‘We're Designing Pieces for the Modern Indian Woman’

Shweta Harit, global senior vice president at De Beers Group and CEO of Forevermark, on their first store in India, and targeting the market with accessible pricing

- By BENU JOSHI ROUTH

Forevermark, the premium diamond brand of the De Beers Group, recently launched their first store in India.

This move targets a growing natural diamond jewellery market, which reached approximately $4.44 billion in 2023 and is projected to expand to nearly $6.88 billion by 2030. Despite the size, India currently has low penetration, with diamonds featured in only 8 to 9 percent of jewellery, contrasting sharply with 70 percent in the US.

Shweta Harit, global senior vice president at De Beers Group and CEO of Forevermark, talks to Forbes India about the strategic timing to enter the Indian market and how the brand differentiates itself by maintaining strict quality control. The plan for India is to achieve a target of $100 million in revenue and 100 stores by 2030. Edited excerpts:

Q What is the rationale behind the 'rebirth' and relaunch of the Forevermark brand in the current Indian market?

Call it a rebirth of the brand and business. Forevermark is relaunching in India with its first store, with plans to open four stores later in 2025. This would be followed by six franchises. The idea is to establish a diamond jewellery brand in India that will be accessible in pricing because we feel this is the right time. There are some good tailwinds in India. Overall, the diamond jewellery market in India has seen a 12 percent growth last year.

Even today, if I compare it to the US and China, India is the second largest market at this point, but there isn't enough penetration. If you think about the US, 70 percent of jewellery will carry a diamond, India is 8-9 percent only yet, so there is a long way to go, and China has somehow dropped, which is why India is second. In some ways, it's a fair bit of distance to go, just in sheer penetration of natural diamond jewellery.

Q What are the reasons behind India's low natural diamond jewellery penetration, especially compared to markets like the US?