A pair of gold earrings gifted to a baby at birth, a round brilliant solitaire slipped onto a finger to mark the promise of forever or an ornate temple jewellery customised years before a daughter’s wedding: in India, diamonds and gold have long entered women’s lives through inheritance, romance or ceremony. To own a piece or even to desire it was often tied to the expectation of eventually receiving it. Women are becoming the decision-makers in a category where they were often the recipients–what it should look like, when it is worth buying and what it can mean.
For 29-year-old content writer Prachi Godbole, diamonds carried a similar association before she landed her first job and gifted herself a lab-grown diamond bracelet. “At the time, buying it for myself felt strange because most friends around me were buying diamonds almost exclusively for engagement rings or mangalsutras,” she says.
For some women, the purchase comes with the first paycheque. “I have seen people usually buy something for their parents with their first paycheque, but there was something incredibly liberating about giving myself that opportunity and gifting myself a gold ring instead, with my own adult money,” says Indrani Bhattacharjee, a 24-year-old communications strategist.
For Diksha Jaiswal, a 35-year-old fashion designer, that opportunity came after years of postponing the idea, when she finally commissioned a custom ring through a local jeweller in Kochi. “Investing in gold had been in my mind since the time I had started earning independently 10 years ago, but life’s priorities kept getting in the way. So, when I finally saved enough, I got an 18K gold ring set with a 5-carat ruby made for myself,” she says. “It cost me around ₹70,000, but instead of waiting for someone to gift me jewellery, I gave myself that opportunity with my own money; it was an achievement in itself.”
According to the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2026 report, rising female self-purchasing is listed as a key growth driver for the category, with 42% of women buying more jewellery for themselves than they were a few years ago.
Many women still describe self-purchase through the language of sense-making: investment, milestone, daily wear, value. The indulgence often has to prove it is practical before it is allowed to be pleasurable. “Over the years, I have started questioning the idea of investing so much in pieces that felt more tied to safekeeping than actually being worn. I rarely reach for heavy or traditional jewellery unless it’s a major occasion; the rest of the time, they sit in a locker, almost untouched,” says Divya Kaushik, a 30-year-old business owner. “So nowadays I mostly purchase fine jewellery that feels versatile and suited to everyday life.”
Godbole reaches for diamonds because they do not need an occasion to justify themselves. “To me, gold feels tied to investments and formal milestones, whereas diamonds lend themselves naturally to everyday wear. They feel much more integrated into how I dress daily,” she says.
