Tanishq bets on everyday diamonds with Ananya Panday as its new face

For decades, diamonds in India have lived largely inside lockers, brought out for weddings, anniversaries, or milestone moments. However, consumption patterns are shifting due to younger buyers and changing ideas about self-purchase. 

Digital-first brands such as Giva, Palmonas, CaratLane, and Bluestone have trained younger consumers to see jewellery not as an heirloom, but as an extension of everyday style, impulse-friendly, self-purchased, and wearable across moods and moments.

It’s in this shifting landscape that Tanishq, one of India’s leading jewellery retailers, is making a renewed push around everyday natural diamond jewellery, backed by the return of its annual Festival of Diamonds and the onboarding of actor Ananya Panday as the face of the brand. The message is clear: diamonds don’t have to wait for weddings anymore.

From lockers to lifestyle

“Gone are the days when jewellery was meant to be put in lockers,” said Pelki Tshering, chief marketing officer, Tanishq, during an interaction around the campaign. 

According to her, consumers today are increasingly seeking “everyday”luxury"—pieces that are versatile, layerable, and expressive rather than ceremonial.

This shift is visible in the way people style jewellery today. Earrings move seamlessly between Western wear and ethnic outfits; rings, earcuffs and neckwear are layered to create personalised looks. There’s also a rise in unisex designs, reflecting a broader cultural move away from rigid gendered categories.

The Festival of Diamonds, one of Tanishq's biggest annual properties, is positioned to capitalise on this behaviour. This year, the brand is showcasing over 10,000 natural diamond designs across categories such as studs, hoops, rings, bracelets, bangles and neckwear, with entry price points starting at Rs 10,000 and a flat 20% discount on diamond value.

But why Ananya Panday?

Unlike traditional endorsement-led thinking, Tanishq claims its celebrity associations begin not with fame, but with the consumer.

“We don’t start with the celebrity first,” Tshering said. “We start with the customer at the heart of it.”

In Tanishq’s worldview, the modern Indian woman isn’t just the muse; she is the brand. The role of the celebrity, then, is to lend voice to narratives the brand is already trying to tell.

That framing made Ananya Panday a natural fit for the everyday diamond story, less about grandeur and more about spontaneity, self-expression and ease. 

The Festival of Diamonds campaign film, anchored by the line, “Give wings to the girl within,” leans into this idea. It shows Panday rediscovering a sense of childlike joy through contemporary diamond jewellery, subtly reinforcing the notion that diamonds don't need to wait for big occasions.

If diamonds are becoming everyday, where do lab-grown ones fit in?

At a time when lab-grown diamonds are gaining traction among first-time and value-conscious buyers, Tanishq’s stance is clear: natural and lab-grown diamonds serve different consumer needs.

While acknowledging the growing curiosity around alternatives, Tshering emphasised that natural diamonds continue to carry emotional and symbolic weight as rare, precious assets tied to milestones and memories.

India, she noted, remains only 10–12% penetrated when it comes to natural diamonds, leaving headroom for growth even as newer formats coexist.

Trust as a competitive lever

Beyond assortment and pricing, Tanishq is also doubling down on trust, arguably its biggest long-term differentiator in a category where anxiety around authenticity still looms large.

As part of the Festival of Diamonds, the brand is actively spotlighting its Diamond Expertise Centres in stores, an extension of its legacy “carat meter” initiative launched decades ago for gold purity testing. 

These centres allow customers to test diamonds for authenticity and assess lighting performance, pushing the conversation beyond the traditional four Cs.

“What we’re saying is go beyond the 4Cs, right up to ‘diamond ki sparkle hai’,” Tshering said, pointing to light performance as a more tangible, experiential way for consumers to understand value.

Inside Tanishq’s evolved media mix

While jewellery shopping remains overwhelmingly offline, the path to purchasing is now firmly digital-first. Tshering acknowledged that online exploration has increased significantly, even if final transactions continue to happen in stores.

“Jewellery is an emotion. It’s an experience,” she said, explaining why physical retail continues to dominate sales. But discovery, education, and consideration increasingly happen on screens.

This behavioural shift has reshaped Tanishq's media strategy. While traditional channels like television and print remain important, especially for large-scale, rational-led narratives such as exchange offers, digital now plays a much larger role in storytelling and engagement.

According to Tshering, the brand’s digital spends, including performance, social platforms and OTT, have nearly doubled, and in some cases tripled, over time. Yet she resists rigid splits between media types. 

“The line between television and digital is blurring,” she said, pointing to platforms like Jiostar as examples of hybrid consumption.

Influencers, too, play a growing role in making brand narratives feel culturally native. While celebrities offer scale and visibility, creators help tell stories organically and, in some cases, act as voices of authority, especially when it comes to explaining diamond technology or authenticity.