Pursuits
Indian Jeweler Becomes Billionaire as Gold Price Surges
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T.S. Kalyanaraman is beloved by his customers and detested by his rivals for bringing transparency to jewelry sales in India, where haggling is the norm.
He opened a shop in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 1993 and taught customers how to test the purity of their gold to expose cheating craftsmen. He was also the first jeweler in town to attach price tags to his gold and gem collection, angering competitors who accused him of ruining the trade.