Sale of gold-plated jewelry has increased by at least 20 percent compared to a year ago. This is all thanks to the meteoric rise in the price of yellow metal, which pushed gold jewelry prohibitively expensive for ordinary consumers. “Price of yellow metal has increased by around 30 percent compared to last year´s level and this has forced the customer to go for gold-plated jewelry,” said Wagle.
Latest trend indicates, imitation jewelry is turning out to be a big hit with people in the ongoing marriage season. It is not just the pricing that is pushing people to switch to imitation jewelry though. Says Bidhya Gautam, a resident of Bhaktapur, gold-plated jewelry products are trendy while the prices are reasonable.
Gautam, whom Republica caught up with at Indra Chowk while buying an imitation jewelry piece, said that she was buying new sets of jewelry for the marriage of her cousin. “These are cheaper, easy to carry, and won´t incite sense of loss when misplaced or lost,” she stated.
Tej Ratna Shakya, president of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association (Negosida), admits a robust sale of imitation jewerly in the ongoing marriage season is impacting the gold jewelry business in the capital adversely. According to Shakya, people are choosing imitation jewelry also because they may be feeling insecure about possessing more gold at a time when its price is touching new highs every now and then.
Thanks to rising sales, the number of outlets dealing in gold plated jewelry has increased across the Kathmandu valley. While this has intensified competition among imitation jewelry dealers, they are offering minimum six months to one-year warranty on products such as necklace, ring, bangle, ear ring, mangalsutra and tilhari (beaded necklace with gold).
Gold-plated necklace costs from Rs 1,200 to Rs 5,000, bangle from Rs 500 to Rs 3,000, ring from Rs 250 to Rs 15,00. Likewise, ear ring costs from Rs 350 to Rs 3,500 and gold-plated mangalsutra from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.
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