Diamonds Will Not Be Forever

- Robin Banerjee

‘Diamonds and forever’ is the tag line of De Beers, world’s household name for diamonds. Nirav Modi diamonds, which aspired to be the Indian De Beers’ brand equivalent, however, is unlikely to have its name etched on diamond jewellery forever. The unassuming eponymous owner of the famous Indian designer jewellery brand may actually stop shining sooner than later.

Nirav Modi, 46, grew up in Belgium, got admitted to Wharton Business School, but failed to continue. He moved back to India in 1990 when he was 19. He got trained for the diamond jewellery business under the sharp eyes of his uncle Mehul Chokshi, promoter of the stock market listed company, Gitanjali Gems. In 1999, Nirav Modi branched out on his own, breaking out from the shackles of his family. He started as a loose diamond supplier by setting up his company, Firestar Diamonds, employing just a dozen employees. In 2001, he establised his own diamond jewellery making facility in India. During 2005 and 2007, he acquired two US jewellery retailers, which gave him accesss to the American mid-market.

Changing Diamond Market Taste

Just when Nirav was learning the tricks of the diamond business, the industry was undergoing major shifts. Two important changes were taking place. First, brands strated dominating the landsacpe which was once ruled by mom-and-pop boutiques. Clients began moving from family jewellers to branded jewellery-an assurance of ethics was needed to repose trust. Second, design commenced taking precedence-shifting to ‘wearable’ creativity from just tradional diamonds and stones.