The growth trajectory has been very strong for us in the past few years and with the onset of the New Year, we are upbeat about demand for diamonds in the country. Despite the challenges experienced due to the pandemic, Indian consumers have expressed strong demand for diamond jewellery, outstripping demand for other luxury categories, as they sought out purchases with emotional meaning and enduring value. The year 2021 has been strongest year for us in last decade and we have registered growth of around 15 per cent over the 2019 performance which was our best year.
De Beers Forevermark’s research has shown that there is increasing demand for its natural, rare, beautiful and responsibly sourced diamonds across the country. Going forward, we expect to see a significant rise and rebound in diamond consumption that has a lot 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. This is an opportunity for diamond jewellery market to gain a significant share of consumer spending. We see great demand from younger generation as they prefer jewellery to complement their personality and define their individual style statement. Besides this, we see demand for minimalistic and every day wear diamonds as the sentiment has now shifted towards wearing diamonds for any occasion.
We believe consumers would continue to spend on valuable and niche products that convey a strong emotional bonding, especially in post-pandemic world. While brand has 270 doors in India spread over 60 markets, we look forward to expanding it to 300 by the end of 2022. The brand also has 13 exclusive boutique stores in India and plans to increase this to 30 by the end of 2022. The company is also focused on consolidation across country as it sees immense potential in the growing number of metros, tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
With increasing disposable income, growing middle class population, rapid urbanization, improving standard of living and consumer preference towards investment in gems and jewellery, the diamond industry is looking forward to a high growth trajectory in near future.
(Sachin Jain is Managing Director, De Beers India)
