Aman Talla and Kashish Gupta’s book is a thorough jewellery buying guide for Indian customers

Indian retail jewellery is an industry thriving on hands-on, experience-led learnings. There are very few treatises a curious learner can look back on for this sector. However, some luminaries step up to document their insights not just for the seller but also for the consumer. The book titled ‘7 top secrets you must know before buying jewellery’ by Aman Talla, director, Talla Jewellers and his wife Kashish Gupta is one such example.

According to Aman, the book acts as a complete guide to all the jewellery purchase decisions and is meant for end-consumers. The book talks about the most common issues faced by consumers while buying jewellery. It delves into several trade secrets of the jewellery industry which the customers do not know.

Speaking about the book, Aman said, “It took me almost 1.5 to 2 years to write the book. Most of the customers used to come and ask me questions which were quite common and frequent. A thought came to my mind to address all these problems in one place and try to be as clear as possible which will be like a Bible to all the jewellery buyers.” The book has not been written from a seller’s perspective.

The book is majorly divided into three parts. The first part talks about the trade secrets of the diamond jewellery industry and alerts customers about malpractices such as stone weight anomaly, quality and type of diamonds, diamond certifications, etc. It also addresses the common scams in diamond jewellery trade regarding certification, stating how the customers can ensure that they are buying diamonds with authentic certification. The book also covers the basic knowledge about diamonds so as to impart about 50% education of diamond jewellery purchase before visiting the showroom.

The second part deals with the unethical practices in the gold jewellery industry and the loopholes in the mandatory hallmarking system. “For example, there are occasions wherein the jeweller asks the hallmarking centre to only hallmark the hooks in chains. The jeweller then prepares a gold chain with substandard gold content and uses the hooks in the chain, deceiving buyers about the actual hallmarking status of the final product. If there are three pieces in one collection, such jewellers get only one piece hallmarked to sell off the other two with lower purity of gold,” explained Talla.

The third part works as a comprehensive guide on maintenance tips of fine jewellery such as pearl sets, kundan, temple and gold ranges.

“I was not a born jeweller, but a trained jeweller. I believe that after a point of time, money does not drive you and I was looking for the reason why I am in this jewellery industry. This book solved my quest and gave me a new reason to carry on with my work,” Aman added.

Written by Manoj Chakraborty

RJ Exclusive