I had a chance yesterday to visit Gurgaon’s much famed Gold Souk again. I say again, because I had been there once on the day it opened. Though I live in the same colony, and pass by it everyday, it failed to arouse my curiosity untill yesterday
when I really needed to buy some stuff for a family wedding. Unlike other malls, one is quite sceptical to enter a Gold Souk just to do window shopping or hang around lamely.
The building is impressively made and stands shoulder to shoulder with the best souks available in middle east. The difference comes in terms of basics of trade.
Whereas in Dubai or Bahrain, gold is sold more for weight, in India, focus is more on design and naturally so, considering the price factor. You’ll find most of the shops in this mall selling very good designs made out of very little Gold or teeny weeny diamonds (literally negligible) set in sleek designs. But make no mistake. We Indians are really good at displaying our affluence. So, on one hand there are low to mid range light weight jewellery for office wear or party wear, there is equal, if not more, stuff for bigger occasions or for the status conscious or should I say, simply in love with the yellow metal lot - Heavy and Ornate designs lavishly made in Gold, Diamond and other gem stones - Price ? I don’t have my zeros right after a lac, so better try yourself :)
In our desi Gold Souk, there is a dignified and often opulent and snobbish silence in the huge lobby with prospective customers turning to look at shops more sheepishly or through the corner of their eyes and salesmen don’t come after you like in dubai or Bahrain where you are chased by them. No haggling either please, while you are in desi Gold Souk :) We are dignified gold lovers. We only haggle aggressively on Chandani Chowk :)
As for the choice of outlets here, it’s a mix of traditional jewellers who have had the vision to setup their shops keeping up with modern times and there are jewellers with global presence too. You’ll also find branded stores and exclusive designer outlets here.
So, you have Hazoorilal, Bholasons, Notandas, Alukkas, Avenue Montaigne, Orra, Moksha, Ruhi Nanda and many more. I won’t remember all of them, but these are some of the prominent ones.
Wonder, what is taking Tanishq so long to start a shop in Gold Souk !
Advantages of going to Gold Souk is very obvious in that more the competition, better deal for consumer. As a consumer, I had more designs and options to choose from, within the same compound. I didn’t have to go to Chandani Chowk or sarafaa bazaar to get this wide a variety. More and more jewellers are understanding the importance of consumer awareness and each outlet that I approached, had only BIS hallmarked jewellery. This definitely leaves the consumer to focus on designs and not worry about purity and genuineness of gold.
For those interested in diamonds and others gem stones, there are equal or rather more number of options to choose from. Most of the shops had a mix of all types of jewellery but there are specialised stores like Orra or Moksha or designer Ruhi Nanda who specialise only in diamonds and stones.A genuine shop will not hesitate to answer your queries regarding cut, clarity, color, carat etc. of diamond they sell or explain what ratti means when buying gem stones or what’s 22k vs 18k etc. So, as a consumer, inform yourself well before making the purchase.
All along the corridors of Gold Souk campus, there are big hoardings in large fonts, explaining various intricacies of jewellery like, what is a cultured pearl, What to look for, while purchasing diamond, how to take care of gem stones etc.
They make an interesting read and are very informative. Answers to some of the questions your traditional jeweller might evade, can be found here.
Within Gold souk, there is a very basic looking food court serving not-so-tasty food, which was discouraging. There is a section for kids to play. The biggest drawback is of moving up and down.
You go up via escalator but return via lift. Reason ? There are no escalators going down. Not on both occasions I went. May be they plan to convert one of the existing ones that goes up to move downwards later.
And last but not the least - Currently the parking is free. Yay!!! I saved 20/- there too. Cheap huh ? Gurgaonites would disagree because in Gurgaon, if you go shopping to 3 or 4 places during a day, you’ll end up loosing a greener only to park your (I mean your Car’s) ass :)
So, enjoy buying/selling jewellery and flaunt it where you can. Let me know through your comments whether you found this review useful.