Chandigarh is an easy city, a comfortable city to be in. The infrastructure and basic amenities that the residents enjoy are probably amongst the best in the world. Then again, there are the wide, tree-lined roads, beautiful parks and the serenity that abound throughout its length and breadth. Add to that the central location of the city. There is little wonder then, that Chandigarh is well-loved and popular with both its denizens and the large number of tourists visiting it, a sizable chunk of which is accounted for by annual NRI visitors.%% With so much in its favour, trade in this relatively young city (Chandigarh was established in 1952) is booming, and this includes jewellery retail as well. Chandigarh has around 200-odd jewellery retailers, and both the family jeweller and brands have an equally strong a presence here. The Sector 22D and Sector 35 areas in Chandigarh boast some truly sprawling, luxurious jewellery stores, which are unarguably the jewellery shopper’s delight. %% The city enjoys a pre-eminent position as a centre for retail trade and jewellers obviously like doing business here – the last 15 years have seen an impressive increase in their numbers. Another point of interest is the fact that jewellery is bought throughout the year, not just during the wedding and festive season, so the retailer is kept busy all the while. “Chandigarh is a melting pot of cultures,” says Rajan Katodiah of Sawan Jewellers who have been in the city since 1993. “And the fact that it is a rich city with a large NRI population (nearly 40% of Punjab, for instance, stays abroad) that comes visiting every year makes it a great place for business. The professionalism in the way business is done here is very high.”%% As Salil Jain of Jain Jewellers, a 40-year-old establishment puts it, “Chandigarh has a sizeable bureaucrat and industrialist population, thanks to its being the capital of two states and the nearby large industrial areas. Price is not an issue for nearly 30-40 per cent of the jewellery buying population, which means that retailers here naturally do well.”%%

Anil Talwar of Talwarsons Jewellers, who have been in the city practically since its inception, explains, “Chandigarh is considered as chic and stylish by the fashion conscious people of four states – Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and UP. In a short span of time, the city has become the fashion capital of north India. Tourists from the south, east and west of India always have Chandigarh on their “must-go-to” list. So naturally, retail is strong here. As far as the north Indian bride is concerned, the city is a key destination for her to do all her wedding trousseau shopping, and that obviously includes jewellery. It is now very trendy for the fashionista to say ‘I did my shopping in Chandigarh’! Also, the percentage of jewellery buying population here is very high – almost 70 per cent of the people here can afford to buy jewellery, which is always great news for business.”%% The customer base here is varied - dealing with the Chandigarh customer is both easy and tough, especially because she wants both her design and investment needs to be fulfilled satisfactorily.%% “We need to specialise in everything,” says Talwar. “The young generation, especially, is very aware and sure of what she wants. It’s sometimes a tough call to satisfy the customer – in one shot we need to provide trust, design, quality, investment – everything has to come together. The Chandigarh customer is extremely knowledgeable. Thanks to the media, her knowledge about the 4Cs, hallmarking and other basics of jewellery is a given, and we rarely if ever have to explain these things to the customer. Women especially are more vocal about their choices now and they want something different. Salaries for the working class are on the up and up. The city also has a large number of IT professionals with larger disposable incomes and an appreciable portion of this gets spent on jewellery. ”%% “As a large number of customers are from outside India, they have a world view of jewellery,” elucidates Katodiah. “They know the trends and want nothing but the best. Having said that, the same also applies to the Indian resident client – she is very well-travelled these days, and is exposed to and aware of what’s happening globally. Add to that the fact that they are very knowledgeable and very intelligent in their purchasing. More often than not the customer will understand the intrinsic value of the jewellery piece and will not consider the making charges important.”%% Katodiah too comments on the diversity of the Chandigarh customer. “It is difficult to really pinpoint any one preference of customers whether in terms of price points or designs,” he explains. “Price points are more of a concern with service people with limited incomes and a budget to adhere to. On the other hand, Chandigarh also has the elite and super rich for whom the price is not a concern at all, and they always buy top of the line products.”%%

Jain adds that, “At least 50 per cent of the customers who visit our store are very knowledgeable about jewellery. The Chandigarh client wants something unusual and unique every time she steps out to buy jewellery. Exclusivity is very important for her. We need to really keep abreast of worldwide trends to keep the Chandigarh customer happy. Customer requirements are as varied as can be – ethnic jadau jewellery, diamond sets, plain gold sets, platinum everything does well here. We have seen that the consumer here is quality conscious and prefers showy jewellery. Big, showy jewellery, but with excellence in quality is what she desires. In terms of price points, we see the Rs. 50, 000 to Rs. 2.5 lakh range moving very fast. It’s all a mix really, and for us it is a good thing to have variety in the customer base.” %% Predictions about Chandigarh’s growth are difficult to make, but retailers are optimistic, even as price volatility of precious metals and gemstones remains a cause for concern. Growth for the jewellery trade in the city is a given though Katodiah says a lot would depend on the overall state of the economy. And while Jain thinks the picture of the future is just a tad hazy, in Talwar’s opinion, Chandigarh is all set to beat topnotch cities like Delhi very soon! %%

Chandigarh is an easy city, a comfortable city to be in. The infrastructure and basic amenities that the residents enjoy are probably amongst the best in the world. Then again, there are the wide, tree-lined roads, beautiful parks and the serenity that abound throughout its length and breadth. Add to that the central location of the city. There is little wonder then, that Chandigarh is well-loved and popular with both its denizens and the large number of tourists visiting it, a sizable chunk of which is accounted for by annual NRI visitors.%% With so much in its favour, trade in this relatively young city (Chandigarh was established in 1952) is booming, and this includes jewellery retail as well. Chandigarh has around 200-odd jewellery retailers, and both the family jeweller and brands have an equally strong a presence here. The Sector 22D and Sector 35 areas in Chandigarh boast some truly sprawling, luxurious jewellery stores, which are unarguably the jewellery shopper’s delight. %% The city enjoys a pre-eminent position as a centre for retail trade and jewellers obviously like doing business here – the last 15 years have seen an impressive increase in their numbers. Another point of interest is the fact that jewellery is bought throughout the year, not just during the wedding and festive season, so the retailer is kept busy all the while. “Chandigarh is a melting pot of cultures,” says Rajan Katodiah of Sawan Jewellers who have been in the city since 1993. “And the fact that it is a rich city with a large NRI population (nearly 40% of Punjab, for instance, stays abroad) that comes visiting every year makes it a great place for business. The professionalism in the way business is done here is very high.”%% As Salil Jain of Jain Jewellers, a 40-year-old establishment puts it, “Chandigarh has a sizeable bureaucrat and industrialist population, thanks to its being the capital of two states and the nearby large industrial areas. Price is not an issue for nearly 30-40 per cent of the jewellery buying population, which means that retailers here naturally do well.”%%

Anil Talwar of Talwarsons Jewellers, who have been in the city practically since its inception, explains, “Chandigarh is considered as chic and stylish by the fashion conscious people of four states – Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and UP. In a short span of time, the city has become the fashion capital of north India. Tourists from the south, east and west of India always have Chandigarh on their “must-go-to” list. So naturally, retail is strong here. As far as the north Indian bride is concerned, the city is a key destination for her to do all her wedding trousseau shopping, and that obviously includes jewellery. It is now very trendy for the fashionista to say ‘I did my shopping in Chandigarh’! Also, the percentage of jewellery buying population here is very high – almost 70 per cent of the people here can afford to buy jewellery, which is always great news for business.”%% The customer base here is varied - dealing with the Chandigarh customer is both easy and tough, especially because she wants both her design and investment needs to be fulfilled satisfactorily.%% “We need to specialise in everything,” says Talwar. “The young generation, especially, is very aware and sure of what she wants. It’s sometimes a tough call to satisfy the customer – in one shot we need to provide trust, design, quality, investment – everything has to come together. The Chandigarh customer is extremely knowledgeable. Thanks to the media, her knowledge about the 4Cs, hallmarking and other basics of jewellery is a given, and we rarely if ever have to explain these things to the customer. Women especially are more vocal about their choices now and they want something different. Salaries for the working class are on the up and up. The city also has a large number of IT professionals with larger disposable incomes and an appreciable portion of this gets spent on jewellery. ”%% “As a large number of customers are from outside India, they have a world view of jewellery,” elucidates Katodiah. “They know the trends and want nothing but the best. Having said that, the same also applies to the Indian resident client – she is very well-travelled these days, and is exposed to and aware of what’s happening globally. Add to that the fact that they are very knowledgeable and very intelligent in their purchasing. More often than not the customer will understand the intrinsic value of the jewellery piece and will not consider the making charges important.”%% Katodiah too comments on the diversity of the Chandigarh customer. “It is difficult to really pinpoint any one preference of customers whether in terms of price points or designs,” he explains. “Price points are more of a concern with service people with limited incomes and a budget to adhere to. On the other hand, Chandigarh also has the elite and super rich for whom the price is not a concern at all, and they always buy top of the line products.”%%

Jain adds that, “At least 50 per cent of the customers who visit our store are very knowledgeable about jewellery. The Chandigarh client wants something unusual and unique every time she steps out to buy jewellery. Exclusivity is very important for her. We need to really keep abreast of worldwide trends to keep the Chandigarh customer happy. Customer requirements are as varied as can be – ethnic jadau jewellery, diamond sets, plain gold sets, platinum everything does well here. We have seen that the consumer here is quality conscious and prefers showy jewellery. Big, showy jewellery, but with excellence in quality is what she desires. In terms of price points, we see the Rs. 50, 000 to Rs. 2.5 lakh range moving very fast. It’s all a mix really, and for us it is a good thing to have variety in the customer base.” %% Predictions about Chandigarh’s growth are difficult to make, but retailers are optimistic, even as price volatility of precious metals and gemstones remains a cause for concern. Growth for the jewellery trade in the city is a given though Katodiah says a lot would depend on the overall state of the economy. And while Jain thinks the picture of the future is just a tad hazy, in Talwar’s opinion, Chandigarh is all set to beat topnotch cities like Delhi very soon! %%

Chandigarh is an easy city, a comfortable city to be in. The infrastructure and basic amenities that the residents enjoy are probably amongst the best in the world. Then again, there are the wide, tree-lined roads, beautiful parks and the serenity that abound throughout its length and breadth. Add to that the central location of the city. There is little wonder then, that Chandigarh is well-loved and popular with both its denizens and the large number of tourists visiting it, a sizable chunk of which is accounted for by annual NRI visitors.%% With so much in its favour, trade in this relatively young city (Chandigarh was established in 1952) is booming, and this includes jewellery retail as well. Chandigarh has around 200-odd jewellery retailers, and both the family jeweller and brands have an equally strong a presence here. The Sector 22D and Sector 35 areas in Chandigarh boast some truly sprawling, luxurious jewellery stores, which are unarguably the jewellery shopper’s delight. %% The city enjoys a pre-eminent position as a centre for retail trade and jewellers obviously like doing business here – the last 15 years have seen an impressive increase in their numbers. Another point of interest is the fact that jewellery is bought throughout the year, not just during the wedding and festive season, so the retailer is kept busy all the while. “Chandigarh is a melting pot of cultures,” says Rajan Katodiah of Sawan Jewellers who have been in the city since 1993. “And the fact that it is a rich city with a large NRI population (nearly 40% of Punjab, for instance, stays abroad) that comes visiting every year makes it a great place for business. The professionalism in the way business is done here is very high.”%% As Salil Jain of Jain Jewellers, a 40-year-old establishment puts it, “Chandigarh has a sizeable bureaucrat and industrialist population, thanks to its being the capital of two states and the nearby large industrial areas. Price is not an issue for nearly 30-40 per cent of the jewellery buying population, which means that retailers here naturally do well.”%%

Anil Talwar of Talwarsons Jewellers, who have been in the city practically since its inception, explains, “Chandigarh is considered as chic and stylish by the fashion conscious people of four states – Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and UP. In a short span of time, the city has become the fashion capital of north India. Tourists from the south, east and west of India always have Chandigarh on their “must-go-to” list. So naturally, retail is strong here. As far as the north Indian bride is concerned, the city is a key destination for her to do all her wedding trousseau shopping, and that obviously includes jewellery. It is now very trendy for the fashionista to say ‘I did my shopping in Chandigarh’! Also, the percentage of jewellery buying population here is very high – almost 70 per cent of the people here can afford to buy jewellery, which is always great news for business.”%% The customer base here is varied - dealing with the Chandigarh customer is both easy and tough, especially because she wants both her design and investment needs to be fulfilled satisfactorily.%% “We need to specialise in everything,” says Talwar. “The young generation, especially, is very aware and sure of what she wants. It’s sometimes a tough call to satisfy the customer – in one shot we need to provide trust, design, quality, investment – everything has to come together. The Chandigarh customer is extremely knowledgeable. Thanks to the media, her knowledge about the 4Cs, hallmarking and other basics of jewellery is a given, and we rarely if ever have to explain these things to the customer. Women especially are more vocal about their choices now and they want something different. Salaries for the working class are on the up and up. The city also has a large number of IT professionals with larger disposable incomes and an appreciable portion of this gets spent on jewellery. ”%% “As a large number of customers are from outside India, they have a world view of jewellery,” elucidates Katodiah. “They know the trends and want nothing but the best. Having said that, the same also applies to the Indian resident client – she is very well-travelled these days, and is exposed to and aware of what’s happening globally. Add to that the fact that they are very knowledgeable and very intelligent in their purchasing. More often than not the customer will understand the intrinsic value of the jewellery piece and will not consider the making charges important.”%% Katodiah too comments on the diversity of the Chandigarh customer. “It is difficult to really pinpoint any one preference of customers whether in terms of price points or designs,” he explains. “Price points are more of a concern with service people with limited incomes and a budget to adhere to. On the other hand, Chandigarh also has the elite and super rich for whom the price is not a concern at all, and they always buy top of the line products.”%%

Jain adds that, “At least 50 per cent of the customers who visit our store are very knowledgeable about jewellery. The Chandigarh client wants something unusual and unique every time she steps out to buy jewellery. Exclusivity is very important for her. We need to really keep abreast of worldwide trends to keep the Chandigarh customer happy. Customer requirements are as varied as can be – ethnic jadau jewellery, diamond sets, plain gold sets, platinum everything does well here. We have seen that the consumer here is quality conscious and prefers showy jewellery. Big, showy jewellery, but with excellence in quality is what she desires. In terms of price points, we see the Rs. 50, 000 to Rs. 2.5 lakh range moving very fast. It’s all a mix really, and for us it is a good thing to have variety in the customer base.” %% Predictions about Chandigarh’s growth are difficult to make, but retailers are optimistic, even as price volatility of precious metals and gemstones remains a cause for concern. Growth for the jewellery trade in the city is a given though Katodiah says a lot would depend on the overall state of the economy. And while Jain thinks the picture of the future is just a tad hazy, in Talwar’s opinion, Chandigarh is all set to beat topnotch cities like Delhi very soon! %%