The first thing Sanghavi Exports and Gitanjali Gems did after acquiring Sangini from Diamond Trading Company, was to try and cut out a magic formula to add sparkle to the brand’s tepid sales.


Finally Bollywood star couple Kajol and Ajay Devgan will be coming to the rescue. When it comes right down to the bottomline, it seems even sparklers need Bollywood glitz to shine brighter.


But this is not the first time that a diamonds are trying to ride piggyback on Bollywood glamour. This romance started in 2000 when DTC rolled out Nakshatra with Aishwarya Rai.


Since then superstars right from Amitabh Bachchan (Solitaire), Sushmita Sen (Kiah), Kajol (Asmi), Mallika Sherawat (Orra), Karishma Kapoor (Eros), Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, Shilpa Shetty (all D’Damas) have endorsed diamond brands, which have also started in movie promotions to cash in on the Bollywood craze.


The major players are pumping in close to Rs 150-200 crore in brand promotion in the Rs 800 crore branded diamond jewellery market, which is 11 per cent of the total diamond jewellery market and barely 1 per cent of the total Rs 70,000 crore Indian jewellery market.


So why does a product that anyone would kill to lay their hands on need to borrow glitter? “Celebrities have aspirational value and higher recall among consumers,” explains Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Gems that uses star power extensively to push brands like Nakshatra, Asmi and D’Damas. Choksi feels the glamour has lend a major boost to his diamond jewellery brands, which are growing at 80-100 per cent per annum and about to cross Rs 500 crore mark.


Adds Sanjay Kothari, former Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman, “Bollywood stars have become fashion icons for the masses. Ten years ago who knew diamond jewellery brands?”


Prasad Kapre DTC’s business director agrees, saying,”Diamond jewellery has received a major boost after 2000 after Aishwarya endorsed Nakshatra, clocking 20 per cent growth per annum to rise from Rs 4000 crore to Rs 7800 crore in 2005.”


Research too shows that aspirational value of diamond jewellery has shot up after celebrity endorsements with 37 percent of buyers wanting diamond jewellery compared with only 10 percent in 1994, explains DTC’s manager (west) Deepak Bhatia.





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