All that glitters is not gold. Here's a guide to buying platinum

It’s cheaper than gold and has a matchless lustre and finish. It’s also a lot rarer than the yellow metal which is increasingly becoming acceptable to the young generation. But one should be careful in picking the right retailers to buy it from.

The marker

“Platinum jewellery is stamped with a Pt950 mark. It denotes 95% purity. Also, check for a tamper-proof quality assurance card,” says Vaishali Banerjee, managing director of Platinum Guild International India, emphasizing that one should only buy platinum that has the Pt950 mark.

Banerjee, who has been heading PGI India since 2000, when it was set up, also underscores the need to be selective about the retailers from whom one should buy platinum.

Retailers

“We have a list of retail partners across the country on our website. Consumers can visit them to make a purchase of jewellery that’s authentic and pure,” she says.

According to the PGI authorities, the “tamper-proof quality assurance card that distinguishes authentic platinum from other jewellery is important since it serves as an assurance of a ‘buy back’ programme that helps the consumers in building trust and authenticity with the metal.”

Certification

PGI partnered with TUV India Pvt Ltd, one of the country’s first certification bodies, to implement an audit programme to ensure the purity of platinum under its programme.

The biggest platinum-consuming countries are the US, China, and Japan.

Fastest growing market

Till 2019, the year before COVID 19 pandemic, India has been the fastest-growing market for PGI globally mainly driven by urban young consumers who are shifting from traditional to more modern choices.

The price of platinum now is close to Rs 3,000 per gram while that of gold is Rs 49,000 per 10 grams. This huge price differential (about 38%) and the fashion quotient of platinum are pushing up the popularity of the metal, say jewellers.

In the last quarter of 2020, retailers associated with PGI reported a 25% year-on-year growth in sales, some of which is attributed to the pent-up demand and the festival season.

Tough metal

Platinum is one of the strongest, natural materials that have the ability to withstand daily wear without thinning.

Platinum Guild International is a marketing organization that was set up in 1975 to promote the platinum jewellery market.

Since 2015, this body that is funded mainly by leading platinum producers of South Africa has been based in Hong Kong.

In 2018, about 6 tonnes of platinum was imported into India.