MUMBAI: With lab-grown diamonds stealing the shine from their natural peers, the world’s largest diamond miner De Beers is feeling the heat. To claw back the losses, it has been sewing up exclusive tie-ups in key global markets including India, the world’s fastest growing diamond market, by entering into a pact with Tanishq, which is the largest jewellery retailer in the country.
Announcing the exclusive pact for sharing technology and marketing campaigns including customer engagement initiatives here Wednesday, Sandrine Conseiller, the chief executive of De Beers Brands, said India overtook China to become the world’s second largest diamond market in 2023 and became the fastest growing market in 2024. The US remains the largest market for diamonds, she said, but admitted that the market is under increasing threat from synthetic or lab-grown peers now.
“While in value terms, synthetic diamonds are around 10 percent, in volume terms they are much higher at around 30 percent," Conseiller told TNIE here. But in China, which had been its second largest market for long, till India overtook it last year, there are macro issues impacting demand for natural diamonds.
To another question, Ajoy Chawla, the chief executive, jewellery division, Titan Company, told TNIE that around 30 percent of their sales are from diamonds in terms of value. "In terms of volume, it's around 13 percent. But I am sure this can double in some years given the huge potential," he said.
However, he ruled out the possibility of lab-grown diamonds posing a huge threat to the company's market especially under this agreement, saying they are only around 2 percent now.
Founded in 1888, the England-based De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company and has mines in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. With around Rs 45,000 crore sales, Tanishq from the Tatas is the largest jewellery brand in the country.