PUNE: Obscured under the shadow of large jewellery stores at Sonya Maruti junction, flourishes the precious metal market specializing in melting, refining and polishing metals. Nestled in a bylane between Sonya Maruti junction and Moti junction, the market boasts of over 150 to 200 outlets that provide ancillary support to the high-end jewellery stores.

With its history stretching back to 200 years, the market has witnessed tremendous growth — the number of outlets, for instance, have increased from about four or five to nearly 200. Speaking about the business, owner of Gyanoba Maruti Magar Atniwale Swapnil Magar said, “The jewellery stores are mainly involved in selling but we undertake the basic processes involved in making a piece of jewellery or precious metal article. If a customer approaches a saraf to melt their jewellery and create a new one, the jeweller comes to us to melt and refine the gold.”

Explaining the procedure, Magar added that the jewellery is mixed with silver and melted at very high temperature. “On heating, the silver turns into a liquid while the gold settles at the bottom in the form of dust. This dust is pure gold. The liquid and dust are separated, followed by further heating of the dust till it turns into liquid. The liquid gold is then poured into a mold in order to turn it into a biscuit or a block, which is handed over to the jeweller for shaping a new design,” he explained.

Magar stated that the business has only increased over the years. “People use gold jewellery to adorn themselves and they buy gold for investment purposes. With so much importance on gold, the number of jewellers has only increased. As the population increases, more people make purchases or remake jewellery and so we flourish. We see a lot of work during marriage and festive seasons,” he stated.

DS Kadam, who deals in polishing precious metals, pointed out that over the years the market has changed a lot. Seated around buckets full of water, Kadam explained that while polishing is their primary concern, they have also started making one gram gold jewellery to keep up with the demand. “My father started this store about 80 years ago as a precious metal polishing store. With changes in the industry and introduction of one gram jewellery, we started dealing in that as well. We use the traditional method to spolish jewellery and therefore require so much water,” Kadam explained.

The growing market also has numerous goldsmiths running small businesses that make jewellery. The belief is that, in future, the tiny market will witness further growth as the importance of gold increases.