Gems and jewellery is among the oldest organised industries in India and among the smallest researched by the graduates who associate it. It cuts and polishes most of the world's diamonds, sells additional aureate to households than nearly any nation on earth, and in the final two years has lived through a document aureate price, a 50% American tariff and a downfall in the cost of a laboratory-grown diamond. That blend produces powerful opinions and extremely small arithmetic.
This study answers three questions alongside numbers that can be checked: which part of the field is really growing, what all job optimises for, and which skills the field is currently abbreviated of. Everything below comes from GJEPC commerce releases, World Gold Council surveys, authorities notifications and business filings, alongside the duration stated. Start alongside the one-page brief.
Every diagram below uses the identical six colours, and all one continually method the identical thing.
October 2026
FY26 method the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2026, throughout this report. Gold petition is reported by calendar year
- Exports cut to US$27.72 bn as shipments to the US dropped 44.9%.
- The UAE overtook the US as the largest market, at US$8.70 bn.
- Cut and polished gem exports cut 8.5% to US$12.16 bn.
- Jewellery petition by importance cut 24% in 2025 as aureate hit records.
- Organised retailers grew income 33% to 73%.
- Silver jewellery exports rosy 52%; studded aureate jewellery rosy 6%.
- Hiring is strongest anywhere the activity is done to the metal, not anywhere the metal element is traded.
- Learn value versus volume. It explains all outcome in this sector.
Each fig is dated; sources are named in the division that discusses it
1. Why appearance at this field at all
Four things create gems and jewellery value a grave look, and one should provision you pause.
It is among the largest accomplishment employers in the country. The Ministry of Commerce describes the field as contributing concerning 7% of GDP and employing more than 50 lakh skilled and semi-skilled workers, in a January 2022 release that is motionless the most latest authoritative declaration of its size. Cutting, polishing, casting, environment and marketing are all done by people, and most of them in India.
It is a earth export endeavor alongside free, monthly data. India exported US$27.72 billion of gems and jewellery in FY26, on figures released by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and reported by The Tribune. Cut and polished diamonds solitary were US$12.16 billion. Very few sectors let a applicant peruse final month's commerce figures by merchandise and by nation before an interview.
Organised retailing is taking share, fast. Kalyan Jewellers grew income 43% in FY26 to ₹35,743 crore, Senco Gold 33% and Thangamayil 73%, during the World Gold Council measured Indian jewellery petition by importance falling 24% in 2025. The chains are winning customers from the unorganised family jeweller, and all new showroom needs staff.
The rules are creating work. Mandatory hallmarking now covers 380 districts and additional than 60 crore pieces have been stated a distinctive hallmark ID, on BIS figures reported in March 2026. Someone has to test, mark, document and audit all one of them.
And the caution: the quantity is falling. Indians bought small jewellery by importance in 2025 than in any twelvemonth since the epidemic twelvemonth of 2020, the United States cut its purchases of Indian gems and jewellery nearly in half, and natural gem exports are motionless declining in FY27. A field can study document income and motionless be shrinking in the item it really makes. Where you associate inner it matters additional current than in nearly any industry in this series.
Each collection carries a header figure and the evidence rearward it
- Gems and jewellery exports in FY26, downward 3.32% in dollars but up 0.93% in rupees to ₹2,44,827 crore (GJEPC).
- Cut and polished diamonds were US$12.16 bn, 43.9% of the total; aureate jewellery US$11.36 bn.
- The UAE became the largest market at US$8.70 bn, up 10.5%; Australia grew 38%.
- Exports restored to US$14.30 bn in April to September 2026, up 3.07%.
- Gold imported in FY26, a document value, up 24% on US$58 bn in FY25.
- The importance cut to 721.03 tonnes from 757.09 tonnes. The entire addition was price.
- Indian aureate petition was 710.9 tonnes in 2025, value ₹7,51,490 crore (World Gold Council).
- Gold hit a document in delayed January 2026; the LBMA midday cost was complete US$5,400 an ounce on 29 January.
- Skilled and semi-skilled workers, on the Commerce Ministry's January 2022 clarification of the sector.
- The Gem and Jewellery Skill Council of India's website oppose shows 2,24,712 group certified.
- Surat, Mumbai and Jaipur are the three manufacturing and selling clusters.
- Organised chains now run hundreds of showrooms each: Kalyan 546, BlueStone 340, Senco 201.
- Districts under mandatory aureate hallmarking following the sixth phase in March 2026.
- More than 60 crore pieces have carried a six-digit hallmark distinctive ID since 2021.
- Silver hallmarking is voluntary, but 59 lakh argent pieces were hallmarked in FY26.
- A 2025 BIS norm fixes how a natural and a laboratory-grown gem may be described.
- The autumn in Indian jewellery petition by importance in 2025, to 430.5 tonnes from 563.4 tonnes.
- Exports to the United States cut 44.9% in FY26, to US$5.09 bn from US$9.24 bn.
- Cut and polished gem exports cut 8.5% in FY26 and a additional 7% in April to September 2026.
- The aureate import duty went rear up from 6% to 15% on 13 May 2026.
2. How big it is, and how accelerated it is really growing
Start alongside a difference that separates group who have peruse concerning this field from group who comprehend it. You volition see market-size numbers quoted in nearly all part on Indian jewellery: IBEF puts the family market at concerning US$85 billion and projects US$130 milliard by 2030, and the Ministry of Commerce has set an export mark of US$100 milliard by 2040. Those are an estimate, a projection and a target. None of them has been measured. Quoting them as although they depict the field today is the fastest way to endure an interviewer.
What has really been measured is exports, imports and aureate demand. Exports are counted monthly by GJEPC from customs data. Gold imports are counted by the Ministry of Commerce, and were a document US$71.98 billion in FY26 on figures reported by PTI. Gold petition is measured by the World Gold Council all quarter. Those are the numbers that decide whether a factory takes on another shift.
The second measured thing, and the additional crucial one for a career, is what India really exports. India does not have one jewellery industry. It has a gem industry, a aureate jewellery industry and a fast-growing argent and lab-grown business, and all one is a distinct set of employers alongside distinct jobs.
Gross exports for the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2026, US$ billion, alongside the alter on FY25
GJEPC figures for FY26 as reported by The Tribune and Outlook Business in April 2026. Total income exports were US$27.72 bn; the lines shown are the largest merchandise groups and do not add to the total. Coloured gemstones, approximately a fourth of a milliard dollars a year, are not shown since a full-year FY26 fig was not published in a form we could verify.
If you are asked how big Indian gems and jewellery is, provision what was measured and the date: “US$27.72 milliard of exports in FY26, and 710.9 tonnes of aureate petition in 2025”. If you are asked concerning the US$100 milliard figure, say what it is: a Ministry of Commerce mark for 2040, not a measurement. Answering the archetypal inquiry alongside the second figure is the inform that you have memorised a header fairly than peruse a report.
The third measured item is direction, and current the field splits in two. By importance it is shrinking: Indian jewellery petition cut to 430.5 tonnes in 2025 from 563.4 tonnes in 2024, a autumn of 24%, and total aureate petition cut 11% to 710.9 tonnes, on World Gold Council data reported in January 2026. By value it is growing: the identical 2025 petition was value ₹7,51,490 crore, and in April to June 2026 Indian aureate petition reached a document value of ₹1,98,100 crore equal as quantity cut another 6%, according to the World Gold Council's Q2 2026 India update.
There is a third movement underneath both, and it is the one that changes anywhere the jobs are. Within a market marketing small gold, the organised chains are expanding far faster than the market. Every listed jeweller in this study grew income in FY26, most of them by additional than a third. A field can agreement in tonnes and develop in the part that runs payrolls, training programmes and alumnus hiring.
Three are measured, one is a projection, and all implies a distinct benevolent of job
- Jewellery petition cut to 430.5 tonnes in 2025 from 563.4 tonnes.
- Gold imports cut to 721 tonnes in FY26 from 757 tonnes.
- Driven by a document aureate price, not by small weddings.
- Gold imports reached a document US$71.98 bn in FY26.
- Q2 2026 aureate petition was a document ₹1,98,100 crore.
- This is what lifts all retailer's income line.
- Down 3.32% in FY26, afterward up 3.07% in April to September 2026.
- The UAE replaced the US as the largest market.
- Studded and argent jewellery up, natural diamonds down.
- IBEF projects the market at US$130 bn by 2030.
- The authorities targets US$100 bn of exports by 2040.
- Useful as direction. Never citation either as a current figure.
3. Who leads, who is stuck, and what that tells you
This is the most helpful array in the study if you are choosing an employer, and it starts alongside a fact that surprises nearly everyone. One company, Titan, through Tanishq, Mia, Zoya and CaratLane, reported total earnings of concerning ₹76,000 crore in FY26 and a net gain of ₹5,073 crore, on its results as reported in May 2026. The nine listed jewellers in the diagram below earned concerning ₹80,000 crore between them. One brand is approximately the size of the next nine combined.
The logic is structural: most Indian jewellery is motionless sold by family-owned jewellers and made by small workshops that never appear in a financial statement, and the largest personal groups, specified as Malabar Gold and Diamonds, are unlisted. What follows is the organised, reported part of the sector. Treat it as a map of anywhere expert hiring happens, not as a measure of the sector's size.
Revenue from operations for the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2026, ₹ crore
Listed companies from their FY26 results, on a consolidated basis apart from PC Jeweller, whose header income fig is standalone. Amber is a family retailing chain, teal a manufacturer or exporter, purple a digital-first or tv and online retailer. Titan is excluded from the diagram since its FY26 income is reported on multiple distinct bases, alongside and without bullion; it appears in the array below. Malabar Gold and Diamonds and Joyalukkas are unlisted and have not published audited FY26 figures.
Two patterns are value carrying into any conversation concerning this sector. The archetypal is that revenue growth current is mostly the cost of gold. A retailer marketing the identical importance of jewellery as final twelvemonth volition study much higher income whenever aureate is up by a third, which is why all sequence in the array grew during Indian jewellery petition cut 24% by weight. Revenue tells you extremely small concerning whether a jeweller sold more. Store additions, same-store growth and the portion of studded jewellery inform you much more.
The second is that margins in jewellery are thin, and they are made on the work, not the metal. Gold is passed through to the client at near to its cost. The border comes from making charges, from diamonds and another stones set into the piece, and from operating the stores efficiently. That is why Senco's gain grew additional than three times during its income grew a third: it sold a richer mix, not fair heavier jewellery. That divide, between companies marketing importance and companies marketing work, runs through the remainder of this report.
4. Where the growth really sits
Here is the form that matters most for anyone joining. In FY26 all jeweller grew income in rupees, so income growth solitary does not distinct fine businesses from fortunate ones. What separates them is who they market to and in which currency. Chains marketing to Indian households rode the aureate price. Manufacturers supplying those chains grew alongside them. Companies marketing abroad met the American tariff.
Year-on-year growth in income from operations, twelvemonth ended 31 March 2026
All nine figures are for the identical period, the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2026, which is why they can be compared directly. Every fig is in rupees and includes the consequence of a sharply higher aureate price, so none of them measures growth in the importance of jewellery sold. Source: all company's FY26 results.
Averaging those groups makes the item sharper. On a uncomplicated average of their growth rates, the five family retailing chains grew concerning 48%. The two manufacturers and exporters grew concerning 52%, but for contrary reasons: Sky Gold supplies Indian chains, during Goldiam sells abroad. The two digital and tv sellers grew concerning 24%, pulled downward by Vaibhav Global's American exposure. This is not a narrative concerning fine companies and bad companies. It is a narrative concerning which client was spending in which prosperity in the twelvemonth of a tariff.
Inside the export business, the growth has moved too. In April to September 2026, studded aureate jewellery exports rosy 31.3% to US$3.69 milliard and argent jewellery exports rosy 23.1%, during cut and polished diamonds cut 7%, on GJEPC figures published in October 2026. Lab-grown gem exports restored 17.1% complete the identical months. The activity is moving from cutting free stones to making finished, designed pieces, and that is a distinct set of jobs.
Each one is backed by either a business outcome or an authoritative commerce figure
- Kalyan grew to 546 showrooms by September 2026, from 507 in March.
- Five listed chains grew income by concerning 48% on a uncomplicated average in FY26.
- Franchise showrooms let chains develop without owning all store.
- Studded aureate jewellery exports up 31.3%, April to September 2026.
- Silver jewellery exports up 52.2% in FY26 to US$1.47 bn.
- Design-led activity alongside higher value added per gram.
- The UAE is now the largest market at US$8.70 bn.
- The India–UK commerce accord removed UK jewellery duties from 15 July 2026.
- Australia grew 38% in FY26.
- 60 crore+ pieces hallmarked alongside a distinctive ID.
- Every lab-grown gem now needs a test and a accurate description.
- Grading labs and assaying centres are among the smallest crowded doors into the sector.
“How much of final year's growth was aureate price, and how much was additional pieces or additional stores?” Almost no applicant asks it. If the honest answer is mostly price, you are joining a endeavor that volition awareness the next autumn in gold. If it is new stores, studded mix or new markets, you are joining one that is construction something. Those are two extremely distinct jobs inner what looks akin the identical industry.
5. How a rock or a gram of aureate reaches a customer, and the jobs that do it
Indian gems and jewellery is not one industry. It is four links in a chain, operating in distinct cities at extremely distinct scales, and nearly all entry-level function sits inner one of them. Knowing which nexus you are applying to explains most of what the job volition really awareness like.
Scale figures are the most latest measured ones, alongside the duration stated
The bodily network rearward those links is large, and unusually for a accomplishment industry, parts of it are now counted in public. Hallmarking is recorded part by piece, accomplishment certification is reported by the field accomplishment council, and the selling infrastructure has been rebuilt in the final three years.
Infrastructure and skills in Indian gems and jewellery, most latest published counts
Shown as counts fairly than as bars, since the four measure distinct things on extremely distinct scales. Hallmarking figures from BIS as reported by All India Radio News in March 2026; accomplishment assembly figures from the live oppose on the GJSCI website; Surat Diamond Bourse fig as reported by DeshGujarat on 5 April 2026.
Four conditions run through all conversation in this sector, and candidates routinely get them wrong. Karat measures the purity of gold, so 22 karat is 22 parts aureate in 24, during carat is a component of importance for a gemstone, one fifth of a gram. HUID, the hallmark distinctive identification, is the six-digit code that BIS requires on all hallmarked aureate piece, and it lets a buyer inspect anywhere and whenever the part was tested. Studded jewellery carries diamonds or another stones and plain jewellery does not, and the difference matters since studded pieces transport most of the margin. Making charges are what a jeweller adds on top of the metal element for the work, and they are anywhere most retailing gain really comes from.
6. The lab-grown shift, and what it did to the diamond
This is the part of the field that changed fastest, and the part anywhere most students' mental example is three years out of date. A gem grown in a lab is physically and chemically a diamond. As manufacturing scaled up, mostly in India and China, its cost cut so far that it is now a distinct merchandise alongside a distinct customer. It is value seeing exactly how far before you build a occupation scheme about either kind.
Average export cost per carat of polished diamonds, January to May 2026, US$
Export data for January to May 2026 as reported by Angel One on 14 August 2026. Averages mix many sizes and qualities, so treat them as a measure of the gap between the two products, not as a cost for any one stone.
The clearest sole example is in the annual figures. India exported US$1.13 billion of polished lab-grown diamonds in FY26, downward 10.55% in value equal although the figure of carats rose, on GJEPC figures for the year. More stones, small money. In April to September 2026 the value restored by 17.1% to US$685 million, which suggests prices may be finding a floor, but one half-year is not a trend.
The innovation narrative moved from the market into the rulebook. A 2025 BIS norm on gem terminology, IS 19469, set out how the two products may be described: the term diamond used solitary method a natural diamond, and a grown rock must be described as laboratory-grown or laboratory-created, according to GJEPC's Solitaire magazine. The authorities is additionally backing family expanding innovation through InCent-LGD, a ₹242.96 crore investigation centre at IIT Madras. Every one of those changes needs group who can test a rock and depict it correctly.
Four columns value separating before an interview
- Lab-grown exports passed natural ones by carats: 7.05 mn against 6.70 mn, January to May 2026.
- A lab-grown carat averages concerning US$71 at export.
- A BIS norm now governs how all may be described.
- Natural cut and polished exports downward 8.5% in FY26.
- Down a additional 7% in April to September 2026.
- De Beers, the largest natural gem miner, has been put up for transaction by Anglo American.
- Studded aureate jewellery exports up 31.3%, April to September 2026.
- Silver jewellery exports up 52% in FY26.
- Grading and certification, which all rock now needs.
- A family lab-grown device industry, from the IIT Madras centre.
- US$100 bn of exports by 2040.
- Both are plans or targets. Neither has been measured.
The occupation point. Cutting and polishing natural diamonds motionless employs a extremely ample portion of the sector's accomplishment workforce, and the accomplishment does not disappear. But the roles that merge rock cognition alongside item else, grading, design, norm assurance or commerce compliance, are the ones currently abbreviated of people. That is since they were created faster than any institute started training for them.
7. How the prosperity is made, and what you volition be measured on
This division exists for one reason. Whatever function you obtain in jewellery, your activity volition be judged by how it moves one of four blocks. People who can name the obstacle they power get promoted noticeably faster than group who cannot.
A construction diagram, not measured data. The margins it produces are measured, and they are in the array below
This diagram shows the construction of the gain and defeat account. It contains no estimated percentages, since no business in this field publishes a standardised disbursal split.
The figure the field is judged on is the margin, and the dispersed throughout Indian jewellery businesses in FY26 is wide. The identical product, sold to the identical nation in the identical year, produces margins that differ multiple times over.
Read that array as a alert concerning a sole word. Revenue in jewellery does not automatically create margin, since most of the income is aureate that the business passes direct through to the customer. Margin comes from the activity done to the aureate and the stones set into it. A jeweller that sells a heavier necklace at a higher aureate cost reports additional income and nearly no additional profit. A jeweller that sells additional studded pieces reports additional gain on the identical revenue.
Two lines deserve precision since they form day-to-day work. Studded ratio is the portion of revenue that transport diamonds or gemstones, and it is the sole biggest controller of border in jewellery retail. Same-store revenue growth is the growth in stores that were already open a twelvemonth earlier, and it is how a sequence shows that growth came from customers fairly than from new showrooms. If you associate a retailing chain, anticipate to be measured on the two lengthy before you are measured on item else.
8. What is being built, and where
Announced funding is the closest item this field has to a hiring forecast. Unusually, a lot of it is now public: commerce agreements alongside published duty schedules, new selling and manufacturing hubs, and listed companies that must study all shop they open.
The largest sole dedication is on commerce fairly than buildings. The India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement came into power on 15 July 2026, cutting British duties of up to 4% on Indian jewellery to zero, and GJEPC expects exports to the UK to develop from concerning US$754 myriad to about US$2.5 milliard in three years, as Business Today reported. Negotiations on the India–EU liberated commerce accord were concluded on 27 January 2026, which volition eliminate EU duties of 2% to 4% formerly it is implemented.
Physical capability is additionally being built. The Surat Diamond Bourse, opened in December 2023 as among the largest agency buildings in the world, had additional than 250 offices functioning by April 2026 alongside a stated aim of 1,000 inside a year, according to DeshGujarat. In Navi Mumbai, GJEPC's India Jewellery Park is under building as an unified manufacturing hub. And in August 2026 the Ministry of Commerce set out a roadmap to lift exports to US$100 milliard by 2040, from concerning US$28 milliard in FY26, as IBEF reported.
Capital is flowing into retail. Lalithaa Jewellery Mart listed on 24 August 2026 following a ₹1,700 crore community issue. On 31 August 2026 GRT Jewellers accepted to buy a 74.12% interest in Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri for up to ₹1,033.7 crore. And Titan completed the acquisition of 67% of Damas, adding concerning 146 stores throughout six Gulf countries. Listings and acquisitions average additional stores, additional reporting and additional expert administration roles.
Committed or already operating, alongside the date all was announced or opened
- The India–UK commerce accord came into power on 15 July 2026, removing UK duties of up to 4% on jewellery.
- GJEPC expects UK exports to increase from concerning US$754 mn to about US$2.5 bn in three years.
- India–EU negotiations concluded on 27 January 2026; EU duties of 2% to 4% go to zero on implementation.
- The UAE, already the largest market, took US$8.70 bn in FY26.
- Surat Diamond Bourse, opened December 2023: additional than 250 offices functioning by April 2026.
- India Jewellery Park, Navi Mumbai: an unified manufacturing hub being built by GJEPC.
- Jaipur remains the centre for coloured gemstones and argent jewellery.
- These three cities clasp most of the manufacturing and selling jobs.
- Lalithaa Jewellery Mart's community issue, listed on 24 August 2026.
- GRT Jewellers accepted on 31 August 2026 to buy 74.12% of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri for up to ₹1,033.7 crore.
- Titan bought 67% of Damas, adding concerning 146 stores throughout six Gulf countries.
- Kalyan added 39 showrooms between March and September 2026.
- InCent-LGD, a government-funded lab-grown gem investigation centre at IIT Madras.
- Aims to build Indian expanding machines and seeds, much of which is imported today.
- Lab-grown gem exports restored 17.1% to US$685 mn in April to September 2026.
- This creates research, engineering and procedure roles that did not be in the field before.
9. The rules you volition activity inside
Jewellery is additional tightly regulated than most graduates expect, since it handles a shop of value, imports nearly all of its raw matter and is a known path for moving money. It is regulated by multiple distinct bodies: the Ministry of Commerce and GJEPC on exports, the Bureau of Indian Standards on hallmarking and terminology, customs on import duty, the Reserve Bank of India on aureate imports and aureate loans, the Financial Intelligence Unit on anti-money-laundering reporting and the GST Council on tax. You do not need to memorise them. You do need to cognize which one governs the job you are applying for, since that sole fact determines what you inspect all day.
The body, what it controls, and why it matters to your job application
| Body | Controls | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Commerce and GJEPC | Export policy, commerce agreements, export promotion and commerce data | Publishes the monthly export figures this study rests on, and runs the IIJS commerce shows |
| Bureau of Indian Standards | Hallmarking, HUID, assaying centres, gem terminology | Every aureate part sold in 380 districts must be hallmarked. Assaying is a job in itself |
| Customs, CBIC | Import duty on gold, silver, platinum and diamonds | Gold duty went from 6% to 15% on 13 May 2026, which changes pricing and sourcing overnight |
| Reserve Bank of India | Gold import channels, aureate loans, aureate metal element loans to jewellers | Its 2025 aureate debt directions cap loan-to-value at 85% for loans up to ₹2.5 lakh |
| Financial Intelligence Unit | Anti-money-laundering reporting by dealers in precious metals and stones | Cash transactions of ₹10 lakh or additional trigger due diligence under the PMLA |
| GST Council and Income Tax | 3% GST on jewellery, prosperity and PAN rules | No jeweller may obtain ₹2 lakh or additional in prosperity from one buyer in a sole transaction |
| Kimberley Process | Certification that coarse diamonds are conflict-free | India chairs the scheme in 2026. Every coarse gem import carries its certificate |
| Foreign governments | Tariffs and commerce agreements in export markets | The US charge on Indian products changed four times in a year. Exporters now employ group fair to prosecute it |
Four regulation changes have altered what the job looks like, and all four are live correct now.
Each is either in power or on a published timetable
- Hallmarking alongside a six-digit HUID has been compulsory for aureate jewellery sold in covered districts since 1 April 2023.
- The sixth phase in March 2026 added seven districts, taking safety to 380.
- Silver hallmarking is motionless voluntary, but a HUID has been required on hallmarked argent since 1 September 2025.
- 59 lakh argent pieces were hallmarked in FY26, up from concerning 32 lakh the twelvemonth before.
- The duty on aureate had been cut to 6% in the July 2024 Budget.
- It was raised to 15% from 13 May 2026, alongside essential customs duty at 10% and the agriculture cess at 5%.
- With 3% GST, the tax on imported aureate is concerning 18.4%.
- Higher duty widens the gap between Indian and Gulf prices, which changes how retailers origin and price.
- The US tariff on Indian products reached 50% from 27 August 2025.
- An interim example in first February 2026 cut it to 18%; on 20 February the US Supreme Court struck downward the tariffs it rested on.
- A impermanent 10% surcharge followed, replaced on 24 July 2026 by a 10% Section 301 duty alongside no expiry date.
- Jewellery now pays concerning 15.5% to 16% alongside the normal duty, on GJEPC's reading, and Indian natural diamonds are not exempt.
- A 2025 BIS norm on how diamonds may be described.
- The term gem used solitary method a natural diamond.
- A grown rock must be called laboratory-grown or laboratory-created.
- Every sales, promotion and catalogue function now needs to get this right.
The scheme is value understanding once, since it explains most jewellery news you volition read. A decision is announced, a notification fixes the detail, the commerce changes its pricing and sourcing, job descriptions change, and the monthly data shows the consequence inside a quarter. If you can location a news narrative on that chain, you can say item helpful concerning it.
10. What could go wrong
Read this as a catalog of things to observe fairly than reasons to remain away. Every hazard current is documented in an authoritative release, a commerce body's data or a business filing, and most of them are also, from a occupation item of view, job descriptions. The World Gold Council's India research is value study alongside the export data, since it measures what Indian households really bought.
Gems and jewellery exports, US$ billion, FY25 against FY26
GJEPC data reported by Outlook Business in April 2026. The FY25 UAE fig is derived from the reported FY26 value and its 10.52% growth rate. The US bar for FY26 is shown in red since it cut 44.9%.
Ranked by how immediately all one touches an early-career role
| Risk | The evidence | How likely | What it method for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falling volumes | Indian jewellery petition cut 24% by importance in 2025 and a additional 15% in April to June 2026 | Certain, already happening | Growth volition arrive from mix, scheme and new stores, not additional grams. Avoid roles whose lone scheme is marketing additional weight |
| Gold cost swings | Gold hit a document in delayed January 2026, alongside the LBMA cost complete US$5,400 an ounce, and was concerning 23% below its document by 12 October 2026 | Certain, it is the nature of the metal | Revenue, inventory values and client footfall all move alongside it. Learn how your director hedges its gold |
| US commerce policy | Exports to the US cut 44.9% in FY26 following tariffs reached 50%; a 10% Section 301 duty has applied since 24 July 2026 | High | Export roles tied to one American buyer are fragile. Ask which markets an exporter is construction next |
| Natural gem decline | Cut and polished exports cut 8.5% in FY26 and 7% in April to September 2026 | High | Polishing-only businesses visage sustained pressure. Grading and completed jewellery are safer ground |
| Lab-grown cost collapse | Average lab-grown export cost concerning US$71 a carat in January to May 2026, against concerning US$758 for natural | High | Volume does not equal value in this product. Ask any lab-grown director concerning its cost per carat trend |
| Policy reversal on duty | Gold duty cut to 6% in July 2024, afterward raised to 15% on 13 May 2026 | Moderate | Pricing, sourcing and grey-market hazard alter overnight. Learn the current duty before any interview |
| Compliance failures | Hallmarking in 380 districts, PMLA reporting at ₹10 lakh in cash, a new gem terminology standard | Moderate | Sales and promotion roles now transport genuine compliance risk. Learn the rules before you compose the label |
The hazard that jewellery companies name most frequently in their own filings is not demand. It is the aureate price, and specifically the disbursal of holding a ample inventory of metal element whose value can move multiple percent in a week. That is the sole most helpful item to keep in intellect whenever you difference two job offers in this sector: ask how all business protects itself from a autumn in gold, since in 2026 the cost went from a document to nearly a fourth below it in nine months.
11. One company's year, in detail
Kalyan Jewellers is the largest listed clean jewellery retailer following Titan, it reports its shop figure by area all quarter, and FY26 is the twelvemonth its franchise-led enlargement was tested by a document aureate price. It is additionally the clearest accessible answer to the inquiry “how much of a jeweller's growth is gold, and how much is the business”.
Kalyan sells gold, gem and studded jewellery through showrooms in India and the Gulf, and online through Candere. Since FY24 most of its new Indian showrooms have opened under a franchise model, in which a partner finances the shop and Kalyan supplies the brand, the inventory and the systems. FY26, the twelvemonth to 31 March 2026, is the twelvemonth that example met a document aureate price.
What it establishes. A franchise-led jewellery sequence can develop extremely accelerated without owning all store, and in a twelvemonth of rising aureate prices it can develop gain faster than revenue. Revenue rosy by ₹10,698 crore and gain by ₹636 crore, and the net border widened to 3.8% from 2.9% fairly than narrowing. The identical year, Indian jewellery petition cut 24% by weight, which method the sequence was taking customers from someone, mostly the unorganised family jeweller. That change is the most helpful item in this study to be capable to explain in an interview, and you can peruse the quarterly numbers yourself on Business Today's study of the September 2026 update.
What it does not establish. One document twelvemonth is not a track record. The twelvemonth was lifted by a aureate cost that has since fallen, gain growth was already slowing in the archetypal fourth of FY27, and a net border of 3.8% leaves small area if the cost keeps falling. Say all of that if you are asked. Being capable to contend the two sides of a business you regard is different in a alumnus candidate.
12. Latest news
The field restates itself all month, since export data arrives monthly and the aureate cost arrives all minute. These are the developments from the final two quarters that have really changed something, all alongside the date it happened.
Pick one item, not all eight, and have a perspective on it. “Exports grew 3% in the archetypal fractional of FY27, but natural diamonds cut 7% and studded jewellery rosy 31%, which tells me the value is moving from the rock to the completed piece” is a improved answer than reciting the list. Interviewers are evaluation whether you read, not whether you memorise.
13. The jobs themselves
Gems and jewellery hires into a small figure of well-defined tracks, and the commitment is real: you volition grip costly merchandise and genuine customers far before than in most industries, since the companies are lean and the accomplishment is difficult to automate. The commerce is that pay at admission in retailing and accomplishment roles is modest, and the reward arrives as responsibility, and as ability that is genuinely scarce, fairly than as a ample starting salary.
One caveat before the tables. Pay is not published for most roles in this sector, shop counts alter all quarter, and the rules on hallmarking, duty and gem terminology have all changed in the final two years. Always inspect the current notification and the company's latest results fairly than a coaching website, and inspect the date.
Most candidates try lone the first, and it is the most crowded
The qualifications that open the door
This sector, unusually, has a set of recognised credentials that a pupil can acquire before a archetypal job, and they matter additional than a broad degree. The most extensively recognised is the Graduate Gemologist program of the Gemological Institute of America, which runs an India evidence in Mumbai. GJEPC runs its own Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery alongside campuses in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Varanasi and Udupi, offering diplomas in jewellery design, manufacturing and gemmology, a graduate certificate in jewellery management, and a B.Des alongside the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University. NIFT offers a four-year B.Des in Accessory Design that covers jewellery.
For accomplishment and specialized roles, the Gem and Jewellery Skill Council of India certifies job roles on the national skills framework, from Goldsmith at NSQF flat 2.5 to Jeweller at flat 4.5, and its live oppose shows 2,80,584 group trained and 2,24,712 certified. The certification labs themselves are additionally employers: International Gemological Institute listed in December 2024 following a ₹4,225 crore community issue, which made the grading endeavor publically apparent for the archetypal time.
The qualification, who awards it, and the job it is designed for
| Credential | Awarded by | Format | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate Gemologist | Gemological Institute of America | Full-time on campus, including Mumbai, or extend alongside lab classes | Diamond and coloured rock grading, purchasing and lab roles |
| Diplomas in design, manufacturing and gemmology | Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery, GJEPC | Short courses to multi-year programmes throughout five campuses | Design, production, gemmology and jewellery administration roles |
| B.Des Accessory Design | NIFT | Four-year undergraduate flat through a national entrance exam | Jewellery and accessory design, merchandise development, merchandising |
| NSQF certification | Gem and Jewellery Skill Council of India | Short-term training and assessment, including acknowledgment of previous learning | Goldsmith, setter, polisher, CAD and another accomplishment and specialized roles |
Course formats and fees alter all year; inspect the awarding body's own website before applying. Self-reported pay for an entry-level jewellery decorator on PayScale sits at approximately ₹3 to 4 lakh a year, on a small sample, which is why this study does not publish a pay array for the sector.
What the archetypal twelvemonth really looks like
Whichever path you act by, the archetypal twelvemonth is dominated by the identical thing: handling the product. Even merchandising, scheme and analytics roles in fine jewellery companies commencement on the shop flat or the factory floor, since nobody can price, scheme or scheme a part they cannot fairness in the hand.
Three admission routes converge on merchandise knowledge, afterward fan out
in twelvemonth one
The tracks are not sealed. Moving from retailing into merchandising, or from grading into buying, following two or three years is the most average passage in the sector, and it is normally treated as a promotion fairly than a sideways step.
The skills that really get you hired
For retailing roles, choice is mostly a conversation and a test of how you explain things: purity, hallmarks, why two akin rings are priced differently. Preparation is a known quantity, and the highest-return move is to study the merchandise before the interview, since most candidates do not.
For everything else, three particular things pay off far additional than broad preparation. First, be capable to peruse a jewellery bill. Split any cost into metal element at the day's rate, making charges, stones and 3% GST, and explain which part the jeweller really earns. Second, study to peruse the data the field runs on. Download the monthly export publish from GJEPC and the latest World Gold Council India update, and be capable to say which merchandise lines are expanding and whether petition is rising in value or in weight. Third, cognize one regulation properly, whichever one governs the role: BIS hallmarking and HUID if you desire to activity in retailing or assaying, the gem terminology norm if you desire to activity alongside stones, or the current aureate duty and US tariff if you desire to activity in export or pricing.
Take one genuine part from a retailer's website and interrupt its cost into aureate at that day's rate, making charges, stones and GST. Then prepared the harder version: what happens to that price, and to the jeweller's margin, if aureate falls 10% tomorrow. Almost all applicant can depict a part of jewellery and nearly none can explain its price, and the second is what the panel is really looking for.
14. The numbers to learn, and what to do next
Eight conditions transport particular meanings in this field and are used loosely nearly everyplace else. Knowing them exactly is the cheapest imaginable way to audio akin person who plant in jewellery fairly than person who has bought it.
Always distinct value from quantity and province the period. “Indian jewellery petition cut 24% by importance in 2025 during its value rosy to a record” is a declaration nearly no applicant can say. “The jewellery market is booming” is a declaration anyone can say. The field runs on two liberated sources, GJEPC's monthly export data and the World Gold Council's quarterly petition data, and the group who have really opened them are a extremely small group.
What to do next. Six tangible steps, in the command they volition really help.
Every fig in this study is traceable to a GJEPC commerce release, a World Gold Council survey, a authorities notification, a Bureau of Indian Standards notice or a company's own results, alongside the duration stated in the text. Data is current as of 28 October 2026. Export data is published monthly and aureate petition quarterly, so treat item undated as environment fairly than fact. If you are study throughout this series, the education type of this report uses the identical method on a extremely distinct sector, and the wider careers library covers the roles named complete in additional depth.
