Gold jewellery is a favourite among the Indian women, the shiny metal is just not a favourite form of accessory but also an important part of their ‘Stree Dhan.’ ‘Stree Dhan’, according to the Hindu law is the wealth acquired by women during important occasions in their life. While ‘Stree Dhan’ includes movable and immovable assets, the large portion of this wealth constitutes in the form of gold jewellery. Gold jewellery is received by women on different occasions throughout their life, however a woman’s wedding is the primary occasion when she accumulates corpulent amount of jewellery.
Women early on in the Indian homes are taught about the importance of saving and gold is their favourite mode of converting their hard cash into an asset. The current global scenario has resulted in a surge in the gold prices, a happy occasion for all those women who had considered investing in gold jewellery as a form of investment. However, on the downside this has created troubles for the woman who is set off to marry this year. The gold prices notching on the higher side spelt a doom, as that meant an increase in the cost of wedding trousseau.
Jewellery stores remained shut during the lockdown, which resulted in no demand for once a favourite accessory. While gold bullions and coins, ETFs continued to be a favourite form of investment, buying gold and silver in the physical form saw a marginal drop. Post the lockdown, while the gold price continued to see an upswing movement, jewelry buyers remained away from the stores. Standalone stores are yet to start business while top names in the industry recorded only 20-25% sales as compared to sale records of last year.
Retailers have mentioned that the sale that took place post lockdown was mostly of jewellery that had been booked in advance. Footfall in the stores remained negligent. Though the gold and silver price were expected to remain at a higher side industry experts as well as store managers are positive of footfalls turning back although slowly.