Featured image – Left-Shriya Ghate and Right-Eesha Ghate
Q. Please Introduce yourself .
I, Eesha Ghate, along with my sister Shriya am a co-founder of OMOYA. I am an engineer by education having graduated with a B.tech from NITK. I worked in an investment bank for a couple years soon after college. In 2013, I quit my job and soon after, I setup OMOYA.
OMOYA is a unique jewellery brand that specialises in making beaded jewellery combining beading techniques from all over the world. Each piece of jewellery is entirely hand-woven and hand-finished making it special and inimitable.
Q. When and how did you think about OMOYA?
I initially began my journey in beading back in 2009. After dabbling in it off and on, my beading skills lay dormant until 2013. After having left my job and not wanting to sit idle, I picked up a Zulu bead-weaving book my mom had gifted me four years prior. The more I started diving into the world of beadwork, I more I was hooked. I initially began making jewellery only for my friends and family. Soon, my sister saw potential in what I was doing and that’s when OMOYA was born.
Q. Introduce your Co-Founder/Founders and Team.
Shriya Ghate, my sister, is a co-founder of OMOYA. She holds a Masters degree in Writing from Warwick, UK. Being a fashion aficionado herself, she has an incredible understanding of the market including the customer wants and needs, other players in the market, latest trends, etc. She is primarily involved in the marketing and sales aspects of OMOYA.
Currently, we are also collaborating with an NGO.
Q. Explain more about OMOYA, how is it different from others?
OMOYA is a one-of-its-kind jewellery brand in India. Our primary focus is on bead weaving and the techniques that we use are not easily seen in our country – from the Native American peyote stitch to Ndebele herringbone stitch.
Our jewelery is certifiably and entirely handmade right from the design to the bead weaving to the final assembly stage. Each piece is meticulously handwoven, one bead at a time, with nothing but some thread, beads and a needle. Our pieces take anywhere from 2 hours to a few days for completion. The beads we use are manufactured in Japan and are called Delica beads. Unlike the beads readily available in India which are round and irregular in size and shape, Delicas are cylindrical and of uniform size.
I believe what makes OMOYA special is the fact that we place utmost importance on the quality and finish of our product. Despite being done by hand, our products have the appearance and polish of jewellery that is machine-made.
Q. What challenges did you face while setting up OMOYA?
The biggest challenge was having the faith that I could quit my finance career to start a business born out of passion and interest. I had a lot of people around me who questioned and doubted me, but I knew that starting OMOYA was what would make me most happy.
Another challenge is to convince customers to see the intrinsic value of handmade jewellery of such a kind. I don’t think that we in India value handmade things as much as people do abroad. But things are changing. We make the additional effort of explaining exactly how our jewellery is made and how long it takes for each piece. We get raised eyebrows and appreciation when customers realize just how much hard-work it takes.
Q. What’s the current Path and future plans?
Currently we are looking to expand along two dimensions. One, we are planning to expand put line to include a greater variety of accessories. Currently, we make only earrings, necklaces and pendants but we are hoping to add brooches, anklets, lockets, etc. Two, we are looking to move towards the scope of mixed media which means our raw materials will not be restricted to just beads but include a variety of other materials such as metal, fabric, resin, glass, wood, etc.
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