Somewhere in India this week, a family is walking straight past the jeweller and into a utensil shop. With gold near ₹1.4 lakh per 10 grams, that is starting to look like a sensible plan.
When gold stops fitting
Gold has hovered between roughly ₹1.41 lakh and ₹1.48 lakh per 10 grams for 24-carat this week. That is well off its January peak, yet still steep ahead of 6 November. The question has quietly shifted from how much gold to buy to what else will do.
Silver and steel
Silver. Senco’s silver volumes rose 35 per cent last financial year, though at around ₹2 lakh a kilo it is hardly cheap.
Utensils. In Hathras, a wholesale utensil hub for western Uttar Pradesh, traders stocked up this week and expect a record season, even with steel utensil prices up about 5 per cent on raw material costs. Shops are loading induction-friendly cookware, tri-ply steel pots and gift-packed sets, with boxes in the ₹500 to ₹1,500 range drawing good enquiries.
The big-ticket route
Appliances. Over the Navratri and Dussehra stretch, appliance makers reported growth of 18 to 20 per cent, helped by easy financing.
Picky spending. Smartphones, laptops and televisions fell 16 to 20 per cent in volume as memory chip costs lifted prices, and vehicle retail grew only about 2 per cent. Shoppers are choosing their spends carefully.
Diamonds without the gold bill
A major grading lab says its certification revenue from lab-grown diamond jewellery rose 47 per cent this season. That points to retailers stocking up for festive demand, not to confirmed sales.
For those who cannot let go
Gold buyers are trimming rather than quitting. Senco’s retail revenue rose 29 per cent in the September quarter, with lightweight jewellery among the reasons, and Titan’s studded jewellery grew in the early thirties. Jewellers’ bodies say old-gold exchange has climbed from about 30 per cent of gold purchases to about 50 per cent.
Habit or tradition?
So is this a new habit or an old ritual on a tighter budget? The evidence favours the ritual. People are still turning up and spending, just on different things. Dhanteras is holding. Gold is simply no longer its only way in.
