A wholesale jewellery catalogue from an Indian supplier is a menu, not a stock list. Each page shows a design the workshop can make, usually with a code, but availability, colour options and minimums depend on the factory at the time you order. Treat every catalogue page as a request for a sample, not a confirmed order.
Used well, a catalogue lets you shortlist many designs quickly and compare suppliers on the same styles.
How to read a catalogue
Watch for catalogues that mix several makers' designs. If styles, photography and plating colours vary a great deal from page to page, the seller may be a trader compiling pieces from different workshops. That affects consistency, because each maker applies its own standards, and you should ask which workshop makes each design.
Look at each entry for these points, and ask the supplier about any that are missing:
- The design code, which is how you refer to the item in every later message.
- Dimensions, weight and base metal, which photographs rarely show.
- Plating colour options and whether each colour is available now.
- Stone type and whether it is the same in every colour.
- Minimum order quantity per design and per colour.
Confirm what is actually available
Ask whether the design is ready stock, made to order or discontinued. Catalogues are often reused across seasons, and some images are decades old or borrowed from other makers. Request a current photo or video of the actual piece with the design code visible.
A maker who cannot show current pieces may be a trader reselling the catalogue. See how to tell a jewellery wholesaler from a manufacturer.
Order from a catalogue safely
Keep your own copy of the catalogue page for each design you order, with the date you received it. If the bulk goods differ from what was shown, that page is your evidence. Also record the colour name or plating code the supplier uses, because the same word, such as antique or rose, can mean different shades at different workshops.
Never place a bulk order from a photo alone. Order a sample of each design, check it against the catalogue image, and note the differences in writing. The usual gap is in colour, weight and stone quality, which photographs hide.
Then write the purchase order by design code, with the approved sample as the standard. What a jewellery purchase order should include lists the clauses.
Compare catalogues fairly
Ask the supplier how often the catalogue is updated and whether new designs are sent on request. In Rajkot, new designs appear often, so a catalogue that has not changed in a year may not reflect what the workshop makes today. A supplier who sends regular updates with current photographs is usually an active maker, not a reseller.
Two suppliers may show the same-looking design at different quotes because of differences in plating, stones or weight. Ask both to quote against the same written specification. How to compare quotes from different Rajkot jewellery makers explains how to line them up.
Next step
We can check catalogue claims on the ground, ask for current pieces and confirm that the maker really produces them. Book a free sourcing review and send us the catalogue you are considering.