Zen Diamond, Turkey’s leading jewellery brand with more than 400 stores across Europe, the USA, and the Middle East, made its entry into the Indian market a year ago, bringing world-class sparkle and cosmopolitan designs at affordable prices
With plans for 100 stores in 5–7 years, Zen Diamond is positioning itself as India’s go-to luxury diamond brand. Neil Sonawala, Managing Director, Zen Diamond India, shares Zen’s vision for leading in gifting and scaling through a 360° retail strategy with e-commerce, stores, and pop-ups nationwide
Edited Excerpts:
Mr. Neil, congratulations on the launch of Zen Diamond in India. What market opportunity supported this move?
Thank you! The Indian jewellery market is valued at approximately USD 85 billion, yet diamond jewellery represents only about 10% of that. We saw this as a strong opportunity—particularly with the evolving consumer preferences and the significant potential for growth in the diamond segment. Before entering such a dynamic and competitive market, we conducted extensive market research over a 12-month period. We commissioned detailed retail insight reports from leading agencies to understand consumer behavior, city-wise demand, and design preferences. While the Indian market has numerous players, most design aesthetics lean towards traditional jewellery, especially in diamonds. This revealed a clear gap in the affordable luxury segment—especially for modern, internationally styled diamond jewellery.
An international brand like Zen Diamond naturally carries an aspirational value. How are you leveraging that appeal to connect with Indian consumers?
Our stores reflect the same global luxury standards everywhere. Every visit is supported by trained stylists who provide personalized recommendations, product education, and discreet service, making each interaction feel thoughtful and tailored. We run our global campaigns uniformly in India and all other locations, often featuring international models to maintain the aspirational international brand image. Our international collections have performed very well, showing that the Indian market is welcoming and receptive to global designs.
Is Zen Diamond adapting its international style to modernise India’s strong cultural connection to jewellery?
Though 75–80% of our collections reflect the global aesthetics, we do offer Indo-Western lines, constituting around 20–25% of our range, blending cultural relevance with a contemporary twist. For instance, our Kismet Collection reimagines the traditional mangalsutra into a modern piece that resonates with today’s woman. We’ve observed that across age groups—including older customers—there’s strong preference for these modern designs.
Could you elaborate on gifting as a major business plan for Zen Diamond in India?
Gifting is a significant growth area for us—currently contributing around 30% of our overall sales. Indian consumers appreciate jewellery as a meaningful, lasting gift, whether for weddings, festivals, or personal milestones. We provide personalisation from selecting diamond cuts and carat sizes to choosing preferred settings and personal engravings.
We’ve seen customers buy multiple identical pieces—bracelets, earrings—for gifting purposes.
Zen has aligned with the Make in India initiative. Could you share how this reflects in your operations?
We have a dedicated manufacturing facility in Andheri, Mumbai, where around 80% of our jewellery is produced. Our collections, whether original international or Indo-Western blends, are all crafted here, supporting local employment and aligning with the Make in India vision.
What’s the brand’s approach to distribution, both offline and online?
Brick-and-mortar retail is key for jewellery. We will expand our presence with 100 stores in the next 5 to 7 years, starting with tier 1 and select tier 2 cities. We are already launching two stores in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the coming three months, and we are actively scouting prime locations across Northern India.
We’re also present via Pernia’s Pop-Up Studio in Delhi, with Mumbai and other locations coming up — ideal for gifting and self-purchase segments.
We’re also launching our e-commerce platform shortly, targeting purchases up to Rs. 1 lakh, where consumers are comfortable transacting online. E-commerce will particularly cater to daily-wear jewellery and gifting segments, and will help us reach beyond metro cities. With this we are looking at 360 degree omnichannel retail in India.
Finally, what are the challenges and opportunities you foresee as you scale up in India?
We see far more opportunity than challenge. India’s regulatory environment has improved greatly—hallmarking and diamond certification enhance consumer trust. Our challenge is primarily about educating consumers on design-led value rather than gold weight or investment value.
Written by Pratyasha Kumari
Retail Jeweller India Magazine
