Tip: How to identify an old gold/diamond jewellery piece

This is only possible with a hallmarked jewellery item. You can identify whether a peice of jewellery lying in front of you is old or new. Yuo can precisely tell how old a jewellery piece is.


Hallmark is an assurance of the quality of a precious metal like gold and silver jewellery in India. There are five symbols which are laser engraved on any hallmarked jewellery . In the picture below you will notice the 5 symbols namely the Hallmark symbol, the purity of gold which is 916 ( i.e. 22k), the assay centre's logo, the jeweller's logo and the year of hallmarking ie. J.


This last peice of information is what reveals the age of the jewellery in the picture. The hallmarking process was started in year 2000 so the corresponding symbol is A. The table below illustrates the corresponsing hallmark symbol for the subsequent years.

'A'	Year 2000	'E'	Year 2004
'B'	Year 2001	'F'	Year 2005
'C'	Year 2002	'G'	Year 2006
'D'	Year 2003	'H'	Year 2007

So now my dear friends you knwo the jewellery item in the picture above is hallmarked in the year 2009. So next time you see a hallmarked item with a F you know it was manufactured way back in 2005.

Kundans still rule.

Aishwarya wore them for her wedding in 2007, Rakhi Sawant donned it for her Swayamvar a few months back, and Shilpa Shetty swore by them for her wedding.

Kundans/Polki diamonds are here to stay and are still the hot favorite flavor for the wedding jewellery. While Kundan have been here for many years, but post Jodha Akbar the patterns have changed dramatically.

From smaller uncut diamonds set in gold casts symetrically with traditional ruby and emerald hangings along the border of the necklace they have now moved to big bold unsymmetric polki stones with a few large ruby or emeralds. Ofcourse as the polki grow bigger so does the price tag, but for the fashionistas with deep pocket it seldom matters.

So if you are wondering which one to wear for your wedding : uncut diamonds (polki) or a diamond set, play it safe and go with polkis. You can never go wrong with them.



Picture courtsey: http://www.samaylive.com/gallery/668611/27504.html

Whats your look this season?

I spoke to my friends (female of course) and family and asked them what was their urban chic look and heres an unofficial list:

1. Italian Chain(s)
2. Solitaire Ring- The bigger the better :)
   
3. Stud Earrings
4. Tennis Bracelet
   
5. Silver Anklet
6. Toe Ring(s)

Coincidentally there have been quite a few order for solitaire earrings (yes, thats their popular name) in the store off late. And they have been in various sizes depending on the dent one wants to make in their pocket. I know, studs have been around forever, but I guess most of us are just waking up to it! The good news is that its just gotten more affordable (thanks to the fat pay checks and the competitive diamond prices). So in case you are wondering what would complete that chic and slick look, heres my (in)expensive answer is: Studs.

Try them out in the conventional 3 prong, 4 prong, or multiple prong setting; or get a little louder and go for the micro-pave setting. We have mastered them all. So go ahead and order your custom made earrings today, and we will do them right from the scratch for you.

Happy Shopping :)

Be a smart shopper this diwali

Festive times have already begun, and as you get into shopping frenzy here is what you need to watch out for:-

• We can not emphasize enough on the need to buy only hallmarked gold jewellery. Please make sure that the gold you buy is worth its weight in gold. literally. Loads of jewellers are going the hallmark way, and even though they may look a little steep in their making charges, trust us, its lot less cheaper than getting ripped off by buying gold thats not its promised purity.
• If you are not in for heavy shopping, and are just looking to buy a shagun ke liye gold coin, then here is another piece of advice: Hallmarked gold coins are just as pure as the gold coins being sold by the banks. The advantage of buying them from a store versus the bank is that you don't have to pay the unnecessary premium that you pay to the banks. Plus banks are in the business of just selling gold coins. they wont buy them back from you. So if you ever have to sell those gold coins you may end up getting lesser than what you paid.
  
• Finally, one rule of thumb: If it is too good to be true, then either its not "too good" or its not "true". So make your decisions wisely and spend your money carefully. Be a smart shopper and be a safe shopper.
  

Once again from all of us here wish you a very happy and very prosperous Diwali.

Happy Diwali!!

Jewellery offer for Dhanteras /Diwali 2009 Shoppers

Buoyed by the success we saw last year. For all you visitors to this blog, here's a exclusive offer before our offline visitors know about it. This sneak peek deal to our online visitors is a 2-Day exclusive afterwhich we do an announcement with a huge banner in front of our store. So get that jewellery item you have been wanting at a special price before it vanishes away.

Offer:
Rs. 100 making charges for gold jewellery
Rs. 160 making charges for Antique and Italian Jewellery.
15% off on diamonds.

The offer is valid till Oct.18th.

RL1854 takes up industry reform for 1gm gold jewellery

I was surprised to know that 1-gm (imitation) jewellery trade too was under the same attack as precious metal jewllery is. In precious metal jewellery customers were being undersold, whereas the reverse was happening in imitation jewellery. Consumers were being oversold. Fortunately for gold and silver sold in any form/caratage of jewellery BIS has taken the right step by coming out with Hallmarking guidelines and implementing them through Assay labs. The immitation jewellery sector was not so lucky as the base metal in that category is made of metals other than gold/silver.

There was an opportunity lurking and most retailers grabbed it the wrong way. So this sector became a money spinner for the retailers and the consumer was being fleeced. It also meant an opportunity to comeout and standardize the sector. Amrish Jain of Aarel Jewellers Pvt Ltd. rose to this occasion. Aarel bought out advertisement in quite a few national dailies and started blogging to educate people on the current state of affairs and thus in one fell swoop became the undisputed leader in immitation jewellery.

It takes a lot of guts, conviction and vision to stand out from the crowd. Its tough to say 'STOP' to a practice in which the entire industry is consumed. And when you can do that , thats when you are reckoned as a leader.

We need few more jewellers to recognise its an opportunity to believe in 'It's profitable to be ethical.'

Disclaimer: Kathana Jewellers does not stock 1-gm jewellery.

Bolo Tie: What is it?

When a regular customer visited us for a customized jewellery order. It was another day at work. What he asked us to make raised our eyebrows. He asked us to craft a bolo-tie in gold and diamonds. Not that we couldnt do it. Our issue was more fundamental. We didnt know what a bolo-tie is? Bolo-tie is a necktie used by horse riders (cowboys) usually to keep the hat on their head. A search on the internet threw many examples. Wikipedia has an interesting story on the origin of this neck wear.

The customer happens to visit the US quite often and had planned a gift to his american counterpart. He obviously had a certain budget in his mind. An all diamond studded piece would have shot his budget. So to cut costs we kept the outer and inner most edges in diamonds and the middle was crafted and rhodium polished to give it the look of baguette diamonds. This was further accented with bunch leaves on the edges and centre to complete the look. The black cord which is used to hang it around the neck or tied to the hat was provided by the customer. The result is for all to see below.

Bolo-Tie in Gold and Diamonds.

Do Diamonds in diamond jewellery have no resale value?

.......was a simple question posed by Poonam who stumbled on our blog recently. I was on the phone with the enquirer who is getting married in March 2009. She wanted to know this because thats what she heard from her friend. That diamonds are worthless in an old diamond jewellery.

Diamonds in diamond jewellery are usually very small in size compared to a solitaire ring. Often called melle or star in industry lingo. These diamonds are usually cut and polished from the fragments(leftovers) of cutting bigger diamonds.

When returning to the same jeweller where you originally bought the diamond jewellry from, the best practise is deducting 10% of the entire value and making charge. The 10% deducted is on account of losses due to broken diamonds. Yes even though diamonds are the strongest natural substance known to humans, they do break when jewellers try to salvage whatever they can from the scrap(old gold ornaments).

The severe competition among jewellers discourages a common shopper to try selling the old diamond ornaments purchased elsewhere. Any jeweller is reluctant to pay you the price you paid to another jeweller. Otherwise a diamond is a diamond and even a small diamond dropped on the floor in our manufacturing unit leaves the Karigar scurrying for a broom to sweep it in.

Awesome response to our Diwali Festive Offer

Thank You! Rohini , Thank You! Pitampura for the jampacked response to our Diwali Festive offer. Our festive offer which is also advertised in the post: Diwali Wishes and Offers from Kathana was well received by the denizens of pitampura and rohini.

We distributed close to 40,000 flyers in most of the rohini sectors and some areas in Pitampura. The result: For most of the evening on the day of Dhanteras I was restricted to a 2-3 feet of space busy welcoming guests and keeping a watchful eye inside.

While gold and silver coins formed the staple for those out for just the dhanteras. Among the serious shoppers Chains(Indian and Italian) were the hottest selling, followed by light weight jewellery items like earrings and rings. Some came back for more with their relatives who didnt want to miss the bargain while others placed orders from the catalogue. We had 1 walk-in from the internet who walked out as our customer. Oh and if you think you have missed it we have extended it by another week just for our online visitors. And the time of this posting, it happens to be the last day for the offer.

One thing that was missing was the line outside the store. Sigh! We will aim for that the next time :)

Photo credit: johnnyalive via Flickr

Happy Diwali Wishes and Offers from Kathana Jewellers

Kathana family wishes everyone a very Happy Diwali. May this Diwali bring health and prosperity to you and your loved ones. Just like last year, Kathana Jewellers would urge you to make a pledge for a 'Smoke Free diwali' this year too. Delhi can be much better off without the smoke we have to inhale after Diwali Celebrations.

'Sone Pe Suhaga' Offers for Diwali 2008.

We have slashed making charges for Chains and Bangles at our store.The offer runs from (25th Oct-2nd Nov, 2008, Extended!)

Chains/Bangles : Rs 85/gram
Italian Chains : Rs 130/gram
Antique Bangles: Rs 130/gram

Gold prices have already sent people scurrying for the jewellery stores. And you shouldnt be sitting in front of your computers staring at the screen anymore either.