giving them a fuller, more enduring vintage charm. It takes us two to two-and-a-half months to make them for this reason, he informs. Excluding diamonds, these vintage designs were often crafted using impon, a traditional blend of five metals: copper, gold, silver, iron, and zinc. But the soaring prices of precious jewellery have fuelled the demand for these in the imitation jewellery space. Kemp attigai Imitation market Gayathri Venkatesan, founder of Abharanam, believes that the traditional attigai designs have always been sought after. I mainly sell kemp jewellery and attigais are always fast moving. Many of my designs are also kemp and stone attigais that can be used as daily wear, she says and believes that the demand for the designs of the attigais have always been a cyclic graph. According to Gayathri, people prefer fancy designs in attigais for a while, and then, once the trend overstays, they always go back to the traditional design; and now the traditional ones are in vogue. Another founder in the imitation market, Ishwarya Rajesh from Creations (Chettinad_creations on Instagram), a social media storefront, says, I started this brand to sell kemp jewellery six years ago. In between, around four years back, I tried to experiment and I had put out these traditional designs like impon attigais and pathakams with micro-gold imitation, but it didnt appeal to people then. But now, in these last few months, the demand for these designs are skyrocketing. Ishwarya too, says that despite being imitation jewels, her pieces are handmade in close-setting to offer the same vintage charm. It takes my manufacturer at least a month to 40 days to make 50 pieces for me. But all of them sell out in just one week, she discloses. Although some brands offer these vintage designs in open settings, jewellers across both precious and imitation markets agree that, although lighter and more affordable, these pieces are far less durable than their close-set counterparts. While those who can afford precious jewellery focus on the stories behind each piece, for those who find them out of reach, the reasons for choosing alternatives are many and varied, she explains. Apart from serving as heirloom look-alikes for those who havent inherited jewellery these designs now have celebrity appeal. Keerthi Suresh in Raghu Thatha , Samantha in Nadigayar Thilagam , Pooja Hegde in Retro , specifically in the song Kanima , have all served as inspiration for many make-up artists. Seeing their vintage-themed recreations of these stars on social media, many brides-to-be are opting for these designs, Ishwarya says. Cost also plays a role, she adds. With rental jewellery costing Rs 2,000, and bridal/temple jewellery costing anywhere above Rs 8,000, these vintage pieces are cost-effective and yet charming alternatives that can be purchased well within a couple thousands. Now, brides prefer to wear a three-row set a close neck attigai [close-setting], a mid-long necklace/ kaasu maalai , and a long haram [close-setting]. After using it for their wedding, they can use these pieces individually and dress down for other events too, making them more desirable. Along with these sets, also come matching jimikkis and straight maatals or ear chains. Straight maatals are very vintage and they finish these themed looks perfectly, Ishwarya says. This trend is also appealing to Tamilians world wide. Chettinad Collections alone discloses to have received 50 orders in seven days time for these vintage pieces from Tamils living in the UK, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Canada, and Germany. In the precious jewellery market too, Viikram informs, clients from countries like Canada and the USA, are actively purchasing these designs. Barring the sets of jimikkis and necklaces, the true finishing touches to a vintage look always lie in the details. Elements once often overlooked such as koppu earrings, vanki or neli rings, and bullaku are now taking center stage in this mainstream fashion trend. The bullaku or septum ring, traditionally made with a small drop, has been in vogue since Aditi Rao Hydari wore one at her wedding last year, recalls Ishwarya. Though they are not as fast moving as the attigais from Abharanams shelves, Gayathri says that there have been brides who have placed orders because they were going for a very vintage-themed wedding look. The vanki rings, meanwhile, are in high-demand, both in the precious jewellery market as told by Viikram and in the imitation market. Ishwarya recalls how one of her customers even shared a picture of actor Nayanthara wearing it and asked for a look-alike. Even those not quite ready to get a koppu piercing are keeping a keen eye out for these statement pieces in clip-ons and Ishwarya admits to those being best-sellers too. Will this trend fade, only to return years later? Perhaps. Yet jewellers agree that these vintage pieces are timeless treasures enduring, ever-statement-making, and always worth holding onto. So, whats stopping you from buying them if you havent already? Retro, attigai, impon attigai, impon jewellery, long haram, long aram, Annan aram, chettinad jewellery, attigai kemp, vaira attigai, diamond attigai, Tamil jewellery, bridal jewellery, minimal tamil jewellery, jewellery, features, fashion features, tamil fashion, feature story, Chennai, Chennai news, Chennai news today, Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu news