Drop in diamond demand, more so in unorganised market on purity concerns: ASSOCHAM Survey

While the well-known branded jewellery makers issue certificates of purity, bulk of the trade is still concentrated in the unorganised market, based on mutual faith between consumers and jewellers. "This has been shaken and the consumers are not willing to take chances following a massive adverse publicity about the sector. Besides, the branded show rooms issuing certificates of purity are largely restricted in big cities; while there is enough purchasing power in the smaller cities as well."

The survey done in major cities, found that 65 per cent of jewellers in the unorganised market, (barring the big time corporates and big brand companies) are shifting to traditional pure play gold and silver ornaments over diamond jewellery as consumers face the crisis of confidence in the purity of the precious stone.

Most of the jewellers said that there is an increase in the number enquiries from customers for getting their pre-purchased jewellery re-checked for quality and authenticity of gold and diamonds. Jewellers also say that gold demand has taken a lead as buyers are refraining from making purchases altogether.

The overall share of diamond based jewellery in the market is expected to take on a significant share of the gold jewellery sales in the near future, reports say. The demand for diamond jewellery seems to have decreased by 10-15 per cent within two months times, ASSOCHAM said.

The jewellery makers using gold jewellery and investing heavily with new designs, reflecting changing consumer taste as consumers have become cautious about purity of gold and are holding back their purchases. Even antique designs are being done in this segment, the survey noted.

The recent incident has created a fear among customers who are enquiring about the quality of jewellery especially diamonds. The consumers are shifting from diamond-studded jewellery to plain gold jewellery and appear to be wary of purchasing diamond jewellery, revealed the ASSOCHAM latest survey.

The survey covered 350 jewellery-makers based in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Dehradun. ASSOCHAM also interacted with about 500 working and non-working women in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai to gauge their shopping habits.