As a way to counter the decreased demand for natural diamonds in the US and China, De Beers is seeking a partnership with Tanishq, one of the major jewelry brands in India. This country, like nobody else, appreciates the value of naturally sourced diamonds and accounts for about 11% of all diamond sales worldwide. If you compare that to a less than 10% share of China, you’ll understand why De Beers redirects its attention towards some more promising regions.
Indian jewelry giant Tanishq owns over 5 hundred stores across the country and has become something of a household name. Its staff is already well-familiar with natural diamonds, however, as a part of a newly established partnership, it is obliged to undergo additional training. The customers will also rediscover these precious stones in the course of a “revolutionary” marketing campaign designed to raise people’s awareness about natural diamonds. The specifics of the campaign will be revealed shortly as the companies are in the process of identifying which cities to target.
Interestingly, the Tanishq chain does not offer lab-grown diamonds as it views them as less authentic products. In terms of culture, India is among very few places on Earth that value naturally sourced items above the ones obtained through technology, however advanced. This is especially true when it comes to precious stones. Indian people like wholesomeness and authenticity above anything else.
Tanishq diamond products have already attracted customers’ attention with unusual designs and rare materials. The future cooperation with De Beers is going to further its market position even more due to the highly valuable diamonds that De Beers is ready to provide. At the same time, the partnership seems like a great idea for the mining company as well in the face of a challenging market environment in the US and China. Furthermore, the statistic shows that Tanishq has a higher percentage of diamond sales nationwide, even though the Indian market is still heavily dominated by gold (diamond pieces account for around 30% of all Tanishq sales).
The announcement was made at a press conference in Mumbai, attended by Sandrine Conseiller, CEO of De Beers Brands, and Ajoy Chawla, CEO of the jewelry division at Titan Company Ltd., the parent company of Tanishq.
Several factors have played into De Beers’ lower demand in the two most economically advanced countries in the world. This has to do with extensive marketing campaigns for lab-grown diamonds in the United States as well as the financial uncertainty of Chinese customers. During times of crisis, the Chinese commonly turn to gold as a source of financial security rather than precious stones. With this being said, customers are still strongly interested in natural diamonds in the US, as this country holds the record for the number of diamond products sold worldwide (about 50% of the global demand, no more, no less!). Ajoy Chawla points out that Americans are primarily putting demand for big batches of uniform diamonds used for creating exclusive private collections.
The partnership is also fruitful in terms of sharing origin-detecting technologies. Both Tanishq and De Beers place enormous emphasis on transparency and using traceable technologies. Both companies will routinely use stone verification and traceability tools to help establish the origin of a particular diamond and have proper grounds for certifying their products. Diamond pieces will undergo certification in an effort to provide the most authentic pieces to Indian clients. With this kind of proof, they will surely know that their diamonds were naturally sourced and not grown artificially.
Although Tanishq is solely an Indian company, it has already opened four branch offices in the United States in an attempt to spread its presence overseas. The expansion efforts have been fruitful so far as the American public seems to favor Indian-made diamond products. The headquarters are located in Mumbai, one of the biggest cities in the world, and its branch stores in almost 300 major cities across India. With such an extensive presence, De Beers’ naturally sourced diamonds will surely find new fans.
