De Beers Forevermark Sees Strong Demand In South India This Festive Season

With the onset of the festive season, De Beers Forevermark, one of the most trusted diamond brands, is upbeat about demand for diamonds in South India. The brand has already witnessed a huge response post the second wave, and compared to the pre-festive season consumption, it is looking forward to growth of over 35-40% per cent over the next few months given the extended wedding season and pent-up demand coinciding with the timely easing of Covid-19 restrictions. The brand continues to grow in South India, the largest market for De Beers Forevermark in India. While the brand has 270 doors in India spread over 60 markets, it has around 100 doors in South India currently. The brand also has 10 exclusive boutique stores in India and plans to increase this to 30 by next year.

The company is now focused on consolidation in the South as it sees immense potential in the growing number of metros, tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the region, where it partners with select authorized retailers who share the same brand ethos as De Beers Forevermark. The company’s research has shown that there is increasing demand for its natural, rare, beautiful and responsibly sourced diamonds in South India and that consumers here value the diamond’s quality over size.

Commenting on the festive season outlook, Mr. Sachin Jain, Managing Director, De Beers India, said: “We expect to see significant rise and rebound in diamond consumption and it has been a big comeback for the industry that has got to do with what diamonds and jewellery mean for the Indian consumer. People want to invest in luxurious products but ones that hold value and want an assurance of genuineness. The market will witness good growth in the upcoming festive & wedding season. While the year 2020 was a big setback due to the pandemic, we see the 2021 festive season to be the strongest one in a decade and expect to perform at 25-30% higher than 2019 which was our best year. The growth trajectory has been very strong for us in the past few years and we are hopeful it will continue. One of the key lessons the pandemic has taught us is to value that which is genuine and real.”

Mr. Suraj Shantakumar, Director Kirtilals said: “We see great demand from the younger generation this year as they prefer jewellery to complement their personality and define their individual style statement. Besides this, we see demand for minimalistic and everyday wear diamonds as the sentiment has now shifted towards wearing diamonds for any occasion including the festive season. De Beers Forevermark’s diamonds are produced through a very rigorous selection process and are rare, natural and beautiful and we believe they will continue to find a huge acceptance among our discerning consumers.”

Mr. Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director & Director, C. Krishniah Chetty Group of Jewellers said: “While the festive season this year is seeing a large uptick in sales, we will see a dramatic rise in solitaire diamond sales. Our association with De Beers Forevermark has not only been an old and a great relationship since a decade, but with patented technology, each De Beers Forevermark diamond is uniquely inscribed and comes with a guarantee that every diamond is genuine, natural and responsibly sourced. This provides additional assurance to our customers who are keen on buying natural diamonds to celebrate this festive season. Millennials realize that diamond jewellery is truly a gift that lasts a lifetime.”

Mr. Joseph Prince, Director – Prince Jewellery Chennai said, “The festive season has always been considered auspicious to buy jewellery. The consumer sentiment has improved dramatically in the recent past and there is pent-up demand and consumers are seeking meaningful purchases. This is an opportunity for the diamond jewellery market to gain a significant share of consumer spending. Given that less than 1 per cent of the world’s diamonds secure the De Beers Forevermark inscription, we believe consumers would like to spend on valuable and niche products that convey a strong emotional bonding, especially in the post-pandemic world.”

Despite the challenges experienced due to the pandemic, Indian consumers expressed strong demand for diamond jewellery, outstripping demand for other luxury categories and apparel, as they sought out purchases with emotional meaning and enduring value.