Besides the fact that these jewels are made to high precision and are generally pretty intricate, snob value of owning a foreign designed pendant or neckpiece seems to be the main reason for the fad catching on. And these pieces which come at phenomenal prices (close to Rs 500 per gram) are also very exclusive which adds to the appeal.

If the traders' estimates are to be believed, then Diwali and post-Diwali festival season sales have seen a good increase in the sales of these new types of jewellery significantly up from last year's sales. The estimated increase in sales is put between 15 and 25 per cent by themarket.

And the trend is expected to continue with the sales of such designs catching the fancy of many more, especially the young crowd which shuns the heavy look of traditional jewellery in favour of the light designs of the overseas designs.

But the fact is that many jewellers believe this fad would be short-lived. According to one leading jeweller in the city: ``The market for this kind of designs is very small. While there has been a growth in terms of sale levels, there is no volume in the business.''

This is perhaps one of the reasons why many jewellers who design and manufacture jewellery have not decided to go in for the new designs. According to them, the new designs would mean a lot of investment in expensive equipment like high precision castings and dyes. ``And the kind of investment required for the equipment is not justified by sales volumes, at least at current levels.''

And they also say that there is no export potential for this kind of jewellery, as it is available at a much lowercost in the international market. With no means of realisations for investment in the high cost equipment, the jewellers are reluctant to venture into this design arena.

And for them, there is a continuous demand for the traditional jewellery which drives their business in terms of volumes. And as long as this market is constant, they are content to continue as they are.