How a silver price is worked out

Every tag in our shop carries a weight, and every bill shows how the price was built. Customers who have bought gold know the idea, but silver works a little differently, so here is the arithmetic.

Start with the metal. Our jhumkas weigh 18.4 g a pair in 92.5 silver. On a day when fine silver costs about ₹95 a gram, the silver in 92.5 alloy is worth roughly ₹88 a gram, so the metal comes to about ₹1,620. The rate changes daily, which is why we send it out each morning.

Then the making charge. In gold, making is often a percentage. In silver, the labour is a much larger share of the price, because a karigar spends as long carving a silver jhumka as a gold one while the metal is worth far less. For this pair, carving, setting the mirror, stringing the bead fringe and oxidising take about a day and a half, and the making comes to around ₹1,850. GST is added on the total.

That is why two pieces of the same weight can cost very different amounts. A plain 21 g cuff costs ₹2,890; a 34 g flower necklace with ghungroo drops costs ₹5,450 because every flower is cut and soldered separately. When you compare shops, ask for the weight and the making charge separately. If a seller cannot split them, you cannot tell whether you are paying for silver or for a story.