Signity India organised a seminar on the Marcasite stone, sharing knowledge on generic popularity and future influence of the stone in jewellery manufacturing and design. Marcasite is a traditional opaque jewellery stone cut from genuine pyrite. “With the recent rise in popularity of Marcasite - not just in India but all over the world - we felt there was a need to inform the Indian trade about the beautiful natural and multi-faceted use of this traditional stone. The best way to do this was by hosting a seminar,” said Mr. Rajendra Jain, General Manager of Signity India. %% The seminar addressed historic developments and use of Marcasite in design, its processing, the world silver jewellery market and the current Marcasite jewellery market. Apart from knowledge sharing, the event exhibited the stone’s versatility in design application though a fashion show. “Swarovski is the leader in cutting marcasites of unrivalled quality and has been a major supplier of the stone for decades. We want to guide the vast pool of Indian artisans to develop exciting new designs with Marcasite,” Mr. Jain said. Signity India is working towards developing design acumen using Marcasite and had last year organised a MarcasitEment Design Contest in cooperation with NIFT. Mr. Jain also mentioned that the stone was especially appropriate to use in the current economic climate, with its unique soft-steely sparkle that lends a particular elegance to any jewellery. %% The participants were also presented with an introduction to the Swarovski brand, world market statistics on Marcasite and websites of international brands that sell Marcasite jewellery. The by-invitation seminar was held at the Hotel Hyatt Regency, Mumbai, amongst distinguished personalities - Mr. Jasubhai Shah, the Honorary Council General of Austria in Mumbai, Signity India’s general manager, the company’s senior sales manager Mr. Vivek Gurung and Mr. Christoph Lechmann, Product Manager Marcasite, D. Swarovski & Co. Austria, and others from the manufacturing, design, wholesale and retail segments. Signity India is considering hosting smaller versions of the Marcasite seminar across cities like Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, Meerut and Kolkata.