GUNTUR: With gold prices skyrocketing, the craze for one-gram gold ornaments is on the rise in Guntur.
As gold prices are very high and the Covid pandemic affected the financial conditions of middle-class families, people are in no condition to buy gold jewellery for weddings and festivals like they did in the past.
The price of 10 grams of 24k gold is `52,330. This is where the one-gram gold ornaments have become a major alternative. The city has 50 one-gram gold shops and the business has been going on at a brisk pace post-Covid. K Shyam Prasad, owner of a one-gram gold showroom in the city said, “Following a rise in the demand, we have also increased the range and brought several varieties, providing several options to customers.”
Earrings, chains, bracelets, bangles, necklaces, nose rings, toe rings, armlets ranging from `500 to `20,000 are available in the market. Explaining the preference for one-gram gold jewellery, A Swathi, a native of Guntur, said, “Instead of buying a single gold ornament, which is very costly, we can purchase various ornaments with attractive designs at less amount along with a warranty of two to five years. And also they are easy to replace without worrying whether we are getting the correct price or not, which is usually the case while replacing gold jewellery.”
Not just urban areas, even rural areas have witnessed a craze for one-gram gold jewellery, said Shyam Prasad.While the business of `50 lakh per month is done, `1 crore business was reported in the last marriage season, and the one-gram gold showroom owners are expecting the same for the next season, which is set to begin in December.“We are also thinking of setting up small counters inside clothing showrooms by next season, to boost our sales and facilitate customers,” he added.