Jago Grahak Jago: Family jewellers give more value for money spent.

Bought jewellery from your neighbourhood jeweller then relax as you have invested your money in the right place. An Economic Times (ET) article today compares Branded/Online retailer vis-a-vis family jewellers. The comparision is on similar line as we have talked about in a blogpost 2 years ago ( read it here ).

Briefly the ET article talks about:

• Family jewellers ( like us ) price jewellery on a daily basis giving consumers the best possible prices, whereas online retailers and branded store use a fixed price concept raking in a margin of 50-100%.
• Family jewellers give a breakup of all the information like weight, making charges, buy back value whereas online retailers/branded stores arent always either so transparent or take their jewellery back or give ridiculously low value in return.
• This concept of fixed pricing thus goes against the very reason for buying gold/diamond jewellery if it cannot give you a better return.

Read the entire ET article here: http://bit.ly/hh73tN

5 ways to save money on new gold/diamond jewellery

I have been wanting to write this post before the recent drop in gold prices but time not permitting, I kept procrastinating till now. With the current gold prices its never too late I guess.

SO here I am aggregating 5 ways to save money if gold purchasing is on the agenda:

1) Stretch the money thin: 1 gm gold ornaments are a hit and available at many stores. Read more on this here and here.

2)14k Gold: Jewellery ornaments made in 14K contain less gold. I mentioned all the virtues of going for low caratage in your jewellery here.

3) Chains minus the weight: You can find a lot of very heavy looking chains which are actually hollow. "A lot of chains are being made hollow and the reduction in weight is compensating for the rise in gold prices," said Roy Lynch, director of Strictly Gold.

4) Join a loyalty program : Retailers(likeTanishq, Kathana) entice consumers with a loyalty program where points accumulates and can be redeemed for various discounts and sometimes with free gold.

5) Exchange Old gold for New: Read my earlier blog post on this here.

Photo Credits: 24thcentury via flickr.com

Take a hard look at the buy back policy

I have a habit of stopping by the jewellery section of mega stores whenever I am in a mall, just to check out designs at some of the branded jewellery counters.

The good thing about the branded jewellery is the designs especially suit the career woman who like wearing light jewellery to work.They are easy on the pocket and very well finished so the glitter is hard to resist.

Just recently I was at Shopper's Stop in Ansal Plaza in south Delhi. Over at a jewellery counter,
on a casual enquiry about a ring that i liked I found the return policy of the company gave you only 75% of the cash back but on exchange they will value it at 90% of the original price.

"That's a Rip off!!" I protested.
"But we don't charge any making charge" she countered.
"But that doesnt explain 25% of my money" I replied.
The coy sales girl could only muster a few words after that "Its the company's policy."
I didn't expect any other response. But I got something to write about.

To some it might come as an after thought, but if gold jewellery is something you buy fondly and truly believe any money spent on gold is an investment, then you got to remember this:

The value of your investment is the money it will fetch in the market when you sell it.

Knowing the return policy on the jewellery item at the time of purchase could save you from burning a hole in your pocket/investment.

Best in Class Buy Back Policy:

Tip1: Your gold jewellery should be, well worth its weight in gold. Typically only making charges should be deducted on returning your gold jewellery.
Tip2: In case of Diamond jewellery expect to pay up deduction of (making charges + 10% off) on the value of jewellery, on account of losses incurred by broken diamonds and wastage of gold.
Tip3: A jeweller should promptly process your return if bought from the same store. Non-hallmarked jewellery could be subjected to an assay test at a nearby hallmarking centre. Determining purity shouldn't taken more than a couple of hours anyways.
Tip4: There should be no loss in value whether you go for cash-back or exchange.

Heads Up: Gold prices to rise in 2008

After the 2007 shooting up of gold prices one would think that it would see some correction. Looks like this wouldnt be most prudent assumption going by the pundits in this trade.

What do these pundits think?

Analysts in Hindustan times' article titled' Gold to shine in 2008' believe a number of reasons like rising oil-prices, weaking dollar and political uncertainties will fuel the demand for gold. The gold futures( which determine the actual price of gold) for February are also closing a trifle higher than last week's close.

Another magazine Outlook Money adds in their article titled 'Time to add some sheen' that the beginning of 2008 is the best time to invest in gold funds or bars/coins but not jewellery.

Tip # 1: All Gold Is Not Created Equal

I have been thinking of starting jewellery tid-bits in a digestible format for the readers of this blog.

Once I have a decent number of them I will make an e-book out of these.Here's my first one.

Gold used in Diamond jewellery is 18K whereas in Gold sets, Kanthi Sets the gold is 22K pure.

Why so? The reason is pure gold(24K) is very soft and cannot be used in jewellery of any kind as it is. So alloys are mixed in gold to make it stronger.

Prongs used in diamond jewellery to hold the diamonds need to be strong. Hence it is 18K( more alloy). Gold used in necklaces containg semiprecious stones, kanthi necklace sets and antique design gold sets are made in 22K gold(less alloy).