Are Diamonds Still A Girl's Best Friend ?

Buying jewellery in India has been restricted for ages for specific occasions  Birth, birthdays, festivals, marriage etc. 

Buying jewellery in India is mostly done by the woman, for the woman and from the woman!

Buying jewellery in India has been a 'Gifting exercise' - from parents to daughters, sister to sister, In-laws to daugher-in-law or son-in-law, friend to friend et al. Buying jewellery in India is an emotional experience, for emotional reasons, mostly! Check the Tanishq ad below.


Buying jewellery in India meant going to your regular 'jeweller' called as a 'saraf/soni/johari' in local language and giving order as per the design you liked. This meant tremendous amount of trust in that jeweller. This never would be a problem as this jeweller and his earlier generations would make jewellery for one's family for generations now. Buying jewellery in India means placing your trust. This trust comes across through generations. New age brands continuosly either fail to build trust or develop a perception of good quality about their brands vis-a-vis old time jeweller.

Buying jewellery in India usually means 'Gold' and for a very specific reason, diamonds too. Diamonds have always been something that is beyond the reach of normal person. 'Diamond'?? Diamond has always been pronounced as a question mark aking to that young boy in Dhara Vegetable Oil ad who would say, Jalebi ? Reason is simple. Diamonds have been very very costly for Indians from time immemorial. The precious stones that need be imported and designed have always enjoyed the ultra premium image in the minds of people in India. Hence buying jewellery usually meant, MEANT Gold till a decade or so ago. Diamonds have slowly but steadily gained inroads in the mind of Indian woman buyer. Avaliability of low cost diamond jewellery through different brands in retail outlets.


Buying jewellery in India also means 'showing off your financial power to the world'! I believe those who buy from Tiffany's or go to the auction houses like Christie's or Sotheby's also do it for similar reasons! However the psychology behind buying from a store and the (kick) that one gets in buying in an auction, must be very very different! So, the first thing that a relative would ask that lady flashing her gold necklaces or diamond pendant hung loosely on the platinum chain is, 'kitne ka hai ?' (how much it is of) and 'kahaan se liya?' (from where did she buy it). The two important queries for this category, from time immemorial! The price (naturally!) and the place from where it was purchased decided the VALUE of that person. This is a classic game of PERCEPTION and POSITIONING that constantly happens on Indian soil , amongst the consumers! (Leave apart between Marketeer and Consumer) . If Mrs XYZ has a perception that each jewellery of her's is not less than one lakh on any given day, a jewellery that is beuatiful/stunning/breathtaking but might have costed her lesser than a lakh, her position, her value in the eyes of other person falls down. And, Mrs XYZ shall never let this happen in her life. The way devaluation happens, similarly upgradation of value also happens! Hence, buying jewellery in India , like other places, very much means exhibitng your wealth! But this is mainly in the case of regular homekeeper wives!

Buying jewellery in India is also happening by lot of working women..who have taste, modern preferences and who believe in the value of brands and therefore are ready to pay out hefty amount (that amount which a traditional homekeeper/elderly woman may never approve of).


For various reasons, none of the traditional or new age branded jewellery promotional campaigns- advertisements in news papers or TV or magazines specifically mentioned the prices of these items. They would provide range, like from Rs.10,000 - Rs 10,00,000 kinds but never, never specific price. Check the Nazarana Diamond jewellery ad below.


I may be wrong in my observation, but for the first time I am seeing an ad which is actually talking about the PRICE -- the salesperson mentions price, 'AROUND THREE LAKHS' to the consumer! Tanishq in it's newly launched diamond jewellery brand Inara , dares to talk about the price! The consumer's socio-economic level justifies the product and price. The ad copy is written and executed in a very convincing manner too! Ad is beautiful, concept is good too. Check Inara diamond ad by Tanishq below:


The real test comes now..  this ad shall definitely get appreciation but on the same time open a box of pandora...how would the buyers perceive it? Will 'Inara' get stuck to the upper class buyer or it clearly is Tanishq's intention? Would the other brands of tanishq get a philip from the image of Inara (perceived due to high cost talked about in the ad) ? Or, would people start perceiving Tanishq as a high end brand vis-a-vis other 'less costly' brands? Will this pave way to other brands to follow suit and invite a 'PRICING WAR' in branded diamond jewellery category is to be seen!

In a country where the reason to buy jewellery, buy diamonds especially are varied, will Tanishq's 'Inara' croon yet again , Diamond's are a Girl's Best Friend??

~~Dr Swati Nalawade~
Brand  & Markets Observer.
27 July 2013.

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