Gold jewellers report a gradual increase in footfalls as the yellow metal prices have fallen by 7% from a peak of Rs 1 lakh per 10 grams on April 22 as the US-China trade war de-escalated and geopolitical tensions eased.

Jewellers said there is rising demand for 18-carat studded and plain jewellery, along with the traditional 22-carat jewellery, for the upcoming wedding season in June and July.

In the international market, gold prices fell more than 4% last week—the steepest weekly loss since November 2024—to touch $3,180 per troy ounce on Friday as the safe-haven demand waned after the US and China agreed to lower tariffs for 90 days last week.

The yellow metal had hit a record high of $3,500 per ounce on April 22.

Meanwhile, geopolitical situation improved as India-Pakistan tensions eased and Ukrainian and Russian officials on Friday held their first direct meeting since March 2022.

“After Akshaya Tritiya, the gold market remained dull as prices remained steep. But over the last week, we have seen consumers returning to the market as gold prices have dropped,” said Surendra Mehta, national secretary of the India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA).

People are mostly buying for marriages in June. “Some are even placing orders for the wedding months of November and December as they fear that prices may shoot up if Trump imposes a reciprocal tariff after the 90-day window,” Mehta said.

Footfalls are increasing in tier-2 and tier-3 cities as well, according to reports trickling in from the jewellers, he added.

With gold prices rising almost 24% since the start of 2025, jewellers have seen growing demand for more affordable 18-carat plain gold jewellery for weddings — a segment traditionally dominated by 22-carat gold. They noted that the lower caratage is no longer limited to studded jewellery alone.

"There is an early traction for 18 carat jewellery and I think more and more customers are going to be open to lower caratage simply because the price point has become quite a bit," Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Tanishq, had said in the Q4 earnings call earlier this month.

He said the company was looking at lower caratage to reduce the price points. “So, if people have been used to buying 18-carat studded, they are also now beginning to get comfortable with 14 (carat), and in the case of CaratLane (jewellery brand), they have also introduced 9-carat,” Chawla said.

IBJA’s Mehta said the association recently wrote to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), requesting the agency to come out with hallmarking unique identification (HUID) numbers for 9-carat gold jewellery. At present, hallmarking is effective for 22-carat, 18-carat and 14-carat gold jewellery.

Ramesh Kalyanaraman, executive director of Kalyan Jewellers, said diamond jewellery is now mostly made with 14-carat gold against 18 carat earlier. Also, plain gold jewellery was only 22 carat earlier, but now the company has started offering 18-carat gold jewellery in certain markets, he said at the fourth quarter earnings call earlier this month.

“But certain markets like Tamil Nadu are still very tough to crack for 18-carat jewellery. People still buy 22-carat and 18-carat is only restricted to Gen Z products,” Kalyanaraman added.

Courtesy: ET