Crafting a New Diamond Narrative for India's Modern Woman

SHWETA HARIT, Global SVP of De Beers & CEO of Forevermark, tells BW Businessworld's Reema Bhaduri how emotional storytelling, cultural rituals and digital expansion will drive Forevermark's $100-million India goal by 2030. Excerpts

- Reema Bhaduri

With lab-grown diamonds on the rise and consumer tastes shifting, how will De Beers' new brand repositioning reflect in customer experiences online and in-store in 2025?

De Beers has a long heritage and history, and we have always worked only with natural diamonds. Our diamonds carry a unique inscription number. In the store, we will have a viewer, and under that viewer, you will be able to see the number. Along with this, we provide a certificate for each piece. For us, it is very clear - it's natural only.

When it comes to lab-grown, we see a lot of interest, but prices have actually crashed by 90 per cent, and there are widespread concerns about the buyback they offer. We are committed to only natural diamonds, fully authenticated and sourced directly from the mines.

We want customers to walk through our door, and for that, we have to build an emotional connection. The modern Indian empowered woman is all about celebrating what feels personally meaningful. That's the cultural change we see happening, and that's the modern woman we want to speak to.

We have worked on a campaign and will be investing in media to ensure we build that connection, specifically for India. This is built for the global Indian woman. It's not the typical romance-or-love narrative, but one that speaks to the empowered Indian woman. We also see self-purchase growing, so the campaign leans into that as well.