#RJEF2023: India slated to be a US$ 17 bn market in natural diamonds by 2030, says Sachin Jain

Encouraging retailers to upsell to their customers instead of providing cheaper alternatives, the MD of De Beers India talked about the Metaverse and digital avatars craze which fashion brands are leveraging abroad

Kolkata: It’s the hour of self-improvement and brand-building, and natural diamonds offer that opportunity to jewellers across the spectrum, said Sachin Jain, MD, De Beers India, kicking off his session titled ‘Future of diamonds in the age of modern retail and digital’ on an optimistic note at the first edition of the Retail Jeweller East Forum in Kolkata.

“The Indian jewellery market performed brilliantly during Diwali. Five years earlier, India’s natural diamond jewellery business was pegged at US$3.45 billion. Last year, we closed it at US$ 8.5 billion in India only. If you are focused on it, India is slated to be a US$ 17 billion market in natural diamonds by 2030. Choose your business wisely, as customers are making crucial life choices while coming to buy diamond jewellery,” Jain remarked.

The youngest diamond is about 100 crore years old, which symbolizes a long-lasting relationship and thus associates immense significance that can only come with natural diamonds, he maintained. Jain encouraged retailers to upsell to their customers instead of providing cheaper alternatives. He also talked about the Metaverse and the youth’s interest in getting their digital avatars associated with names such as Nike in it, which fashion brands are leveraging abroad.  

Consumers want to know where their diamonds are coming from, and Tracr by De Beers Forevermark is a mammoth step in that direction, Jain said. He added that only 3% of trade generates from De Beers Forevermark and De Beers Jewellers, whereas 97% comes from general trade through the supply chain starting with sight holders and ending with consumers for a cumulative 30 million carats of diamonds mined annually.

In the next five years, De Beers Forevermark aims to get 60% of its total value generated through regional services, prompting the brand to come up with a programme based on the four pillars of a diamond’s journey, and accessible by a simple QR code scan of the product. “We went live in the US on November 1, and will go live in India on March 8, 2024 with this technology. It allows retailers to inform customers about the specific community social responsibility impact that will happen with each purchase of a De Beers Forevermark diamond,” he added.

Written by Ashwin Bose

Retail Jeweller India Exclusive