Case for Ethics in the jewellery business

Standards in Jewellery Business Business Ethics -

Get your gold tested the same place where jewellers do

Every now and then one might get the urge to get their gold jewellery tested. When your jeweller claims that what he is selling is 22k or 18k but doesn't have the 5 hallmark symbols in it. What do you do? Well go to the gold testing centres called assay centre where jewellers themselves get their jewellery tested and hallmarked.

Below is a list of all the Assay Centres approved by BIS. BIS is the same body which grants license to jewellers throughout India as well.

Visit the link.
http://www.bis.org.in/cert/hallmarkass.htm

Gold hits 2010 season's lowest

Good news but a little late. Finally gold is hitting new lows and touched Rs.15,800/22ct. It helped bring in much needed activity int he jewellery retail front. Just in time for the last phase of wedding this winter season before it picks up in the middle of the year.

And to make this seem like a deal, fresh new designs in Bangles, Rings, chains have just arrived. We will post the pics soon.

Jewellery shoppers: Beware of these 5 pitfalls on Ebay India

A newspaper story and a couple of blog mentions caught my attention and I thought I will chip in with my thoughts on this.

The newspaper story that ran in ET about ebay selling 1 product a min and the most selling category online is jewellery must have certainly frowned a few brows. Ebay sells a jewellery piece every 7 mins, more than any other category including cellphones, cameras, coins, stamps etc.

That is definitely a shot in the arm for the entire e-commerce industry in India.
But before you jump with both feet in it. Here are a few things you need to look for when shopping online at ebay India.

1) Home grown certificates for diamond authenticity.Most of the sellers on ebay provide their own certificates for the authenticity of diamonds. There isnt any standardized GIA, EGL certificates offered. which means these certificates dont hold water when you go selling them offline.
2) There is no true exchange/refund. Online shopping entails making a purchase decision looking at the pictures provided by the seller, which are often not so good quality. When a user is not satisfied with the actual product the return costs the consumer 10%- 25% or more as 're-stocking fees'. I found a seller which claimed - 100% satisfaction guarantee and yet had a 20% restocking fee if the item was returned.
3) The gold purity is 14K in most cases. Offline stores rarely sell jewellery items in 14K. This translates into good savings.
4) None of the jewellery is hallmarked. There are studies published by BIS on the prevalent purity of most gold items sold offline. Why cant the same happen online?
5) Adjectives like "full cut" and "premium white" describe the quality of diamonds.When internationally its an accepted norm to use the 4Cs namely cut, colour, carat and clarity.

These are early years of ecommerce in India and the biggest draw of online commerce has been the low prices. So the consumers are throwing caution to the wind and not asking as many questions as they would ask the offline stores. Both consumers should start asking for more and sellers should be prepared to offer more as this mode of shopping has to gain mainstream acceptance.

Sone Pe Suhaga is 1 year old

Woohoo! we recently completed a year of blogging. What looked like a fad has sustained beyond that. Thanks to all the visitors who keep coming everyday which really inspires me and Ruchika to keep going.

Your numerous questions either on comments of various posts or to the info@kathana.in ID shows there is a lack of credible source of information. And we are filling in those gap in our small way.

As we write, a lot of issues become clear to us and helps us step into the shoes of our customers. Honestly if this didn't happen to us we would be a lot poorer in understanding what drives this business and what consumers want.

This blog has not only grown leaps and bounds by number of posts but also in features, insights and number of visitors.This past year regular readers would have noticed constant changes from introducing feeds to regularly updating gold prices.

Blogging to us has also been a strategic way of getting our word out inexpensively( though it does take a lot of time and energy so its expensive by that measure).

And as we head into Year 2 of our blogging journey we will continue writing about issues that are of relevance to consumers of jewellery especially in India. We would urge you to drop small words of encouragement so we know our efforts are appreciated. Thanks for stopping by.

Pitampura: A jewellery shoppers' Paradise

Check out our Diwali festive offer for 2008 here

I do not represent the Traders' Association of Pitampura or even the jewellery retailers here. Pitampura, in North West Delhi was famous for only and only its T.V. tower. Arguably the tallest structure in Delhi. Life was slow moving as everywhere else. Its only recently(isn't that a pan India phenomenon)that the changes around this area is noticeable and worth mentioning.

Especially, for gold jewellery shoppers, Pitampura has emerged as a complete shopping destination in North-West Delhi. It has clearly emerged as the most sought destination among nearby areas like Rohini, Shalimar Bagh, Ashok Vihar, Paschim Vihar and Punjabi Bagh

You can easily count the who's who of the jewellery world having an outlet here.
Here you will find tons of family jewellers like Goel Jewellers, Goelsons, Rawalpindi, Sona jewellers, Hira jewellers, Vasundhra Jewellers, Hiraq Jewellers, Pytex Jewellers, Baba Jewellers, Champalal Jewellers and Jewellery store chains like Tanishq, Bholasons, Joy Allukkas and P.P. Jewellers.

Infact when Gold Souk ( a mall dedicated to only jewellery stores) opened its first mall in Delhi, It was none other than our neighbourhood.

Some of the other well known jewellery hotspots are Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk(Kucha Mahajani), Connaught Place and South Extension.