One of De Beers’ consumer-focused advertising campaigns designed to generate interest in natural diamonds in India was released around Father’s Day and focused on the bond between father and daughter, and the Indian tradition of the second ear piercing.
Mumbai—After a period of nearly two decades, De Beers Group’s marketing strategy in India appears to have come full circle, though it has been significantly sharpened and refined.
Generic marketing. New diamond buying occasions. An advertising blitz across media channels. Consumer education and awareness. Building trust and confidence.
Infrastructure for ground-level retailer support, staff training—there are very few boxes left to tick.
The multifaceted approach aims at creating what De Beers describes as “entire ecosystem” to boost demand for natural diamonds.
India’s Diamond Romance In 2024, De Beers declared that the Indian market, valued at about $10 billion, had become the world’s second-largest consumer of natural diamonds, behind only the United States.
Conditions are ripe for sustained growth.
The country has an expanding economy, a large population of young people with rising disposable incomes, deeply ingrained cultural traditions involving jewelry, and a rapidly modernizing retail sector.
The current comprehensive marketing program, which is at a level not seen in any other diamond market for a long time, aims at increasing demand by 12 percent over the next five years to almost double the market by 2030.
Though it declined to provide specific figures, De Beers stated that marketing spend in India this year is at an all-time high and reflects the country’s position as the second-largest diamond-consuming market globally.
A Critical Pivot More crucial than the amount of marketing dollars being spent is the new strategic approach behind it, with specific plans on three different levels: for consumers, for retail partners, and direct De Beers initiatives.
For consumers, the focus is on creating awareness, enhancing desirability, and giving a reason to buy by creating new rituals and building the diamond story around milestones on the journey of life.
Toranj Mehta, vice president of marketing for De Beers India, explained.
“We realized the need for product-specific category marketing to ensure that diamonds become a part of the conversation,” she said.
“It involved communicating on many levels—product-related as well as to spread general awareness.”
For retail partners, there are two initiatives: a tie-up with Tanishq, India’s largest jewelry chain, and the Indian Natural Diamond Retailers Alliance, or INDRA, a community created in association with the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council to support smaller jewelry retailers who stock natural diamonds.
The third element, the initiatives De Beers has undertaken directly, includes a revamped Forevermark, and the introduction of De Beers Institute of Diamonds to educate and offer third-party natural diamond grading services to the wider trade.
Bonds So Natural … The two largest consumer-facing promotions involved generic diamond products found in almost every retail store.
“Our ‘Love from Dad’ campaign around Father’s Day focused on an old Indian tradition—the second piercing,” Mehta said.
While the first piercing happens at a very young age, it is the girl who chooses when to do a second one.
“We projected this as the moment when a dad realizes that his little girl is finding her own voice and gifts her a diamond earring,” she said.
The campaign’s tagline is, “Love so natural, only a natural diamond will do.”
Participating retailers were given online access to customizable campaign materials, training, and seamless personalization to enable them to effectively sell the concept.
“About 1,500 doors were associated, promoting generic diamond earrings they had in stock,” Mehta said.
The De Beers ad launched for Friendship Day encouraged women to buy each other natural diamonds.
Similarly, De Beers launched a “Besties” bracelet campaign around Friendship Day, observed in India on the first Sunday in August.
Targeted at women and the strong bonds they share with their closest friends, it projected the bracelet as a symbol of shared experiences and milestones.
The message was, “For friendships so natural, only natural diamonds will do.”
Though the bracelet designs promoted in the ads were generic, De Beers additionally onboarded 22 companies and shared CAD files with them for possible designs.
“This encouraged local manufacturing also,” Mehta said.
A third generic campaign centered around another product category is in the pipeline.
The Retail Push The Tanishq tie-up mirrors similar steps with large chains in the U.S. (Signet Jewelers) and China (Chow Tai Fook).
Launched in 2024, this year saw the opening of Diamonds Expertise Centres.
Using machines created by De Beers such as Lightscope, DiamondView, DiamondSure, and SynthDetect, the centers offer an in-store experience that strengthens trust and confidence.
Currently at four Tanishq locations, the program will expand to 200 stores by March 2026 and eventually to all of Tanishq’s 599 stores nationwide.
In 2025, De Beers and Tanishq opened Diamonds Expertise Centres at four Tanishq stores. The centers, designed to enhance the in-store diamond-buying experience, are slated to expand to 200 stores by next March.
The other model, INDRA, is unique to India, which has a large number of smaller retailers mainly stocking gold ornaments.
Its aim is to grow penetration, expand the retailer base, and drive demand by increasing the voice for natural diamonds.
Mehta explained, “Sample research indicated that many retailers are not comfortable selling diamonds. They find it too complex and challenging compared with gold, where purity is the only variable that impacts pricing.”
INDRA provides micro-level guidance, from drawing up a business plan to help developing displays and visual merchandising, to communicating with customers and wider marketing.
There are multiple subscription plans based on number of stores, levels of support, and other parameters, including a basic package to suit the smallest retailer.
In the first phase of the program, nearly 3,000 jewelers signed on, receiving access to web-based information and education packages, marketing plans, and even an AI-enabled tool for creating collaterals using a standard template along with their own products and store logo.
Mehta said teams have been established to provide support in key cities where INDRA has received a positive response, including Bangalore, Pune, Indore, and Surat.
There is also the revamped Forevermark program, which is set to be rolled out in India shortly.
It will comprise dedicated stores run by De Beers initially and later through franchisees.
The stores will stock merchandise from De Beers and first open in established markets like Delhi and Mumbai, as well as through an e-commerce platform.
Expansion to new regions and smaller cities and towns will continue, with a target of opening 100 stores across India by 2030.
The Impact Early indications are that the new strategies around selling natural diamonds to Indian consumers have had an impact.
There is not only a new buzz about diamonds among consumers, but also real growth at the ground level.
Though no official statistics of diamond sales in India are compiled, most stakeholders agree that the first half of 2025 has seen strong double-digit growth.
With the Indian festive and wedding season, a major period for jewelry buying, peaking in the last three months of the year, there is a widespread anticipation that 2025 will turn out to be even better year for diamonds than 2024.
