Tanishq, Joyalukkas mine India's idle gold with emotional trade-in campaigns

Jewellery brands are running sentiment-led campaigns to unlock idle household gold via exchange counters. Tanishq collected 11,000 kgs over nine months; Joyalukkas saw daily old-gold intake triple to 8 kgs since July. Trade-ins now drive 43-55% of sales, tapping an estimated 30,000 tonnes of dormant household gold.

— Source publishedFri, 17 Jul, 2026, 20:47 IST·First seen Fri, 17 Jul, 2026, 20:57 IST·Source The Hindu BusinessLine

What happened

Indian jewellery brands Tanishq and Joyalukkas are running aggressive emotional campaigns to acquire idle household gold via exchange counters, with Tanishq

Key facts

  • ₹150 per gram extra
  • 8 kgs per day old gold vs 2-2.5 kgs
  • 5 lakh customers
  • 11,000 kgs gold exchanged in 9 months
  • 30,000 tonnes idle household gold
  • 7,500 tonnes in Kerala
  • 43-55% of sales via trade-ins

Why this matters

The proven efficacy of emotional exchange campaigns validates M&A or partnership plays around gold-recycling infrastructure, assaying, and regional jewellers with strong local trust to accelerate access to the estimated 30,000 tonnes of household gold.

What to watch

  • Gold price trajectory — sustained highs reinforce trade-in behavior
  • Trade-in share of sales crossing 60% signaling fresh-demand weakness
  • Regulatory moves on trade-in valuation disclosure or GMS 2.0
  • Consumer complaints on purity/valuation disputes
  • Quarterly volume vs value divergence in branded jewellery results
  • Competitors (Kalyan, Malabar, PC Jeweller) launch matching emotional trade-in campaigns with valuation guarantees
  • Brands invest in transparent in-store assaying tech and digital trade-in estimators to build trust
  • Push exchange-linked buy-back and upgrade schemes tied to festive/wedding cycles
  • Refining and hallmarking capacity expansion to process rising scrap intake