Buyers, especially women, are preferring diamond studded or platinum jewellery over gold this Diwali, an ASSOCHAM survey based on jewellers' and consumer feedback has noted.
High gold prices and innovations on the part of jewellery firms, especially the large houses, is driving the change in the fashion trend.
The survey, published in Business Standard, found that 79 per cent jewellers are focusing on platinum-based diamond jewellery over traditional pure play gold and silver ornaments to tap the changing preferences of consumers.
The demand for diamond jewellery is estimated to have grown by 30-35 per cent this season year on year Platinum too has seen an excellent growth of 25% this year, the survey said.
The survey covered 350 jewellery-makers based in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Dehradun.
ASSOCHAM also interacted with about 500 working and non-working women in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai to gauge their shopping habits during Dhanteras.
With high import duty and increased base price, the investment oriented consumers are seen less in the bullion market, while the business model is moving towards the wearable jewellery , easy on the pocket, even though it may not have too much of weight.
That is the real challenge.....Can they (jewellers) sell some decent jewellery for say, Rs 5,000-10,000 or between Rs 15,000-20,000. That is where the demand lies," ASSOCHAM Chairman of Gold Council said today.
The overall share of platinum and diamond based jewellery in the market is expected to take on a significant share of the gold jewellery sales in the near future, reports say. Demand for diamond jewellery seems to have increased by 30-35 percent on year on year basis, reports suggest
The jewellery makers using diamond and platinum are investing heavily in coming out with new designs, reflecting changing consumer taste, international trends and affordability. Even antique designs are being done in this segment, the survey noted.
One of the reasons jewellers losing interest in gold is a high level of policy regulation and tax issues like mandatory quoting of the Permanent Account Number of Income Tax, the traders in the precious metals said.
During Dhanteras the sales of gold and silver along with other metals is expected to pick up, though the mix and ratio among different precious metals may change. The share of platinum and diamond jewellery in the overall gold jewellery has increased significantly over the past one year.
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