Indian Jeweller (IJ) Magazine August -September 2019

Special Feature
There is little to no awareness
about origin as we ourselves
as jewellers are not privy
to this information. There
is not much difference in
price of diamonds, which
do have origin report and
those that do not. We have
signed undertaking from our
suppliers that all diamonds
used have been responsibly
sourced and are conflict free.
As long as consumers trust
the brand, I don’t see the need
to provide details.
Kartik Khanna, Khanna
Jewellers
buy back policy. However, they are interested
in certification from reputed institutes like
IGI or SGL. In recent times, Forevermark
diamonds have gained popularity. Consumers
do have some idea that these diamonds are
responsibly sourced and are highly priced,
so the trust level does increase when these
diamonds are used in jewellery pieces. As far
as gemstones are concerned, South India does
not like to spend too much money on them.
They use semi precious stones for their pieces
and avoid the pricier options like carved
emeralds or Burmese rubies which command
high prices.”
Metropolis Matters
The national capital has a similar trend, as
consumer awareness is quite low in Delhi.
However, jewellers are conscious about
using conflict free and ethically mined
diamonds and gemstones. Kartik Khanna,
Khanna Jewellers, Delhi comments, “While
purchasing a product, the consumer wants to
know details like purity of gold, certification
of diamonds and where the coloured stones
are mined from. With regards to coloured
stones, the consumer is aware that gemstones
from certain regions are better in quality
and accordingly priced higher. But there
is little to no awareness about origin as we
ourselves as jewellers are not privy to this
information. There is not much difference
in price of diamonds, which do have origin
report and those that do not. We have signed
undertaking from our suppliers that all
diamonds used have been responsibly sourced
and are conflict free. As long as consumers
trust the brand, I don’t see the need to
provide details .”
In Mumbai, consumers are definitely
brand conscious about the jewellery they
buy and are aware of concepts like diamond
origin and tracing. However with smaller
sized diamonds, it becomes difficult for the
jeweller to furnish details. Mahesh Jagwani
of Mahesh Notandas Fine Jewellery shares,
“Smaller diamonds are mostly produced in
India itself but bigger sizes can be imported
from Belgium or Hong Kong. Earlier there
was a monopoly held by De Beers and DTC,
which mined diamonds and distributed to
jewellers. So the origin was known. But now
there are other mines that have emerged so
the source has fanned out to several locations
and that information does not make its way
96 | august-september 2019 | INDIAN JEWELLER