Diamond Industry Update: Innovation, Promotion and Online is the future

"Life is like a ferris wheel. One minute you’re on top, the next you’re at the bottom. Just stay in your seat, enjoy the ride, and hang on until you reach the top again," said Susan Gale.  While Susan is talking about life in this quote, these words stand true in case of diamond industry. Upheavals, turmoil, global meltdowns, CVD an issue, industry has learnt to tackle them all and it bounces back with renewed vigour.

In the wake of global slowdown, the industry is hopeful that the situation will stabilize in the coming months as demand generally picks up as the wedding season nears in India.  The India International Jewellery Show is looked at as the best opportunity to renew their existing business relations as well as to make new contacts.

The trade shows generally set the market sentiments but it may not be the case with every show as sometimes the exhibitors come to the show only for the purpose of making contacts which may or may not materialise in new business. But it definitely assures one brand’s reach to wider audience, which in turn helps in future.

Though its raining heavily in Mumbai, it did not dampen the spirit of the visitors at 33^rd edition of IIJS. “There were good enquiries. During Day 1, generally, buyers scout for the best available products. If one talks about the present the global market situation, I would say being a major player helps in getting major share of the market. In terms of cuts, round brilliant will always the best moving product. Special cuts business is momentary, it depends on the phase. Innovation is the key to doing better business. We are expecting Saturday and Sunday to be good,” Rajesh Lakhani, Director, KGPL.

It was a good opening day to begin with, said Sunil Kumar Gupta, J. B. And Brothers Pvt Ltd. “Marketing the product in an effective manner is key to better business during troubled times. Our marketing team is constantly working towards giving the best customer service, which has always reflected in our business. We sell around 65 per cent of our diamonds online, which happens through our trusted customers, who have been coming to us year after year as they believe in our grading system and trust our customer service and quality products offered.”

As we were speaking to the exhibitors in the diamond segment, we noticed that a number of players are focusing on the online business and they have been doing incredibly good. We met Mahiar Borhanjoo, MD, Venus Jewel International who spoke extensively on how the company has been doing well in the online segment. Being the pioneers of online selling of diamonds in the country, the company has been selling diamonds online since 1997. Talking about diamonds, Mahiar said “There is need to turn diamonds into affordable luxury. In order to survive the online selling diamonds business, there is need to earn the consumer confidence. I see, more sell going online, as it provides more options to buyers.”

He added further “Diamond industry is like a wheel, sometimes you are up at the bottom or sometimes at the down; you have to hang on till you come back at the top again. As long as there is generic marketing, there is diamond desire; industry needs to have confidence in the products they manufacture. In November and December, as usual, the sentiments are sure to improve as they always do.”

Be it jewellery or diamonds, unusual and extraordinary is always in demand. Talking about demand for special cuts, Gaurang Jhaveri from A. J. Mehta & Co. said “Special cuts are currently trending, especially, briolette cut. As the trend for statement pieces is picking up so is the demand for special cuts like briolettes and rose cuts has also increased. We are getting a lot of enquiries for these cuts and they are in demand international markets as well.”

Undoubtedly, IIJS is considered as one of the leading trade shows in India as well as abroad. However, there have been certain areas that the organizers still need to pay an attention. One of the most important is the promotion of the show on the international level. A number of domestic exhibitors are still not happy with the number of international visitors that visit the show. A lot of exhibitors on condition of anonymity said that they come to IIJS merely to make presence while actual business happens during shows like Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, which provides ample flexibility in terms of business. Especially, Hong Kong, which has lesser policy hurdles, and it is cheaper as compared to IIJS, is fast becoming a viable option for a number of industry players.

To make our trade shows at par with the international standards, industry think-tank and government policy makers need to work in tandem with each other. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening up dialogues with the Indian gem and jewellery industry and the relaxation of excise duty norms is hopefully the beginning of good times.