A hand holding two gold temple earrings with elephant motifs, ruby and black enamel detail.

G. Suresh Babu & Sons · Palamaner

GSRJewellers

GSR అంటే నమ్మకం
Trust, since 1938.

Checking… 4.9 ★ from 4,032 Google reviews Lakshman Singh St, Newpet

Four thousand and thirty-two reviews

They nearly all say the same thing.

Not that the gold is beautiful — that is taken for granted. What people write down, again and again, is that somebody explained it to them and nobody hurried them.

Two people get named by customers more than anyone else: Varalakshmi, and Manjunath, who does the pricing. One reviewer mentions the water and coffee.

Before you buy anything, anywhere

How to read a hallmark.

Every piece of gold jewellery sold in India must carry a BIS hallmark — three marks, stamped small, usually on the clasp or the inside of a bangle. Most people have never looked at them. Here is what they say.

  1. 01
    The BIS triangleThe mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards. If it is not there, the piece is not hallmarked.
  2. 02
    The fineness numberHow much of it is gold, in parts per thousand. 916 means 22 karat — 91.6% gold. 750 is 18K, 585 is 14K, 999 is pure.
  3. 03
    The HUIDA six-character code, unique to that one piece. No two are alike.
Pick a purity
Gold purity
Karat
24K
Stamped
999
Gold content
99.9%

Pure gold. Too soft to hold a setting, so it is sold as coins and bars rather than jewellery.

You can check any hallmark yourself. Type the six-character HUID into the free BIS CARE app and it will tell you the purity that piece was certified at. Ask for the HUID at any shop — a jeweller who is happy for you to check is telling you something.

The other half of the conversation

What a gold bill is actually made of.

A gold price is never one number. It is four or five, added together — and the reason people feel uneasy is that they are usually shown only the total. Ask for these separately. Any of them can be discussed.

  1. The day's gold rate, times the net weightThe rate moves every day. Net weight is the gold only — stones and beads are weighed and charged apart from it.
  2. Making chargesThe labour in the piece. A plain chain and a carved temple haram are not the same work, so they are not the same charge.
  3. WastageGold genuinely lost in working the metal. Quoted as a percentage, and it varies with the design.
  4. Stones, if there are anyPriced separately from the gold, by weight and quality.
  5. GSTAdded at the end, on the total.

Rates change daily and every piece is different, so no price is printed on this page. Ask in the shop, and ask for the lines one at a time.

On the counter

Temple work, bridal sets, and things for a Tuesday.

Gold and silver, everyday and ceremonial, in a district that has been walking to Tirumala for a very long time.

A gold Venkateswara plaque set with red and white stones.
Venkateswara, in gold and kundan
A two-layer bridal set on a display bust: a short necklace and a long haram with ruby and emerald stones.
The short necklace and the long haram
A hand holding a stack of gold bangles enamelled with peacocks in blue, green and red.
Enamelled peacock bangles
A pair of gold jhumka earrings on a grey display stand.
Jhumkas
A hand holding four two-tone filigree floral pieces in gold and white metal.
Two-tone filigree
Three silver deity idols standing on a wooden counter.
Silver idols

Saving towards it

Two monthly schemes, by name.

Both run at the counter, and the terms are set by the shop rather than by this page — so ask for them in writing before you join anything.

స్వర్ణలక్ష్మిSwarnalakshmi savings scheme
స్వర్ణ సంకల్పంSwarna Sankalpam savings scheme

Eighty-eight years on one street

G. Suresh Babu & Sons.

The name over the door is a family's, and the portraits above the sign are of the people who put it there. A jeweller in a town this size does not get four thousand reviews by being new.

The GSR Jewellers building on Lakshman Singh Street: three storeys, pink lattice and cream stone, with framed portraits above the sign and a green wall at street level.
Inside the shop: warm wood, ceiling spotlights and lit glass cases of necklaces on white display busts.

Come and be shown

Lakshman Singh Street, Newpet.

Palamaner 517408, Chittoor district. There is no obligation to buy anything, and by every account nobody will make you feel there is.

Open in Google Maps → Call 099162 91694
  • Monday10:00 – 19:00
  • Tuesday10:00 – 19:00
  • Wednesday10:00 – 19:00
  • Thursday10:00 – 19:00
  • Friday10:00 – 19:00
  • Saturday10:00 – 19:00
  • Sunday10:00 – 13:00

Sunday is a half day — the shop shuts at one.