India Bullion and Jewelers Association estimates

• Local jewelers and goldsmiths across the country have reported a 45 percent decline in sales.




• It has become difficult for them to work amid the current volatility in gold and silver prices.




• According to industry data, about 53 percent of the market is held by unorganized jewellers.

Buying gold and silver beyond the reach of common customers

Rakesh Belvekar of Mumbai’s local jeweler Belvekar Jewellers, says, due to the rise in the prices of gold and silver, middle class customers have turned away from shopping. These have become beyond the reach of the common man. Due to which we have recorded a 30 percent decline in sales. The current rise in the prices of precious metals has made it difficult to do business due to the volatility that remains, i.e. sharp jumps or sudden falls in prices every day. Rakesh says that the business has almost stopped rolling, due to which it is becoming very challenging to bring new designs or variations.

Increase in silver prices affects jewellers’ sales

A few years ago, when gold prices increased, silver was trading at its normal price. At that time, customers used to buy silver which was within their budget and it continued to be bought as a good investment along with the option of gold, but in the last few years the prices of silver have increased rapidly. For this reason, those people who used to buy silver instead of gold because it was cheaper, have now completely moved away. Which has adversely affected our sales.

lack of cash in business

Mukesh Jain of Chandni Jewelers of Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai says that the prices of gold and silver have increased so much that purchasing has almost stopped. Our customers are common people, who have their own budget. Gold and silver are now out of the budget. Therefore our sales have been affected and have declined by 40 percent. Due to lack of demand, we have old unsold stock. Now that there is no sale, the cash problem has increased. Due to which doing business has become difficult. There are many small jewelers in the market, who do business only on cash, their business has stopped. Because prices are so high, full payment must be made to purchase the stock. Now the stock is not available after paying a little, the reason for this is the daily change in the prices of gold and silver. In such a situation no one wants any loss.

Rising prices of gold and silver is not a problem, instability in prices is a challenge

Kumar Jain, national spokesperson of Bombay Bullion, says, there is a record increase in the prices of gold and silver, in such a situation the businesses of unorganized jewelers have been affected more. If we look, their sales have declined by 30 to 40 percent. The rising prices of gold and silver is not a problem, the bad thing is that the prices are more volatile. Now see, gold touched the level of Rs 2 lakh some time ago and now it has come to Rs 1,50,000 per ten grams. The price of silver also reached Rs 3 lakh per kg and later came down to Rs 2 lakh per kg. It is difficult for a small jeweler to cope with such huge decline and growth.

Kumar says that prices may increase but should remain stable because only when they remain stable do people plan to buy. People become mentally disturbed. But when prices keep going up and down, customers avoid purchasing unless there is a wedding or an urgent need. He says, currently most of the customers are giving old gold jewelery and getting them new ones. This causes loss to the jewelers, melting the old jewellery, then making new designs and incurring losses in cutting and polishing, this also reduces the weight of gold and increases the expense.

Branded jewelers are getting benefits

Wholesale Jewelery Association says that big branded jewelers are benefiting from this. They have jewelery of all types of designs and weights available for the customers. Recently, purchases related to weddings are increasing in the market, but due to high prices, customers are turning to jewelery weighing 5 grams, 2 grams and 3 grams instead of 10 grams. But small jewelers do not have this much variety. Because of this, customers are turning to big jewellers. Where they are getting the facility of complete range of light jewelery and customized jewellery. Whereas small jewelers are already facing shortage of cash, accumulation of old stock, due to which they are facing difficulty in updating new designs. These challenges are currently faced by unorganized jewellers.