Titan changes Tanishq design to cope with rising gold prices

Titan has modified its Tanishq jewellery such that it uses less gold for existing designs without modifying their look and feel, in an attempt to prevent high gold prices from eating into its profit margin.

The company has converted over 3,500 of its top sellers into light-weight jewellery without compromising on size, quality or aesthetics, as part of a recent project called “Hi-Lites”, said Ajoy Chawla, the chief executive of Titan’s jewellery arm.

The collection, which was launched in the third quarter, has seen many takers, prompting the company to scale it up.

Sales at Titan’s jewellery arm rose 37% in the third quarter as customers unleashed their pent-up demand during the festival season.

With gold prices rising 10% during the pandemic, Tanishq felt the need to tinker with its product design. The company did three things primarily - scooped out excess gold, changed the manufacturing technology and used a lighter alloy.

The changes brought down the weight of its products such as necklaces, earrings, and bangles by 15-25% – a change welcomed by customers, according to Titan.

Data revealed that the new collection contributed about 40% of jewellery sales.

“Going forward, about half our inventory will be in this space and expect at least a million customers in the next twelve months using the hi-lights initiative,” Chawla said.

Sudheesh Nambiath, Associate Vice president of the India Gold Policy Centre at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad says that when gold prices increase, customers look for more value and jewellers bring in that through better design, specially the established ones.

“Design innovation is the only way to retain customers and keep the interest for purchase intact,” Nambiath added.

However, the process will not be applied across the board as a section of buyers insist on specific weightage of gold,
particularly wedding jewellery.