Diamonds have had an emotional connect with consumers from time immemorial and there is no better time to buy diamond jewellery than festive season. Buying jewellery at the time of Dhanteras has been a norm in India, with consumers flocking the stores to buy gold during this auspicious occasion. But in the last few years, a distinct shift has been witnessed as far as buying pattern is concerned – more and more women are indulging in diamond jewellery in metros.

According to the De Beers Diamond Insight Report: 2017, 2016 was a reasonable year for the diamond industry as the demand in the US, one of the biggest consumers of diamonds in the world exceeded US$ 40 billion and the trend has continued in 2017 as well because of the improved retail sentiment in Indian and Chinese markets. “Though diamonds have always been preferred choice among consumers; the demand for diamond jewellery has increased among Indian audience since last year. Compared to heavy-weight gold jewellery, customers are now opting for lightweight diamond jewellery. Men and women alike have shown a keen interest in diamond jewellery with women opting for diamond studded earrings, ring and necklace and men going for diamond-studded rings and bracelets. The diamond-studded jewellery demand is predicted to remain strong during the upcoming Navratri and Diwali season,” says Mr. Rajesh Tulsiani- Director, Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers.

Navratri, followed by Diwali and of course the wedding season lends the industry a good boost of confidence considering it is the best time for business and considering Diwali is arriving early this year, retailers are expecting a better footfall. But this year has been one big rollercoaster ride for jewellers in India with the implementation of GST and other policies. With the recent enforcement of PMLA, the jewellers are left in the lurch, confused about the demand for jewellery. “With certain regulations under PMLA and GST we are expecting a big impact especially on high value products. In Indian market, customer tends to buy jewelry as savings and investment for the future. With so many restrictions, buyers will now hesitate. Lots of changes have been made in the taxes in recent months creating lots of confusion for both the retailers and the customers which can affect the sales,” said Jitender Jain, CEO, Entice. Having said that, he remains positive about the demand for diamonds, “This festive season we expect a great demand for very price sensitive jewellery. Multi wearable and big look with color stones can also be among the first choice of the customer.”

It seems like the industry is putting all its eggs in one basket; the festive season. “The Year 2017 has been a roller coaster ride for the industry, we have seen lots of ups and down in terms of productivity and sales. This season was exceptionally good for the diamond industry, while, we expect third quarter to be slow, we are very positive for the fourth quarter,” says Jain.

While Tulsiani is hopeful that such policy changes will bring about positive changes and will be helpful for retailers in the long run. In a tricky situation such as this, where GST impacts both the retailer and the consumer, festive offers and schemes are of paramount importance. There needs to be some kind of an added incentive for consumers to shop for diamonds. “We regularly keep coming up with new collections and unique designs which appeal to our customers. Consumers should be proud of what they are wearing so that they will return to their favorite jewellery store time and again. Here creativity and design innovation play a vital role to capture and hold consumer interest and confidence in the brand. Positive word of mouth and consumer testimonials also play a crucial role in building brand image,” says Tulsiani who believes that diamond studded jewellery is going to be trending this Diwali.

Narayan Jewellers is going to put its money on generic, cocktail diamond jewellery as well as basic diamond jewellery and as far as offers are concerned, the Choksies believe that good designs will bring in customers automatically. “The only way to woo the customers is good design. No matter what offers you have, if you don’t have good products then there isn’t going to be any demand.”