Forevermark courts India’s self-buying woman

Forevermark, the De Beers-owned diamond jewellery brand, is sharpening its India strategy. Once sold largely through other jewellers, it relaunched in the country with a retail push last year, and has now opened a 5,000 square foot flagship in Mumbai’s Khar, its largest globally, signalling a shift from wholesale distribution to brand-owned retail as India grows in importance.

The choice of scale and location is not incidental. India has emerged as Forevermark’s second-largest market after China, and increasingly its most promising. While China grapples with a slowing economy, weighed down by a real estate slump and cautious luxury spending, India offers a rare combination of cultural familiarity with diamonds and sustained consumer momentum.

“India and China have a long history with diamonds, but beyond that they have very little in common,” says Sandrine Conseiller, CEO, Brands & Diamond Desirability, De Beers Group. In India, she noted, jewellery occupies a deep cultural and emotional space, amplified by the rise of an aspirational middle class. “That combination has made India a double-digit growth market for diamond jewellery over the last four years.”

China, by contrast, has a weaker tradition of jewellery consumption and a luxury market that has lost its swagger. As economic confidence ebbs, discretionary purchases have followed. The divergence has sharpened Forevermark’s focus on India.

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India’s appeal is underpinned by both scale and momentum. The gems and jewellery market is valued at about Rs 7.31 lakh crore, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation, with diamond jewellery a fast-growing segment. That growth has intensified competition, with Forevermark facing organised chains such as Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers and Malabar Gold & Diamonds, alongside design-led players like CaratLane and an expanding crop of lab-grown diamond brands.

The brand’s repositioning is deliberate. Forevermark does not seek the heavy symbolism of bridal jewellery or the intimidating codes of old luxury. Instead, it is pitching itself as accessible luxury. Its average ticket size is around Rs 1.5 lakh, with some pieces starting at Rs 1 lakh.

More important than price, however, is purpose. Forevermark is explicitly targeting the modern Indian woman who buys diamonds for herself rather than waiting for weddings or festivals. Its campaign line, This one’s for me, is a statement of intent. The diamond is positioned less as an heirloom locked away and more as an everyday marker of personal milestones.

That philosophy shapes the new Mumbai store. The first floor is designed not as a sales floor but as a social space, intended for brunches, conversations and curated events. “I imagined it as a place where I could host a champagne brunch,” says Shweta Harit, SVP, De Beers Group & CEO, Forevermark. “A space to celebrate something meaningful, not just transact.”

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This emphasis on experience mirrors strategies seen in automotive and high-end consumer brands, where post-purchase engagement is used to build loyalty. Yet Forevermark insists the aim is cultural rather than promotional. The events are designed to reflect the brand’s values of sisterhood and female community, moving luxury away from celebrity endorsement towards shared identity.

Indeed, Forevermark has consciously resisted appointing a single Bollywood face. Instead, its latest icon collection features four women from different walks of life: designer Masaba Gupta, royal and craft advocate Gauravi Kumari, Olympic shooter Manu Bhaker and actor Diana Penty. The diamond, the two insist, remains the hero.

That emphasis is reinforced by provenance. Each Forevermark diamond carries a unique inscription number, underscoring what Harit calls a “mine to finger” journey. Authenticity and personalisation, the argument goes, are not opposing ideas but complementary ones.

Since opening its first exclusive store in Delhi late September, the brand has seen higher-than-expected ticket sizes, strong demand for solitaires and a tilt towards international designs in white gold rather than traditional Indian styles. The men’s category, while not central, is also on the radar, reflecting broader shifts in gendered jewellery norms.

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The larger challenge lies online. Maintaining a consistent, personalised experience across physical stores, WhatsApp and e-commerce is not trivial. Forevermark has responded by extending its in-store training to call centre and online staff, insisting on a single language and tone across touchpoints. Customers who buy online are invited to store events, blurring the boundary between channels.

Such intimacy inevitably raises questions about data and privacy. Yet the company is unapologetic. “We are in the business of love,” Conseiller said. “People tell us deeply personal stories about proposals and milestones. Knowing them, to a degree, is part of the job.”

That philosophy also underpins Forevermark’s response to lab-grown diamonds. Rather than treating them as existential threats, the brand frames them as a different category altogether. Natural diamonds, with their billion-year history and traceable origins, are positioned as objects of meaning rather than fashion substitutes. “It’s the difference between a Picasso and a copy of a Picasso,” Conseiller remarked. Both may exist, but they serve different purposes.

The ambitions are sizeable. Forevermark plans to open around 15 more stores in 2026, across cities including Chandigarh, Jaipur and Hyderabad, with a mix of company-owned and franchise outlets. By 2030, it aims to operate 100 stores and generate $100mn in revenue from India.

In a market long defined by tradition and occasion, Forevermark is betting that the most powerful reason to buy a diamond is simply this: because you want to.