De Beers’ diamond brand Forevermark is planning to open a second diamond institute in India in 2015 in order to meet the optimistic demand in that market, announced by the company in March.
This will be the second facility after the Forevermark Diamond Institute in Antwerp, Belgium where cut and polished diamonds go through technical quality assurance tests to be sure they meet the brand’s standards. The facility will initially aim at a capacity of 300 to 350 thousand diamonds per annum in four years, which will be operated by the first quarter of 2015.
“In the world today, the largest quantity of diamonds is being polished in India. So it makes sense that we choose to put an additional institute there,” said Charles Stanley, Forevermark US president in an interview with National Jeweler.
“We need additional capacity to meet the significant growth in Forevermark demand that we have now and what we forecast through the next five to ten years,” he added.
According to Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark, it is estimated that the brand’s global jewellery sales at US$ 750 million with present in 1,270 jewellery stores in 12 countries. “In India, we are targeting young, discerning individuals and aspiring professionals in the age group of 28 to 35. India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and the growth story has remained intact,” said Lussier.
In 2014, the brand expects to grow to about 150 doors in India including the new markets such as Surat in Gujarat and Nagpur in Maharashtra. Currently, Forevermark present in 19 cities in India and is the strongest in the southern part of the country.
Lussier said: “Even in the adverse economic slowdown in India, we managed to achieve 70 percent growth in sales Y-o-Y. Our brand positioning is strong and appreciated widely. We are aiming to escalate our reach by tapping six additional markets mostly in central India. We plan to enter Tier-II cities like Nagpur and Indore.”
Lussier said that De Beers' existing mines "have the bandwidth to supply diamonds till 2040. While no new big mines have been discovered, exploration is on. We will also focus on increasing the productivity of existing mines through advanced research and techniques".
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