As gold prices soar, Tanishq comes up with jewellery containing 15-25% hard alloy

As gold prices have surged, jewellery major Tanishq has come up with 22-karat jewellery that contains 15-25% of hard alloy and are priced 15-20% lower compared with existing inventory or gold jewellery.

The jewellery unit of Tata Group’s Titan Co has applied for a patent for the hard alloy that it is using in these pieces.

“We had been getting feedback from the customers that the high gold price is putting a pressure on their pockets. Keeping that in mind, we have come up with this new range of jewellery which are light-weight yet hardy and affordable,” Ajoy Chawla, chief executive of Titan’s jewellery division, told ET.

If a pair of bangles required 45 grams of gold earlier, using this hard alloy, the gold content has been brought down to 35 gms, Chawla said. “This makes the customer happy too because he is getting the same design at a lower price,” he added.

Gold prices have surged more than 26% in the last two years. In January 2020, gold was Rs 38,000 per 10 gms, while on Thursday, it was trading at Rs 48,000. The outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 saw gold prices going up to touch Rs 57,000 per 10 gms in August, as investors across the globe parked money in the yellow metal, which is seen as a safe haven asset.

“We now have 3,500 SKUs (stock keeping units)of light weight jewellery which have been achieved through three routes – design reconstruction, product re-engineering and material innovation. Subsequently, 50% of our inventory will be light-weight jewellery which we have named as Hi-Lites.We plan to serve one million customers with our light-weight jewellery,” said Chawla.

Tanishq has witnessed 39% growth in new customer acquisition in the current financial year. “There is a distinct shift among the customers from the unorganised to the organised sector,” he said. The mandatory hallmarking that was introduced on June 16 last year has become a major gamechanger in gold trade.

Commenting about the movement of gold price in 2022, Chawla said: “There is uncertainty all over. As of now gold price has remained stable in the range of Rs 47,000- 48,000 per 10 gms. But it is hard to predict whether it will again move northwards.”

The Tanishq CEO is not worried about the third wave of Covid. “Market has become resilient. We have seen in earlier two waves that once the cases subside, people come out to buy. If the business is impacted in Q4 of FY22, we will make it up in Q1 of FY23,” he added.

Courtesy: Economic Times