All sheen, no substance!

He was a smooth operator, suave, moved with the swish set in Canalli suits and Bentley cars. A Wharton-educated dropout who wooed India’s elite with his persuasive charm. And look what a mess luxury jeweller Nirav Modi has got himself into – a 11,300 crore scam that has made Punjab National Bank bleed blue.  

He was flying too high too soon. He had India’s leading movie stars like Priyanka Chopra endorsing his brand to “Inspire Awe”. Others happily wore his jewellery to red carpet events. Suddenly, he was the most sought after jeweller in India. In 2016, he held a lavish soiree at the Umaid Bhavan in Jaipur, and flew his clients from across the world. He was leader of the brash brat pack of new age jewelers who splurged on advertorial spaces in high end fashion glossies and showcased their creations on the nubile arms and tender necks of perfectly painted models.

A quick glance at any of these magazines will reveal that virtually every second page is a jewellery ad. Sunita Shekhawat, KAJ, Nirakara Jewels, Dia, the list is endless. Jewellery obsessed Indians have not bothered to question the credentials or the funding of many such jewelers. Several new players have entered the market over the last decade, aggressively advertising their baubles by hiring A list Bollywood stars for popular brands. Plush stores in prime properties are opened in every part of the country, like the setting up of departmental stores. A prominent jeweller from Jaipur, who does not wish to be named adds, “We would always wonder how the jewellers can afford these kind of showrooms all over the country and pay crores for actors to model for them.

The margins in jewellery are not very high. We too have very wealthy customers who are wary of buying what a Nirav Modi is selling or a Sabyasachi for that matter – the designs no doubt are good but who is to identify the quality and justify the price. It’s not as transparent at gold,” He can’t resist taking a dig at the trend of wealthy women turning into jewellery designers. “Like fashion designers, one hears of several celebrities (even housewives) getting into the jewellery business!”

But the wiser ones, not drawn to the glitter and glamour of the fancy names, still opt for their generations old, tried and tested family jewelers, confident that they will not be taken for a ride and are truly getting their money’s worth.

Hari Kishan Gupta of Totaram and Murarilal Jewellers has been in the jewellery business from 1901. “We have been in the jewellery business from 1901. Our clients are families who keep coming back to us for generations. There is implicit trust. Clients are never unhappy with our quality of work. That’s how we have survived all these years and our business does well. These new age jewellers who have come up suddenly have started brand stores taking loans from the banks and other financial institutions. At one time, every year gold prices would increase so jewellers made profits on their old stock. Now gold is stagnant, if stocks don’t sell, you lose a lot of money. Investment in gems and gold is a lot.  It doesn’t make sense if you are a new player and need to build a brand. To start a shop, you must have the capacity to withstand huge losses initially. So many jewellery brands are in heavy losses and the interest in bank loans is multiplying.

For us, our overheads are very less. We don’t even think of opening stores all over the country and as we do not advertise, this is what results in heavy losses.”

The old family jewelers are proud to carry forward a legacy that has been built on client trust over generations. To them jewellery is not just a money making racket, but a passion and a much loved family tradition.