Record Gold Prices Drain the Buzz From Kota's Jewellery Lanes as Shoppers Turn to Old Ornaments

Soaring gold rates have stalled Kota's bullion trade, with new jewellery sales down 30 to 40 percent as families now exchange old ornaments for fresh designs instead of buying new pieces.

Sky-high gold prices have knocked the shine off Kota's jewellery market. While gold keeps setting fresh records, footfall in the shops and the appetite for buying have both cooled sharply. With the wedding and festive season approaching, traders had hoped business would pick up, but the steep prices have wrecked the budgets of ordinary families. As a result, sales of new ornaments keep falling, and instead of buying fresh jewellery, people now prefer to exchange their old pieces and have them recast into new designs.

Leading jewellers in the city say the pace at which gold has climbed over the past few months has hit buyers' pockets directly. Earlier, families would buy new sets, necklaces, bangles and other ornaments for weddings, engagements and home functions. Now, most of them are melting down or exchanging the jewellery already at home to create new designs. This has cut the share of fresh cash purchases and weakened demand for new ornaments. At present, the bullion trade has slumped by 30 to 40 percent.

Buyers Holding Back on New Ornaments
Normally, advance bookings for the wedding seasons in June-July and the year-end begin around this time. This year, the picture is different. Traders say enquiries and bookings are happening, but very few customers are confirming their orders. Many families are putting off purchases in the hope that prices might ease later.

Sluggish Wedding-Season Bookings
Traders fear that if rates stay at this level, the pressure on retail business will only grow. Customers are still walking into the shops, but the proportion of those actually buying has dropped. Small and mid-sized jewellers are taking the hardest hit. Traders believe that since gold is tied to both tradition and investment for Indian families, demand will not vanish entirely, but the slowdown could persist until prices steady.

Daily Price Swings Leave Shoppers Confused
Bullion traders say the constant ups and downs in gold prices are stopping customers from making up their minds. Many reach the shop, look at the designs, and then drop the idea the moment they hear the price. Right now, the rate for one tola is hovering around 148800 rupees. Customers who once comfortably bought 50 to 100 grams of jewellery are now trimming the weight or postponing purchases altogether. A few years ago, buying 15 to 20 tola of gold for a wedding was common, but most families have now scaled down to just 5 to 7 tola. Rising rates are pushing people toward lighter ornaments. Many families are swapping old jewellery to get new pieces made. With prices this high, customers are exchanging old ornaments rather than buying new gold, which has hurt sales of fresh jewellery. After the government imposed an import duty, the pace of business has slowed further.

Bullion trader Prateek Soni says buying gold is no longer easy. The rate for a single tola is running at around one and a half lakh rupees. The prices are so high that buying is out of reach. With a wedding in his own family next month, he has had the old jewellery kept at home recast into a new design instead.

Reworking Old Jewellery Becomes the New Trend
In this era of expensive gold, the trend of giving old ornaments a new look has picked up fast. Homemakers and families are getting their old necklaces, chains, bangles and other pieces redone in modern designs. This lets them spend less extra money while still getting jewellery that matches current fashion. Jewellers say orders for exchange and remaking have risen sharply compared with last year. The new import duty imposed by the government is also weighing directly on the trade. These days, footfall in the city's main bullion markets has thinned, and most shops wear a deserted look. For now, customers are coming in mainly to get their old ornaments reworked.

Crisis Looms Over Jewellery Artisans
The relentless rise in gold prices is not limited to the bullion trade; it is also eating into the livelihoods of thousands of artisans linked to jewellery-making. With demand for new ornaments falling, craftsmen are struggling for work these days. Record gold rates have weakened demand for fresh jewellery, and that is showing up directly in the manufacturing work. The artisans say that where they once got daily work designing, casting, polishing and finishing several ornaments, the workload has now shrunk to less than half.

What this means for you
• Across India: With gold near one and a half lakh rupees a tola, wedding shopping has turned costly, so lighter ornaments and remaking old jewellery may be the cheaper route for buyers.
• In Kota: A 30 to 40 percent slump in the local bullion trade and a halving of work for artisans is directly squeezing the earnings of small jewellers and craftsmen.

Questions & Answers

1. What is the rate of one tola of gold in Kota right now?
At present, the rate for one tola of gold is hovering around 148800 rupees.

2. How much has the bullion trade declined?
Kota's bullion trade has currently slumped by 30 to 40 percent.

3. What are customers doing instead of buying new jewellery?
Most customers are exchanging or melting down old ornaments to have them recast into new designs.

4. How much gold is being bought for weddings now?
Where buying 15 to 20 tola was once common, most families have now scaled down to just 5 to 7 tola.

5. How has this slump affected artisans?
With demand for new ornaments falling, the workload for jewellery artisans has shrunk to less than half.

6. What is another reason the trade has slowed?
Business slowed further after the government imposed an import duty on gold.

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