Mangatrai Jewellers looks to foray into new cities

Hyderabad: Taking famous pearls and jewellery from the City of Pearls to other cities across India, is what Mangatrai Jewellers is gearing up to do.

In the next one year, Mangatrai Jewellers will be opening two new stores, one each in Bengaluru and Chennai. This expansion plan follows the recent launch of their fourth store, a boutique outlet at Capital Mall in Gachibowli.

The name Mangatrai is synonymous for pearls and its roots date back to 1905. Taking one step forward from being a pearl trader, Ram Kumar Gupta (son of Mangatrai) set up the first Mangatrai pearls outlet in 1945.

With a presence of nearly 113 years, Mangatrai Jewellers, along with pearls, is also the maker of jewellery in gold, diamonds, semi-precious and precious stones.

From the first store set up on 250 sft near Charminar, Mangatrai Jewellers currently has its presence in Punjagutta (the flagship store) on 12,000 sft, in Banjara Hills on more than 5,000 sft and a boutique store in Forum Sujana Mall, along with the recently opened store in Capital Mall.

Speaking with The Hans India, the fourth generation in the family business, Darpan Gupta Mangatrai, partner, Mangatrai Jewellers, says: 'We cater mostly to the middle class and upper middle class crowd.

The jewellery which is the fast moving is under the price range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 300,000. Our unique jewellery with combination of pearls and precious stones, affordably priced, makes us stand apart from the rest of the players in the field.'

The jeweller also has a team of seven women qualified from reputed jewellery design institutes working on creating new and innovative designs. Besides, they also make jewellery on demand for the customers coming with their own idea of design.

In the pearl category, Mangatrai has a range of jewellery wherein the minimum price would be Rs 500 for an earring, which can go up to Rs 30,000 and above.

The ruby or other colour beads start from a price of Rs 5,000 to Rs 40,000, for a necklace, whereas necklaces in precious stones are available from Rs 50,000 to Rs 400,000.

The jeweller says people are preferring light weight jewellery these days. "While heavy weight jewellery is bought during occasions, the light weight category is the fast moving.

It is in demand by all strata of men and women who are looking for something trendy and everyday fashion," he says.

Mangatrai Jewellers has light weight jewellery in the form of pendants, chains, earring and others with pearl or beads in gold combination, which starts at a price of Rs 10,000.

Informing about the jewellery market in Hyderabad, Darpan says that the demand has been stable in the city.

"People in Hyderabad have developed better knowledge and understanding about jewellery, which has brought in more choices and demand for the sector. Even now, people earning around a lakh per month and working couple, prefer to invest and spend on jewellery," he adds.

Mangatrai Jewellers also has a range of diamond jewellery, wherein the price starts from Rs 1 lakh and goes up to 9 lakh and above. However, trendy delicate diamond wear is also available from Rs 50,000.

Commenting on the volatile gold market in India, the jeweller says, 'the scenario of gold market is at present little weird with the fluctuation in prices.

However, this can be termed as short term, and if you look at the sector in a long term perspective it will be safe and profitable. Compared to the bonds and stocks market, gold remains the best bet to invest.'