Indian Retailers Sell Loose Diamonds in Stock Recycling

(IDEX Online News) - A combination of high diamond prices and strong consumer resistance to those high prices has resulted in a marked slowdown in diamond jewelry retail sales in India. With many off on summer vacations, demand has dropped off even further.

The decline in sales and extremely volatile gold prices have made retailers unwilling to hold on to inventory. As a result, many retailers are melting some of their inventory, recycling the gold for future fabrication and selling the diamonds in the wholesale polished market.

Buyer resistance and a return of some polished back onto the market have alleviated the extreme shortages in better quality polished in the Mumbai market. It is now possible to find some quantities of these goods in inventories here and there.

A knock-on effect of this has been that SI goods are now the hot sellers in every size and color.

Until recently, Indian consumers of higher-end jewelry have only accepted the better colors and clarities, considering them good value retainers. They are now willing to use SI goods as well, adopting the opinion that these too will hold their value in the future.