Gold prices for 24 Karat gold on April 23 were ruling Rs 62,090 per 10 grams, compared to Rs 50,800 per 10 grams last year.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director of Titan Company, said the sales of watches and jewellery could have been much better had demonetisation not taken place.
In India, the world's second-largest consumer of the metal, higher prices prompted retail buyers to postpone purchases for wedding season.
The CBDT has clarified that there would be no seizure of gold jewellery and ornaments if the holding is limited to 500 grams per married woman, 250 grams per unmarried woman and 100 grams per male in the family. Experts say this coupled with a cash crunch due to demonetisation may slow down gold sales further.
After the bullion market remained lull for months, jewellers on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya today are hopeful of a 10 percent rise in sales.
Gold sales, overall, have seen a decline this festive season. Witnessing the sluggish demand for investment gold and jewellery, jewellers have been pushing high-margin diamond jewellery through their marketing campaigns and innovative diamond schemes such as zero-making charges schemes.
Gold traders in India, the world's top buyer of the bullion, refrained from buying amid a peak wedding season, thwarted by a huge stock pile and prices that hit a more than four-month high.
Gold demand on the auspicious day of 'Akshaya Tritiya' in Delhi remained subdued due to high prices of the precious metal, which today rose marginally to Rs 29,100 per 10 gm, traders said