epages News [Jewellery]

• Jewellery exports to exceed $10 bn
• China opens door for jewellers
• Tanishq to launch jewellery design contest
• De Beers to raise rough diamond prices
• Sports awards prove rewarding for jewellers
• Diamonds are man's best friend
• Tanishq expects 200-300% jump in sales
• Classic Diamonds eyes revenues of $180 m
• Gem, jewellery exports rise above $10 bullion
• North-bound gold pushes diamond up
• Catch the platinum pulse for purity
• It's sell-back time as gold is on a high
• The Stone that keeps you rolling
• Swatch to market jewellery in India
• Govt may make jewellery hallmarking compulsory
• Eros Jewellery ties up with Nift
• Devdas-inspired jewellery sets exports on fire
• Gem & jewellery units told to invest in R&D
• GJEPC exports grow by 13.61% from April to Oct 03
• Steinmetz's diamonds set Mumbai's glitterati buzzing
• Archives

Jewellery exports to exceed $10 bn

Mar 31, 2004: New Delhi: Adding glitter to ‘India Shining’ despite the rupee’s appreciation, export of gems & jewellery from India has surged past the $10-billion mark for the first time ever in 2003 on the strength of higher unit value realisation for cut & polished diamonds –– a segment dominated by Indian industry. Interestingly, India has managed to retain its numero UNO position in export of cut & polished diamonds despite fall in volumes while its main rivals –– Belgium and Israel have struggled to keep pace.

The strong growth in gem & jewellery exports, estimated at 22.3% during 2003, is significant since the rupee has gained nearly 10% against the dollar in the past two years and the US happens to be the main market for India. Picking up strongly during the third and fourth quarters, exports during 2003 touched $10,646 million, crossing the $10-billion mark for the first time. Of this cut & polished diamonds accounted for $8,023 million compared to $6,909 million during 2002.

China opens door for jewellers

Mar 24, 2004: Chennai: It is now the turn of India ’s gem and jewellery industry to jump on to the China bandwagon. The dragon country, with its large market place and a penchant for diamond jewellery, is attracting Indian players to set shop in China. The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council is planning to conduct a study tour to evaluate the feasibility of doing business in China. As Hong Kong and China share an export arrangement, diamond jewellery trade between the two nations will not attract a high duty. An Indian jewellery player could benefit by setting up a small processing set-up in Hong Kong to tap the Chinese market. The jewellery exporter could also use a combination of off shoring bulk of work in India while completing the residual work in Hong Kong.

An Icra report on gem and jewellery too points out that while India currently enjoys dominance in the world’s cut and polished diamonds market, China may be a potential rival in the long term. China has attracted diamond processors from Israel and Belgium to set up facilities because of the significant increase in economic growth in the last decade coupled with potential customers in the high-income bracket. As per the destination-wise data for gem & jewellery exports, US, Hong Kong, Belgium, the UAE, Japan, Thailand, UK, Singapore, Switzerland and Israel figure prominently while China is conspicuous by its absence. Recently, the council led a delegation to countries like Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Italy to explore trade opportunities. The delegation has found that there was a large market for loose diamonds, cut and polished diamonds and jewellery in these countries who source it from Antwerp and Dubai.

Tanishq to launch jewellery design contest

Mar 22, 2004: To bring fresh talent to the forefront, Tanishq, the jewellery business arm of Titan Industries, is planning to launch a nationwide jewellery design competition. Tanishq has also specially designed the three crowns for the Ponds Femina Miss India Contest this year. For the first time, the new crowns are based on contemporary designs along with using vibrant colours, thus conveying the symbolism of each of the title that they represent.

Tanishq had spent Rs.16 crore last year towards advertising with equal stress on print and electronic media. But the company is planning to increase the frequency on electronic media by investing more in satellite TV channels, especially targeting the women-oriented programmes. Even the overall ad budget is expected to shoot up.

De Beers to raise rough diamond prices

Mar 22, 2004: London: De Beers, which sells three of every five rough diamonds in the world, will raise prices by 5% this month, the second increase this year, because of higher sales in Western, Asian and Arab markets and a weakening dollar. The company based in Kimberley, South Africa, boosted prices by 3% in January. Demand in India and China is increasing, and De Beers is promoting a campaign to persuade women in the U.S., the market for half of all diamond jewellery, to buy their own diamonds. Diamonds are traded in dollars. South Africa's gained 23% against the dollar in the past year, driving up mining costs as diamonds became cheaper for holders of other currencies. Diamond jewellery sales rose 6.7% last year to about $56.5 billion, and may grow 6% this year, according to De Beers.

De Beers, 45% owned by Anglo American Diamonds was Anglo American's biggest source of profit in the second half of last year. The Oppenheimers, Africa's richest family, also own 45% of De Beers. Debswana Diamond Co., jointly owned by Botswana's government and De Beers, own the rest. De Beers's profit rose 10% last year after it raised prices for rough diamonds by the same amount. The company plans to mine about 7% more diamonds this year. De Beers runs its own mines in South Africa and operates joint ventures with the governments of Botswana, the world's biggest diamond producer, and Namibia, which produces the highest quality gems. The company has curbed its practice of buying competitors' gems to prop up prices, seeking instead to bolster demand in the retail market. De Beers cut its diamond stockpiles by almost $700 million last year, after a $1 billion reduction in 2002. Industry wide, spending on marketing rose to $420 million last year, double the figure two years earlier.

Sports awards prove rewarding for jewellers

Feb 11, 2004: Chennai: Remember the diamond-encrusted trophy that Little Master Sunil Gavaskar was awarded for scoring 34 centuries or the silver chess board that perhaps adorns Grand Master Viswanathan Anand’s trophy cupboard. Silver sports trophies, plaques, mementos, shields and cups are obviously a niche business but “they keep the jewellery business busy” in times when price-sensitive customers shy away from gold and diamond. While no concrete data is available on the actual consumption of silver in the form of mementos, it does amount to a significant and growing market, retailers say. India consumes about 4,000 tonnes of silver for industrial, photographic and jewellery usage, making it the largest consumer of the white metal in the world. Even though masterpieces like V Anand’s chess board are few and far between, there are regular orders for golf trophies, farewell plaques and shields for retiring board members of companies or incentive trophies for performing salesmen. The jewellery house has also made trophies and cups for TN Golf Federation, Gymkhana Club, Madras Cricket Club and Cosmopolitan Club.

Diamonds are man's best friend

Jan 27, 2004: Bangalore: Ask jewellers and they will confirm it: the metro-sexual Indian male has arrived. While rich men in semi-urban areas always liked to flaunt their wealth by wearing thick gold rings, and a Gulf-returned Malayalee male without a stout gold chain around his neck was a rarity, the new-age man we are referring to is different. He’s typically anything above 30, has a high-paying job and likes to spend money on clothes, accessories and yes, jewellery for himself. The new buyer is also not particularly comfortable with the loud, self-declaratory shimmer of yellow gold , preferring instead the more subdued presence of white gold or platinum. But no jeweller in India will give you any numbers, so quantitative proof may not be available.

Qualitative confirmation, however, lies in the fact that the entire collection of men’s jewellery by Ganjam, Bangalore’s very own designer jewellery store, was sold out within six months of hitting the shelves.While they started out with rings, cufflinks, kurta buttons and tie-pins, in the pipeline are items such as belt buckles. Rough industry estimates put the size of the Indian jewellery market at Rs 40,000 crore. A trend may also be judged by the extreme lengths people can take it to. Witness a fashion show in Mumbai a couple of months ago, when Salman Khan walked the ramp donning the ‘most expensive tie’ in the world. Specially crafted by designer Satya Paul, the tie was studded with 261 diamonds of 77 carat each and some 150 gm of gold. The pure silk tie was estimated to cost Rs 1 crore.

Tanishq expects 200-300% jump in sales

Jan 22, 2004: New Delhi: Close on the heels of opening an outlet in Philippines, leading jewellery maker Tanishq said it expected a jump of 200-300% in sales from its campaign of "get gold free with diamonds". Unveiling the campaign, Tanishq said, "there was always a rise of 200-300% in sales during any promotional campaign period which the company launched". Overall Tanishq was growing by nearly 40% every year and expected a similar growth rate despite the rise in gold prices. There has been no impact of the rise in gold prices on sales. Under the scheme, on every purchase of diamond jewellery worth Rs 5,000 and above, customers will be entitled to win atleast on 22kt gold coin free.

Classic Diamonds eyes revenues of $180 m

Jan 19, 2004: Bangalore: Classic Diamonds is targeting revenue of $175 million-$180 million for the next fiscal against the $145 million-$150 million in the current fiscal. The 16-18% rise in topline is expected to be driven through its acquisition of New York-based Diamond Direct, a company which is into selling jewellery for leading retailers like Sam’s Clubs. It will enable the company to expand volume of jewellery sales. The entry into the US market is crucial as this market accounts for roughly a fourth of the international diamond market, which is valued at $60 billion. The US is the world’s biggest buyer of diamonds followed by Japan.

Classic has taken a 55% stake in the US-company for a sum of $3 million. Prior to the acquisition, Classic had been a supplier to this company. Besides the increased focus on the export market, Classic is also aggressively targeting the domestic market through a combination of store launches, branding and new product initiatives. Stores in Bangalore and Hyderabad are looking at markets like Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Chennai as potential centres for opening more stores. As a part of its new product initiatives, Classic is also roping in international designers for launching new products.

Gem, jewellery exports rise above $10 bullion

Jan 14, 2004: Mumbai: Gem and jewellery exports rose by 22.26% to cross the $10 billion-mark during the period from January to December 2003. The total exports of jewellery stood at $10,646 million (provisional) as against $8,707 million for the same period of the last year, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said. The council shipped cut and polished diamonds worth $8023.40 million as compared to $6,894.48 million during 2002. Similarly, jewellery exports rallied to $1856.45 million from $1342.03 million, while exports of non-gold jewellery, pearls and synthetic stones rose to $578.61 million from $282.03 million. The industry had grown tremendously to become the world's largest manufacturing centre of cut and polished diamonds contributing to 60% of the world's supply in terms of value, 85% in turn of cartage and 92% in terms of pieces. The industry was confident that it could successfully accomplish exports worth $16 billion by 2007. The council was organising international exhibitions with a completely revamped India pavilion with around 55 exhibitors at Basel World 2004 besides participation in other major international exhibitions like JCK Las Vegas, Hong Kong Show and JA New York.

North-bound gold pushes diamond up

Jan 05, 2004: Bangalore: Diamonds, they say, are a girl's best friend. And strangely, it is the girl's other best friend -- gold's -- northbound price movement that is seeing the focus shift gradually to the glittering stone. For some of the players like Tanishq, the jewellery arm of watch maker, Titan Industries, the increased spend on the stone is expected to buoy the division's topline. In FY '03, Tanishq had revenues of Rs 345.13 crore, which witnessed a 29% year on year growth. The diamond jewellery market is estimated to be around 15% of the total Indian jewellery market, with the latter being pegged at about Rs 45,000 crore. Demand for diamonds is on the rise driven by key factors like affordability and focus on the aspirational. Ten years ago diamonds weren't affordable. Today one can get diamonds at prices for less than Rs 5,000. Good demand for diamonds in the days ahead are foreseen. A source in the diamond industry says that the shift towards the glittering stones is not a new phenomenon. There has been a gradual move away from plain gold jewellery. This is happening across all major markets including Chennai. The value of purchase is going up because of the rise in gold prices though diamond prices are more stable.

Catch the platinum pulse for purity

Dec 31, 2003: Variety and choice are two points that women consider in case of jewellery. This means looking at different options not only in terms of design and other features of jewellery, but also in the choice of metal. In such a situation apart from gold and silver, platinum is making its mark. Platinum is pure, rare, versatile and eternal. Pure because it can be used in 95% pure form unlike gold where a maximum purity of 91.6% is used in 22 carat jewellery. Versatile as it is pliable enabling intricate jewelleries and mesh accessories. And eternal because it’s density and weight make it more durable than other jewellery metals. But all these features also make the metal highly priced and exclusively possessed. It thus becomes all the more important to know how to buy platinum jewellery to make sure you get complete value for money. Every piece of authorised platinum jewellery has a Pt logo. Followed by the Pt logo would be a number, either 900 or 950. A Pt 950 indicates 95% purity. That means, the piece of jewellery contains 95% platinum and 5% of a base metal. In the case of gold jewellery the base metal is usually copper, silver, nickel or zinc. However, the same is not the case with platinum jewellery.

While making platinum jewellery, the base metal is more often than not a platinum group metal such as palladium. This makes the pieces sturdy and more durable. This property also makes platinum more favourable for diamond and stone settings as the latter can be firmly held in the jewellery piece. So while you look for a 22-carat (91.6%) purity in gold jewellery, you must look for a minimum of Pt 900 in platinum jewellery. The cost of the piece would depend on the weight and platinum content. Obviously, a piece marked, as Pt 950 would cost a little more than one marked Pt 900. With every purchase you must ensure that you receive the quality assurance card. The card will contain details such as a unique identification number. This is a unique serial number to identify every piece of jewellery manufactured in India under PGI authorisation. The card will also give details of the platinum purity such as Pt 900 or Pt 950. The name of the retailer and a brief description of the piece will also be mentioned on the card. You must keep this card safely as it will be necessary to produce it at the time of recycling or sale of the piece. Platinum jewellery certainly seems to have come of age today. But if you thought that platinum jewellery has caught the fancy of Indian women recently, then you ought to know that Kohinoor diamond is mounted on platinum. That’s how old platinum jewellery really is.

It's sell-back time as gold is on a high

Dec 29, 2003: Hyderabad: The price of gold touched Rs 617 per gram in the city on Saturday, the highest in the last seven years. Cashing in on this, retailers and customers are selling gold back to jewellers. Reverse sale of this kind has touched a new high, and industry experts say that at least 7 kg of gold is being sold back to jewellers in the twin cities every year. People aren’t interested in investing in the yellow metal any more because of the high price and customers in droves are taking their gold back to retailers. The reverse sale, though, doesn’t fetch one the market price. Jewellers are generally accepting ornaments at a 20% discount on the present bullion rate. In reverse sale, prices depend on the design and the value added to the ornament. The more the value addition in terms of design and precious stones, the less is the price paid, AP Bullion Importers Association said. In the Hyderabad bullion market, retail sales which used to be around 25 kg per day have come down to 10 kg this season, industry estimates indicate. But for the jewellers, reverse sale itself is a good opportunity, for they can display the ornaments returned or refine them and produce the latest designs. Reverse sales apart, the retail segment is expecting sales to rise in the new year once the prices stabilise.

The Stone that keeps you rolling

Dec 26, 2003: Diamond jewellery is a pretty fragmented business worldwide, with hundreds of producers supplying to millions of retailers through thousands of middlemen, but they all have one common link. And that link is de Beers, the mining company that controls 70% of the world’s diamond supply. So when de Beers says it wants to change the way the things are done, everyone falls in line. De Beers has been promoting diamonds generically for decades now, but three years ago, it decided that was no longer enough. It wanted to create brands that would target specific segments and grow the market as a whole. And what better place to start than India, the world’s biggest diamonds processor and the third largest market for diamond jewellery, after the USA and Japan? De Beers has around 90 Indian “sight holders”, the big buyers who have the privilege of inspecting diamonds at the company’s sales offices in London and it has partnered with eight of them to create three brands, Nakshatra, Asmi and Arisia.

In a commoditised market, where local jewellery stores have traditionally sold by weight, brand building is an expensive exercise. The Nakshatra range of seven-stone, traditional-design jewellery, with Aishwarya Rai as brand ambassador, has Rs 30 crore brand building budget, of which half is borne by de Beers and the rest by four sight holders. Besides advertising and promotion, the money is also being spent on retail level training, so that jewellers sell the product as a brand and not as a commodity. As the diamond polishing majors move downstream into jewellery marketing, de Beers hopes to streamline the multi-layered, often inefficient distribution system that is the hallmark of the jewellery industry. This will also give companies like Gitanjali an opportunity to move beyond manufacturing to where the margins are retail. The Asmi brand, promoted by de Beers with Gitanjali and two other sight holders, is an extension of the Gili concept to an older segment, which also appreciates trendy designs and can afford to pay more for larger diamonds. The success of the de Beers brands has certainly given jewellery makers confidence. Shrenuj & Co is one of two sight holders who have partnered with de Beers to launch the Arisia range of solitaire jewellery, priced at Rs two lakh and above.

Swatch to market jewellery in India

Dec 11, 2003: New Delhi: The Swatch group is expanding its portfolio of entry-level products in India. It is entering the Indian jewellery space with its Swatch Bijoux products at the sub Rs 10,000 range and is also planning to launch Flik Flak, the kids watch brand next month. The Indian subsidiary of the Swatch group, which is already generating more than Rs 400 crore in sales is growing at a rate of 27% annually. With Bijoux, this will be the first time that Swatch will explore the independent jewellery market in India. Significantly, this will bring it closer in competition with Titan, which has a dedicated jewellery brand under Tanishq.

Globally, Swatch Bijoux, has a product catalogue of rings, bracelets, earrings, cufflinks and necklaces. The ladies Sintra Superjubile collection of Rado, which was unveiled today by supermodel Lisa Ray, starts from Rs 1.38 lakh while the gents collection is priced Rs 1.9 lakh upwards. Rado, which is available in 83 outlets currently, is expected to be present in 110 outlets by next year. The Superjubile collection alone is expected to add 7% to Rado brand’s toplines next year. Swatch is also looking for some brand ambassador for its Omega brand after its contract with Shahrukh Khan expired some time back. The Bollywood star is now with rival LVMH endorsing the Tag Heur brand.

Govt may make jewellery hallmarking compulsory

Nov 13, 2003: Mumbai: The Union government is seriously considering compulsory hallmarking of jewellery to safeguard consumer interest and provide credibility to this rapidly growing sector. Around 610 jewellers have already received recognition from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for hallmarking, but the problem is that many jewellers do not segregate hallmarked products from others. The authorities are also studying the need for assaying centres for consumers, to check whether the jewellery purchased by them has the same number of carats as promised by the jeweller. During interaction with officials from the Forward Markets Commission and various commodity exchanges, the need raised to restructure and strengthen the organisation. In the liberalised policy environment, where exchanges are being established with modern trading platforms, clearing and settlement system and best international governance structures, there was an urgent need to upgrade and restructure the regulatory institution so as to have necessary capabilities and resources.

Eros Jewellery ties up with Nift

Nov 08, 2003: Hyderabad: Eros Jewellery is planning to penetrate the domestic market with its range of 18-carat jewellery by next month. As per the plan, it would open franchisee centres major cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. The company has tied up with Nift for jointly organising fashion shows across the country, wherein models would display Eros jewellery along with the dresses designed by the Nift students. The first such fashion show was organised in Hyderabad. It would be followed by shows in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. The company has been in the business of manufacturing and exporting coloured stones to Cartier, Tiffany, and Movado in the US and other EU countries since 1986.

Devdas-inspired jewellery sets exports on fire

Oct 28, 2003: Kolkata: The Bollywood blockbuster Devdas has set the trend for this year’s July-September pre-Diwali jewellery export boom from India. Indian exporters of gold jewellery who achieved a 12.7% growth in exports during this period claim that most of their clients were interested in takeoffs from Devdas. During this period Rs 2,160.1 crore worth of export was registered as against Rs 1,916 crore during the same period previous year. A city-based jewellery manufacturer said he had to take out computer printouts of Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai from the film before taking the plunge into large scale production for the boom export period.

Major takers of Indian jewellery abroad are NRIs. Be it Indian plays, dance, costumes, films or jewellery, the NRIs who stay far away from home are always keen for it. Devdas might have failed to pocket an Oscar, but it has certainly been successful in winning their hearts Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said.The heavy meena style of jewellery on gold has been experiencing a significant change over the years. Pre-Diwali sale of Indian jewellery has shown a significant change in preferences of international customers. With big budget Indian films now reaching out to them, the international buyers who earlier preferred traditional Indian jewellery are now keen on Desi-Bollywood designs.

Gem & jewellery units told to invest in R&D

Oct 27, 2003: Mumbai: Gemmological Institute of India urged gem and jewellery industry to support scientific research and advancement of the diamond and gemstone sector. The next step the GII would like to undertake is research studies on gemstones on a war footing. R&D is the most important and vital aspect of the growth of any industry. The gem and jewellery business is no longer a bed of roses. India ’s virtual monopoly in the small sizes like stars and melees has been threatened by the emergence of powerful neighbouring countries. Treatments like HPHT and irradiation have already started posing a major problem for the industry, which is possible to detect only with the help of R&D. These research studies have to be taken up by the industry collectively. It would be difficult for any individual organisation to set up an in house research laboratory for the purpose of identification of treated colour diamonds. Even in the international market such research studies have been always carried out by academic institutions.

The Diamond Exporters’ Association has promised support for setting up a diamond laboratory and even the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council has agreed to help the GII in establishing the first ever-modern sophisticated laboratory for research studies and identification of treated and synthetic diamonds. Again certifying origin of rubies, sapphires and emeralds was very crucial for its valuation and the gemmological laboratories were called upon to help the gem and jewellery industry. As of today, the GII has trained over 5,000 students in various disciplines of gemmology, diamond assortment and jewellery designing.

GJEPC exports grow by 13.61% from April to Oct 03

Oct 22, 2003: Mumbai: India's gems and jewellery exports increased to Rs 22,247.04 crore during April-October 2003, a rise of 13.61 % over Rs 20,471.07 crore of the previous year, according to the provisional figures of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Describing it as a remarkable achievement, Sanjay Kothari, chairman of GJEPC said: "In spite of many discouraging factors like drop in exports to a record low of 8 % in April due to SARS and Iraq war and fall in the rupee against the dollar, our gem and jewellery exports rallied by 13.61 % in dollar terms and 8.68 % in rupee terms."

Steinmetz's diamonds set Mumbai's glitterati buzzing

Oct 21, 2003: It was the perfect occasion to show off your biggest rocks. And Mumbai’s glitterati did not disappoint. They turned out in all their favourite, biggest and best diamonds to see pop sensation Dannii Minogue match her blue eyes with Steinmetz’s 14 carat, Blue Empress. Even as Dannii walked out of the dome, studded with mirrors to replicate the many facets of a diamond, Chritian Tse’s stunning design set in platinum, showcased every facet of the Blue Empress. Minogue, the chosen one because of her blue eyes, was overjoyed wearing the blue diamond and didn’t mind the security which followed her even to the washroom! Steinmetz also showcased 19 of Tse’s designs and as the Indian models sashayed down the ramp in Wendell Rodricks white ensembles, their clean lines were in synergy with Tse’s designs, especially the stunning diamonds butterfly neckpiece, which had every woman gasping. Not competing with the Golconda mines, but also dripping diamonds were Mumbai’s beautiful women from Anuradha Mahindra in a beautiful blue sari, Devaunshi of DiA also a host, Ms Kadri, Parmeshwar Godrej, Madhu Ruia, Jaya Bachchan, Devika Bhojwani and Simone Singh, in the company of some men like Vijay Mallya, Ravi Ruia, Sunil Gavaskar and loads of bankers, thanks to accompanying hosts ABN Amro.