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First generation jewellery entrepreneur Silver Emporium (SEPL) has introduced BIS hallmark silver jewellery and artifacts for the first time in India with lifetime buyback assurance.
"We create quality. Thus, we offer silver jewellery with 912 purity (22 carat in trade parlance). Hence, buying back is not an issue for us. Customers can dispose off their silver holding, bought from us, at any point of time either in exchange of new jewellery of the same weight or cash. We offer this facility to win customers' trust which is currently lacking in silver jewellery," said Rahul Mehta, managing director, SEPL.
Undeterred by the ongoing weak sentiment in jewellery segment, SEPL plans to set up four company owned show rooms to strengthen its presence across all major Tier I cities. The idea is to expand reach and prevent customers from low quality silver purchase, said Mehta.
Established in 1991, SEPL has been a market leader in silver artifact manufacturing and retailing with first of its kind hallmarking in silver. Offering 100% buying back with full refund in case the customer does not want to exchange jewellery or any silver utensil, the customer has the choice to opt for 100% cash back.
With negative returns due to falling prices across all precious metals during last year, investors' sentiment has been weak with most of jewellery companies' proposed expansion plans on slow track. But, SEPL has seen this trend to win its customers' trust in silver jewellery.
"There has been no hallmarking system in silver either in ornaments or any items. We, therefore, are emphasizing on customers' education to insist on quality product with mandatory hallmarking. Therefore, we thought to expand our retail footprints in the area where potential is immense. Therefore, we want to set up four retail showrooms this year each one in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Jaipur," said Rahul Mehta, managing director, SEPL.
Being a family owned business, Mehta did not divulge SEPL's annual turnover or volume of silver the company processes every year. But, he said, SEPL is perhaps the only silver article manufacturer which offers 100% buyback and full convertibility of silver into money anytime, anywhere at its retail outlets. This system currently persists in gold jewellery mainly.
When asked about the retail expansion in weak trading environment, Mehta said, "We see this as an opportunity to convince our existing and new customers about quality in silver. In the near term, we will not achieve speedy growth. But, when market sentiment turns positive, quality and trust will be the catalyst to our rapid growth."
The biggest advantage of the company is its in house manufacturing facility which it enjoys with its factory in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Mehta confirms having a slowdown in sales but, hopes for a revival in future with good returns.
Meanwhile, equities outperformed other asset classes in terms of returns in 2014. While equities offered 23% returns, gold gave 5% of negative returns of 5%. However, silver offered a marginal 2.38% of returns in 2014.
