With the gold prices hitting new high and buyers sitting on the wall, leading jewellers are making gold jewellery more affordable by reducing its caratage and introducing light-weight jewellery designs this festival.
Gold prices recently prices surged to fresh lifetime high of ₹114,300 per 10 grams with spot gold prices globally touched $3,714 an ounce on growing expectations of further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
In fact, the weak rupee against dollar has added to bullish trend in the global markets and has made the yellow metal more costlier in the domestic markets.
In last one month, the gold prices in the domestic markets have jumped by ₹12,861 per 10 grams to ₹1,13,349 on Thursday against ₹1,00,488 on August 25.
Darshan Chauhan, Director and Chief Growth Officer, Sky Gold & Diamonds said the most trending with the Gen Z the 9kt jewellery will help the company reach a wider customer base even while serving as a stepping stone for first-time gold buyers and buyers who need a variety of options in their jewellery collection.
Suvankar Sen, MD & CEO, Senco Gold said while the 9 carat is almost 60-65 per cent cheaper than 22 carat, the cost of 18 carat will be comparatively lower by 20 per cent.
For instance, he said if the 22 carat is quoted at ₹9,300 per gram, 18 carat will be about ₹7,500-7,600 per gram while 9 kt will be sold at ₹3,750-₹3,850 per gram.
The demand for lower carat jewellery is picking up gradually as the sustained surge in gold prices has made gold jewellery highly unaffordable for common man, he added.
Dr Saurabh Gadgil, Chairman and Managing Director, PNG Jewellers said while the gold prices have jumped rapidly in the past few months, consumers’ budgets have not risen in the same proportion, leading them looking for budget-friendly options.
This has fuelled the rapid growth of the lightweight, low-caratage jewellery segment, which is expanding at about 30 per cent annually. As consumers gradually adjust to the higher prices, the industry forecasts a substantial 30-35 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue in this fiscal, he said.
Even as prices are touching new highs, gold brings happiness and prosperity to consumers in the festive season.
“Most jewellery buyers do not mind exchanging their old happiness with new ones. About 50 per cent of the gold jewellery sold today are through exchange of old gold jewellery and this will increase to 70 per cent in this year due to sustained gold price rise in the near future,” he said.