Jewellry has not lost its appeal: Traders

One thing people invest in is jewellry and the trend of buying jewellry has been constant over the years. The surging price of gold as well as silver hasn’t hampered the steady sale of jewellry. Be it special occasions like weddings, anniversaries and festivals, people look to buy jewellry as and when they can, say traders.

“Though the sale of jewellry is consistent it does go up during weddings and other such occasions. The price rise in gold may have slowed down the business but it hasn’t come to a complete halt,” said Rupa Tamrakar, a jeweller at Manakamana Jewellry in the capital.

According to Tamrakar, the purchasing power is pretty high and each store provides many options for their customers. “Many people who are regulars buy from one distinct store or get jewellry made to their taste and as per budget. Just because gold and silver prices have gone up, it doesn’t mean that people have stopped buying jewellry completely,” she added.

Even though business hasn’t been considerably hampered, it has become slow. But jewellry sellers have not felt a strong pinch. “There are good days and bad days. People buying gold has been fewer now and that is expected. The fluctuation in the world market will definitely show a fluctuation in sales,” said Shakti Kumar Begani, proprietor of Shree Ganpati Jewellers.

The lack of machines to test the authenticity of metals is proving to be a huge problem for jewellers as well as consumers. “There are no machines to test the authenticity of gold and other metals which really brings reliability issues in the picture, causing problems for buyers as well as sellers. The government needs to bring in these machines also so that export of jewellry can take off since we are now making jewellry in Nepal itself,” added Begani. More than 5,000 people are employed in the jewellry making business. It provides employment as well as contribution to the country’s economy. “We need to open up the jewellry export sector and for that we need to get machines to check the authenticity of precious metals. As soon as that is done, exports can take place, making contribution to the economy even more effectively,” added Begani.

This year has seen gold prices go out of control, causing gold trade to slow down considerably.