Price can’t rob gold of its sheen

KOLKATA: The rising price of gold has not been able to veer enthusiasts of the yellow metal away from it. Even when the price is at an all-time high this festive season, customers are not letting go of their share of gold ornaments with jewellers insisting that their sales have actually gone up.
Customers are, however, more inclined to buying light-weight gold ornaments now.“During this festive season, too, people are buying gold, but they prefer the lighter variety of jewellery,” said Gora Roy Chowdhury, director of MP Jewellers. Compared to last year, sales (value-wise) in his stores have gone up by 30-35%, he said.
Price of gold hovered around Rs 30,740 per 10 grams on Monday compared to Rs 24,000-Rs 26,000 per 10 grams during the last festive season.
Some jewellers even claimed that customers, who got diverted towards expensive and sophisticated gadgets some years ago and had stopped investing in gold, are returning to jewellery shops. Roy Chowdhury pointed out that the disposable income of common people is mostly spent on buying and people are increasingly treating the yellow metal as an investment tool with assured returns.
Echoing similar thoughts, Rajeev Ghosh, manager of Rajlakshmi Jewellers, said customers are sticking to gold. The steep price has not been able to take away its sheen. “Increasingly, customers are shifting from heavy jewellery to lighter ones. Sales have been definitely affected due to price rise. But the higher price is giving us better returns value-wise and we are not losing anything,” he claimed.
Ghosh said customers’ increasing interest in light-weight jewellery is making them come up with newer designs. “Earlier, necklaces weighed 10 to 12 grams. Now, we are trying to make those in 6-7 grams. It is difficult to survive if we do not come up with alternative designs,” he said.
Anargha Chowdhury, director of Anjali Jewellers, said the demand for gold jewellery is steady. “Though there is substantial demand for light-weight jewellery, demand for heavy jewellery has not gone down,” he said.
“Given the present law and order situation, people at times do not feel safe wearing gold jewellery. Hence, they buy costume jewellery. That is a separate market segment all together,” he asserted.