BL: Jewellers turn innovative to offset high gold prices
Mumbai, July 21 With the gold prices hitting the roof and demand plateauing, jewellers are turning innovative to attract elusive customers.
The 110-year-old, Mumbai-based K T Group, known for its Chain N Chains, Timond Luxury Watch and Raa Diamond Jewellery, is set to launch value-for-money “Arma” – a range of rings, ear-rings and pendants made of gold, steel and diamond.
The company will also launch “Juno Monetaa” high-end gold watches at the forthcoming India International Jewellery Show in Mumbai on August 6.
Mr Tejas Soni, Chief Operating Officer, K T Group, said: “This is for the first time a jewellery of gold, steel and diamond is being launched in India. In Italy, tt is in great demand.”
The steel required for making Arma jewellery has to be imported from Taiwan as very few countries produce high quality steel with very low carbon content, he added.
Priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 6,000, Arma jewellery will be made of 18 carat gold, 3-4 pieces of diamond and steel. The hallmarked jewellery comes with a buy-back guarantee at 50 per cent of its value and will be made available in 500 retail outlets in two years.
The steel mix, automation and mass production help reduce cost. Mr Soni said. Arma jewellery, in the price bracket of Rs 4,000, would otherwise cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 16,000 if not blended with steel.
Besides two factories in Mumbai, the company recently set up in Himachal Pradesh a unit that can make up to 3,000 chains a day and 5,000 gold watches a year.
The company sells Chain N Chains to over 7,500 retailers. KT Group will invest Rs 80 crore in the first phase and intends to scale up investment by 45 per cent mid-2010 once the demand picks up.
Sales
Conceding that jewellery sales are down 20-25 per cent due to the economic turmoil, Mr Soni said purchases have been badly hit in IT-centric cities such as Hyderabad and Bangalore, but it was pretty much happening in the North and Mumbai region.
“Purchases in the range of Rs 1,000-6,000 have been largely taken over by mobile phones and ipods, though impulsive buying in the segment remains. Our target is to bring these people back to buy jewellery,” said Mr Soni.
The company plans to tap the international markets by second half of 2010 and intends to push its turnover from Rs 120 crore to Rs 200 crore by next fiscal.
