Tanishq, De Beers collaborate to push sale of natural diamonds in India

This has also caused India to replace China as the second-largest market in the world for natural diamond jewellery

India’s largest jeweller Tanishq and South African-British diamond company De Beers Group on Wednesday announced a three-year strategic collaboration to push the sale of natural diamonds in the country.

“With a vibrant economy, a growing middle-class and discerning consumers who seek jewellery with enduring value, demand for natural diamond jewellery from Indian consumers has surged recently and now represents 11 per cent of global demand,” the companies said. 

India has replaced China in natural diamond consumption, and is now second only to the US. 

“With diamond acquisition rates in India well below those in mature markets such as the US, this provides a significant opportunity to catalyse further growth for natural diamond jewellery in India,” the release added. 

The collaboration will focus on building consumer outreach, deepening capabilities of Tanishq’s retail staff to communicate about natural diamonds, educate consumers about authenticity, and shaping customer experiences.

The two parties are also in talks regarding opportunities to collaborate on traceability, how Tanishq’s diamond supply needs can best be met and further opportunities to use De Beers’ proprietary technologies to support pipeline integrity, the release said. 

Currently, Tanshiq sees 30 per cent of its sales come from the sale of studded jewellery, Ajoy Chawla, CEO, jewellery division, Titan Company told Business Standard. 

He, however, added that India's shift to lab-grown diamonds is negligible.

“There are quite a few players who have sprung in. There is a certain amount of noise in the market and we have not seen that shift,” Chawla said. 

“Syntehtics and natural are different stones…what we see is that there is a strong demand for synthetic in the industrial space. As far as the consumer is concerned in this country we don’t see a takeoff (lab grown diamonds). In India, the play is about how we develop penetration for natural diamonds. Currently, it is one of ten, so sky is the limit,” Sandrine Conseiller, CEO of De Beers Brands said.