De Beers India plans record marketing spends this year to help natural diamonds shine on

New Delhi: De Beers has stepped up its marketing efforts in India, partnering with retailers and launching campaigns to promote natural diamonds in the hope of countering both the general slump in consumer demand and the growing popularity of lab-grown diamonds. The company plans to spend record sums this year on marketing natural diamonds in India.

Amit Pratihari, managing director at De Beers India, said, “We are aggressively pushing category marketing. This is just the beginning – we are looking at a five-year horizon and as the season progresses there will be more campaigns. Marketing spends this year will be at an all-time high. While we cannot share numbers we can assure you it will be up substantially."

Last August jewellery retailer Tanishq and De Beers Group announced a three-year collaboration to boost sales of natural diamonds at Tanishq stores across India. Earlier this year De Beers Group partnered the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), a jewellery trade body, to promote natural diamond sales in India by helping small, independent retailers.

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The penetration of natural diamonds in India is currently around 10%, well below the rate in mature jewellery markets such as the US. The market for natural diamonds is expected to grow from $8.5 billion at present to $17.5 billion by 2030. India remains a large gold market.

Pratihari said he expects prices for natural diamonds to pick up. "On two carats and above, prices are getting stronger. With demand picking up, prices will get stronger going forward,” he said.

Post-pandemic boom and bust

Prices of rough diamonds fell 15% in 2023 and 18% in 2024, meaning prices are now down around 40% from their all-time highs in 2021 and 2022, when there was a global surge in demand after the pandemic lockdowns, according to a February report by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Prices are likely to stabilise and recover in 2025, it said.

Pratihari said De Beers's marketing campaigns are well-planned and “not sudden”. "India is one of the fastest-growing economies. We are spending more time, energy and money in this market. With an increase in gold prices, I think there is some need for confidence-building in this category,” he said. He added that short-term demand for jewellery is seeing some pressure.

‘Lab-grown diamonds not a threat’

De Beers's move comes amid a rise in popularity of lab-grown diamonds, which typically cost at least 30-40% less than mined diamonds of a comparable grade. New-age players are stoking demand for artificial diamonds, prompting established retailers such as Tanishq to increase their marketing of natural diamonds.

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The market for lab-grown diamonds in India was estimated at $2.61 billion in 2023 and is expected to hit $8.31 billion by 2032, according to consulting firm Technopak.

However, Pratihari said he didn't see the popularity of lab-grown diamonds as a threat. “It is not an alternative to natural diamonds. Yes, it has a market which is different but I don't see it replacing natural diamonds,” he added.

Commenting on demand, Pratihari said consumers were buying smaller, daily-wear pieces. “In large cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, people are upgrading to bigger sizes. In tier-2 and 3 cities, where new money is coming in—consumers are buying products they can afford—and that's where the [demand for] smaller sizes are also growing. Demand for diamonds priced between ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh is growing steadily,” he said.

De Beers is a global diamond company that's involved in the exploration, mining, grading, marketing and retailing of natural diamonds. It also sells diamonds under the Forevermark brand.

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