Mines to Brands

In the world of gems and jewellery industry, KGK Group has created a strong reputation for itself by delivering highest quality products with constant innovations in designs that matches the global standards. If one has to sum up the presence in the gems and jewellery industry, then it should be referred as ‘mines to brands’; KGK Group sources, manufactures and trades a huge array of coloured gemstones; processes and trades diamonds in large quantities, shapes and sizes and also manufactures jewellery, which is at par with the international designs.This is the main highlight of this group – onewhole integrated pipeline that makes it special.

But ‘Rome was not built in a day’ and so was KGK Group. It has been a constant strive towards perfection by the past and the present members of the Kothari family, which owns KGK Group

Journey So far…
The KGK Group was founded by Kesrimal Kothari and his son Ghisilal Kothari of Jaipur (India) in 1905, with a humble task of trading gemstones between India and Burma. Following in their footsteps was Navrattan Kothari, who took KGK Group across oceans. Currently, the group is headed by Navrattan Kothari, who is ably supported by his sons, Sanjay Kothari and Sandeep Kothari.

Talking about his father’s contribution to the business, Sanjay Kothari, Vice Chairman, the time, working on his intuition, he introduced many new verticals to the group much ahead of his counterparts.

With a global presence across 17 countries today, the group has evolved as one of the most preferred brand in the gems and jewellery realm today.

KGK has emerged as one of the few conglomerates covering the entire spectrum of mining, sourcing, manufacturing and distributing coloured stones, diamonds and jewellery for over a century. The bond with the patrons is strengthened with every passing year and stronger presence has been established in almost every commercial centre in the world.

The KGK Group houses a resilient team of 12,000 members with operations and offices active in Asia, Australia, North and South America, Europe and Africa. With years of hard work and fore vision, it has achieved the vertically integrated standing of mines-tobrands in gems and jewellery industry. Currently, the group has robust manufacturing units in over seven countries with marketing offices across the globe. Having achieved impeccable specialisation in gemstones, diamonds and jewellery for over a hundred years, the group has recently diversified into real estate as well.

Business Verticals
KGK group is now present across the pipeline of the gems and jewellery industry from mines to brands. Talking about being closest to the source, KGK is a De Beers Sightholder, an ALROSA Alliance member and Rio Tinto Select Diamantaire along with having partnership in coloured gemstones mines of Emeralds, Rubelites and Paraibas in Brazil and Mozambique.

The group began its journey with trading of gemstones in 1905 and today the group sources, manufactures and trades a huge array of coloured gemstones. Adding diamonds to the portfolio in 1970’s proved to be one of the finest decisions for the group. And, today they process and trade diamonds in large quantities, shapes and sizes.

Throwing light on the group’s highlight i.e. integrated pipeline, Sanjay Kothari adds “With finely cut gemstones and diamonds in our inventory manufacturing jewellery was a natural forward integration for us. KGK serves every segment of the jewellery market with collections featuring diamonds and gemstones in platinum, gold and silver settings. Adding retail was our way of completing the gems and jewellery pipeline and getting ever so close to the endconsumer. Our fine jewellery retail brand Entice is the crown in the KGK value chain. With standalone boutiques in Hong Kong and India, the luxury brand was developed entirely inhouse under the guidance of my wife Manju Kothari, who is the Creative Director of Entice.” The retail brand was launched in 2004. The group has also taken renowned international brands like Martin Flyer, Gregg Ruth, Judith Ripka and Kiros under KGK diamond factory in Russia its wing for international sales; adding value and diversity to the group’s portfolio.

Widening the horizon, KGK also moved into the realm of real estate in 2010 and is looking forward to create iconic structures with the same finesse and creativity that have been the focus of group’s legacy.

Jewellery
KGK’s classic necklaces studded with multi-shaped diamonds have wooed many of their clients over the years. Their design team uses not one or two shapes together; their strength lays in producing designs that are a confluence of many shapes together, which might be difficult to be visualised by a normal person.

Their new range of multifunctional pieces is also a big hit.Jewellery pieces that can be parted through easy mechanisms and worn as smaller jewellery pieces add an extra value appealing many clients.

Talk about Sanjay Kothari’s most beloved project and he says “The day I had held a Paraiba Tourmaline in my hand, I wanted to do something big with this scintillating gemstone. With a lot of effort today we are strategic partners in two Paraiba mines, one in Mozambique and Brazil each.

Even after seeing so manypool blue gemstones over time, I still get enthralled by it every time I hold a piece in my hand. It has been one of my personal favorite projects that I had keen interest in.

Family Roles
KGK Group is a privately held global multinational by the Kothari family of Jaipur. Currently, Navrattan Kothari is the Chairman and leads the group as a visionary and idol. Sanjay Kothari as a Vice Chairman spearheads the groups’ gemstones, jewellery, mining and real estate verticals.

Sandeep Kothari as a Managing Director leads the crucial task of diamond sourcing and processing along with maintaining relations with major suppliers of the world. Entice is the brainchild of Sanjay Kothari’s wife, Manju Kothari and she leads a team of talented designers from across the globe as a Creative Director.

Market Presence and Competition
The industry has competition and day-to-day it’s getting tougher. But Sanjay Kothari feels being adaptable to changing time and constantly evolving is the key to success. When asked about how the group keeps itself ahead of the competition, Sanjay Kothari points out “Times have changed and we believe in moving with the time. Companies who change their approach according to clients’ requirements and keep offering new products to them will definitely survive in the long run. We constantly strive to present newer concepts to our clients across the globe boosting their excitement and zeal to witness our new ideas and offerings.

The group’s approach for market presence is to be widely accessible where ever there is demand for their product. With multiple offices spread in 17 countries, the group is trying to make their inventory extensively available physically as well as digitally in every corner of the world.

Apart from extensive product line what makes the group different from other is the supreme quality of their products and on time delivery. Adding further, Sanjay Kothari says “As part of the ethics that we have learnt from our forefathers, and also passed to our employees, is that quality of a product should never be compromised.

Challenges and Turning Points
The conglomerate that has global presence must have come across multiple challenges as every new change is always met with resistance and difficulties. When asked about the challenges, Sanjay Kothari says “In an effort to grow globally, the biggest challenge for KGK was the cultural diversity of each country that we expanded to. Our biggest learning is that the best way of being successful at any location of the world is by adapting its local attributes. Our mixed team of Indians and regional residents has proved to be an efficient tool leading to a lasting business growth.”

He further adds “Besides jewellery industry is yet to becompletely organised and it encounters many grey areas that have resulted in an ill reputation for many famous brands in the past. Learning from the same, our policy of having transparent business activities has helped us immensely in building an organised global corporate brand.”

The group has rich heritage that has helped it grow by leaps and bounds. Throwing more light on it, Sanjay Kothari says “All that we are today is the result of what we had wanted to be. It is through a lot of constant efforts, tremendous hard work and perseverance that our Global vision has seen light. Today, we can proudly say that we are one of the few multinationals operating in every aspect of gems & jewellery, holding true to our motive - mines to brands.”

New Corporate Identity
The group has recently unveiled their new corporate identity including a revamped brand DNA, redesigned logo and a fresh looking website. The dream once foresighted by their forefathers has seen the dawn; but the greater vision of a century old company still runs in the lineage with many more benchmarks to achieve. The global conglomerate revealed its new brand identity in line with the group’s significant evolution overtime, now present from mines to brands, leading to an inspirational uplift.

The new logo echoes of over 100 years of its existence while the tagline ‘INSPIRED TO SHINE’ truly reflects the impetus of its leaders. The new brand image of KGK represents change, growth, and a brighter tomorrow offering a constructive cultural shift in lines with KGK’s core attributes. KGK promises to enrich, delight and enlighten with its world of gems, jewellery and real estate.

Present and the Future
Present condition of the industry is not so welcome. Commenting on the current state of the diamond industry, Sanjay Kothari says “The world diamond market is quite unstable at present with an indecisive global economics. It is all about the survival of the fittest and only those who have a long term planning and capacity will be able to make through. We have done a fair bit of long term planning for KGK and our main focus is to build a strong foundation in every vertical we operate in. We do not believe in getting involved in anything on a shallow note. Our approach is to research, do in-depth analysis and then venture with perfection and which is our mantra to sail across smoothly.

“The bigger vision that we are all working towards is to become one of the largest companies in the gems and jewellery industry. Having said that, there are many projects and good news in the making, which will be unveiled with time,” adds Sanjay Kothari. Talking about his association with the brand, Sanjay Kothari says “It is an incredible feeling that comes with a challenge of moving with time without losing on the core ethics formulated by my forefathers. Time is always short and there is so much yet to achieve, therefore time management is the key.

To be able to lead so many employees, who aspire to be the best in the industry is yet another reason that compels to act upon and steer them to achieve their goals.” The group that remembers its roots well and has firm trust in its wings is sure to cross all the zeniths of success.