More than 44% of Tanishq sales come from exchange jewellery: Titan Company's jewellery division CEO

Tanishq store

More than 44% of Tanishq sales come from exchange jewellery and this number is growing, said Titan Company’s jewellery division CEO Ajoy Chawla.

Addressing GenZ’s interest in buying jewellery, Chawla in a press conference on August 28 said: “More than 44% of Tanishq’s sales comes from exchange jewelry – Tanishq Exchange, or non-Tanishq exchange. That number is only growing. Last year it almost touched 50% by value, and 10-15% by volume lower because people buy more. This has an investment value even for younger customers.”

He was speaking at a conference announcing an exclusive three-year collaboration with De Beers, a UK-based diamond company with the famous ad campaign slogan ‘Diamond is forever’.

This collaboration will focus on building extensive consumer outreach, deepening the capabilities of Tanishq’s retail staff to communicate about natural diamonds, and educating consumers about authenticity.

"This would help build retail and will have a strong impact on revenue," he said.
Chawla shared that to bring transparency with customers in exchange for diamond or gold jewellery, the company “buys it back at the current rate” after checking the authenticity of the product. Exchanging authentic products has exploded the market for us for establishing trust in a market where penetration is low, he said.

Last year, the company witnessed sales of around Rs 42,000 crore in jewellery, additionally, Caretlane saw Rs 3,000 crore sales. Diamond studied jewellery contributed to 30% of Rs 45,000 crore in sales, as per Tanishq CEO Chawla.

Lab-grown diamond versus natural diamond

Due to the rationale that lab-diamonds are ethically produced there is rise in popularity, especially among GenZ. Chawla, however, has not seen this trend at Tanishq, except for customer queries on the authenticity of the diamond. “Despite the rise of lab-grown diamonds, natural diamonds retain their rarity and investment appeal,” he said.

Given the last few years, the price of diamonds has been volatile, “I was surprised to learn that lab-grown diamonds were as low as $50 a carat,” Chawla said who feels that diamonds have investment value, its rarity, emotional value and heritage make the natural diamond more attractive, even when lab-grown diamonds are more economical.

However, Chawla is cognizant that as more players in the fashion space are adopting lab diamonds, this segment may become very fashionable, he feels. However, whether Tanishq sees it as an opportunity remains to be seen.