A fter a couple of years of a low-key presence in India, where the brand interacted with its target customers through a few high-profi le events, Forevermark, “the diamond brand from De Beers Group of companies” fi nally made a formal entry into the Indian market. Not surprisingly the brand chose the southern market to launch its Indian foray, for consumers in the south are known to prefer high-quality diamonds, as opposed to the north where generally, size matters more. The fi rst three retailers to join the Forevermark programme are Abaran, C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons and Joyalukkas, all leading jewellers of the Garden city. Present at the inauguration were Stephen Lussier, CEO Forevermark, Brian Lara, Manoviraj Khosla, Sheetal Sharma, Vani Ganapathy, Sumalatha, Lakshmi Gopalaswami and others from the world of fi lms and fashion, and well known city socialites. %% From here, the brand hopes to spread out to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata partnering with leading jewellers in those cities. Speaking at the launch Lussier said, “In the two years since its launch, Forevermark has expanded into 350 doors and achieved more than US$ 200 million retail sales. Given this o v e r w h e l m i n g response to our launch in China, Hong Kong and Japan, we are delighted to launch in India, a market that is of signifi cant importance to us. Forevermark is a diamond brand that will offer today’s Indian diamond purchasers, quality, integrity and inspiration. We’re glad to be able to introduce what we believe will become the ultimate diamond brand, to the Indian market.”

Forevermark is positioned as a very exclusive diamond brand – one that monitors different aspects of the diamond, from quality to ethical considerations – at every stage of its journey from the start to fi nish. De Beers describes Forevermark diamonds as “the world’s most carefully selected diamonds”. In fact, only one per cent of the world’s diamond, the company says “are eligible to become Forevermark diamonds”. In the next stage of the journey, “Only a select group of Master Diamantaires are eligible to cut and polish Forevermark diamonds”. Once polished, these diamonds are inscribed with a special technology with the Forevermark legend invisible to the naked eye and visible through a special Forevermark Viewer only available with authorised retail outlets. At the retail end too, there is a careful selection process and, “Only a few, exclusive jewellers; each passionate about creating the finest designs inspired by these exceptional diamonds are able to sell (them) at retail”, says De Beers.%% A personalised Forevermark identification card accompanies each and every Forevermark diamond and is given to the consumer. %% The process which began with the establishing of awareness and credibility of the brand through select private events with key opinion leaders, has now culminated in the launch in Bengaluru. Hereon, the Forevermark will continue on its journey to other cities of the country and will be helped along the way through various marketing initiatives.

{{|*“Our ambition is to establish Forevermark as a leading diamond brand” - Binita Cooper, MD, Forevermark – India*|}} {{What are you targets for the Forevermark programme in India? How many retailers do you hope to enroll?}}$$ Our ambition is to establish Forevermark as a leading diamond brand and we do hope all our efforts help us achieve this single minded objective starting Year One itself. We are looking at approximately 50 partners in the first year, spread across key cities of India.%% {{Which regions /cities will be covered?}}$$ In addition to Bengaluru, we are currently looking at Mumbai, Delhi Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. %% {{What are the criteria for selection of a retailer?}}$$ Forevermark will partner with jewellers who have been not only leaders in their field, but also those who meet our particularly stringent requirements of business, social and environmental integrity. We are seeking to build, in effect a partnership between leading jewellers, diamantaires and the De Beers Group based upon our mutual passion for diamonds and our long-term view of our industry. %% {{How will launch and growth here be different from China? Any change in strategy?}}$$ We certainly hope to replicate the phenomenal success of China but know fully well that there will be a slight difference. While the brand will mean the same thing for consumers anywhere in the world, in China while key products sold are solitaire rings, studs and pendants, we are hoping Forevermark here in India will straddle several purchase occasions and also piece types. We want to be as relevant to a bridal purchaser as we would like to be to someone who is considering an everyday wear purchase or for other occasions. Our ambition is that every time someone wants to buy diamond jewellery, they naturally consider Forevermark. %% {{What are your plans to drive consumer sales?}}$$ We have already started advertising - to support our launch in Bengaluru, besides prominent positions in leading magazines. We supported our launch with advertising in leading dailies, OOH, PR and even digital. We also used a strong in-store presence and even CRM activities to help create awareness for the brand at launch. We hope to keep the visibility going amongst target consumers. %% It’s very heartening to know that current efforts in Bengaluru are helping our partners get new footfalls into their store. It’s early days but we are clearly seeing a positive impact with the work done so far.

A fter a couple of years of a low-key presence in India, where the brand interacted with its target customers through a few high-profi le events, Forevermark, “the diamond brand from De Beers Group of companies” fi nally made a formal entry into the Indian market. Not surprisingly the brand chose the southern market to launch its Indian foray, for consumers in the south are known to prefer high-quality diamonds, as opposed to the north where generally, size matters more. The fi rst three retailers to join the Forevermark programme are Abaran, C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons and Joyalukkas, all leading jewellers of the Garden city. Present at the inauguration were Stephen Lussier, CEO Forevermark, Brian Lara, Manoviraj Khosla, Sheetal Sharma, Vani Ganapathy, Sumalatha, Lakshmi Gopalaswami and others from the world of fi lms and fashion, and well known city socialites. %% From here, the brand hopes to spread out to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata partnering with leading jewellers in those cities. Speaking at the launch Lussier said, “In the two years since its launch, Forevermark has expanded into 350 doors and achieved more than US$ 200 million retail sales. Given this o v e r w h e l m i n g response to our launch in China, Hong Kong and Japan, we are delighted to launch in India, a market that is of signifi cant importance to us. Forevermark is a diamond brand that will offer today’s Indian diamond purchasers, quality, integrity and inspiration. We’re glad to be able to introduce what we believe will become the ultimate diamond brand, to the Indian market.”

Forevermark is positioned as a very exclusive diamond brand – one that monitors different aspects of the diamond, from quality to ethical considerations – at every stage of its journey from the start to fi nish. De Beers describes Forevermark diamonds as “the world’s most carefully selected diamonds”. In fact, only one per cent of the world’s diamond, the company says “are eligible to become Forevermark diamonds”. In the next stage of the journey, “Only a select group of Master Diamantaires are eligible to cut and polish Forevermark diamonds”. Once polished, these diamonds are inscribed with a special technology with the Forevermark legend invisible to the naked eye and visible through a special Forevermark Viewer only available with authorised retail outlets. At the retail end too, there is a careful selection process and, “Only a few, exclusive jewellers; each passionate about creating the finest designs inspired by these exceptional diamonds are able to sell (them) at retail”, says De Beers.%% A personalised Forevermark identification card accompanies each and every Forevermark diamond and is given to the consumer. %% The process which began with the establishing of awareness and credibility of the brand through select private events with key opinion leaders, has now culminated in the launch in Bengaluru. Hereon, the Forevermark will continue on its journey to other cities of the country and will be helped along the way through various marketing initiatives.

{{|*“Our ambition is to establish Forevermark as a leading diamond brand” - Binita Cooper, MD, Forevermark – India*|}} {{What are you targets for the Forevermark programme in India? How many retailers do you hope to enroll?}}$$ Our ambition is to establish Forevermark as a leading diamond brand and we do hope all our efforts help us achieve this single minded objective starting Year One itself. We are looking at approximately 50 partners in the first year, spread across key cities of India.%% {{Which regions /cities will be covered?}}$$ In addition to Bengaluru, we are currently looking at Mumbai, Delhi Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. %% {{What are the criteria for selection of a retailer?}}$$ Forevermark will partner with jewellers who have been not only leaders in their field, but also those who meet our particularly stringent requirements of business, social and environmental integrity. We are seeking to build, in effect a partnership between leading jewellers, diamantaires and the De Beers Group based upon our mutual passion for diamonds and our long-term view of our industry. %% {{How will launch and growth here be different from China? Any change in strategy?}}$$ We certainly hope to replicate the phenomenal success of China but know fully well that there will be a slight difference. While the brand will mean the same thing for consumers anywhere in the world, in China while key products sold are solitaire rings, studs and pendants, we are hoping Forevermark here in India will straddle several purchase occasions and also piece types. We want to be as relevant to a bridal purchaser as we would like to be to someone who is considering an everyday wear purchase or for other occasions. Our ambition is that every time someone wants to buy diamond jewellery, they naturally consider Forevermark. %% {{What are your plans to drive consumer sales?}}$$ We have already started advertising - to support our launch in Bengaluru, besides prominent positions in leading magazines. We supported our launch with advertising in leading dailies, OOH, PR and even digital. We also used a strong in-store presence and even CRM activities to help create awareness for the brand at launch. We hope to keep the visibility going amongst target consumers. %% It’s very heartening to know that current efforts in Bengaluru are helping our partners get new footfalls into their store. It’s early days but we are clearly seeing a positive impact with the work done so far.

A fter a couple of years of a low-key presence in India, where the brand interacted with its target customers through a few high-profi le events, Forevermark, “the diamond brand from De Beers Group of companies” fi nally made a formal entry into the Indian market. Not surprisingly the brand chose the southern market to launch its Indian foray, for consumers in the south are known to prefer high-quality diamonds, as opposed to the north where generally, size matters more. The fi rst three retailers to join the Forevermark programme are Abaran, C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons and Joyalukkas, all leading jewellers of the Garden city. Present at the inauguration were Stephen Lussier, CEO Forevermark, Brian Lara, Manoviraj Khosla, Sheetal Sharma, Vani Ganapathy, Sumalatha, Lakshmi Gopalaswami and others from the world of fi lms and fashion, and well known city socialites. %% From here, the brand hopes to spread out to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata partnering with leading jewellers in those cities. Speaking at the launch Lussier said, “In the two years since its launch, Forevermark has expanded into 350 doors and achieved more than US$ 200 million retail sales. Given this o v e r w h e l m i n g response to our launch in China, Hong Kong and Japan, we are delighted to launch in India, a market that is of signifi cant importance to us. Forevermark is a diamond brand that will offer today’s Indian diamond purchasers, quality, integrity and inspiration. We’re glad to be able to introduce what we believe will become the ultimate diamond brand, to the Indian market.”

Forevermark is positioned as a very exclusive diamond brand – one that monitors different aspects of the diamond, from quality to ethical considerations – at every stage of its journey from the start to fi nish. De Beers describes Forevermark diamonds as “the world’s most carefully selected diamonds”. In fact, only one per cent of the world’s diamond, the company says “are eligible to become Forevermark diamonds”. In the next stage of the journey, “Only a select group of Master Diamantaires are eligible to cut and polish Forevermark diamonds”. Once polished, these diamonds are inscribed with a special technology with the Forevermark legend invisible to the naked eye and visible through a special Forevermark Viewer only available with authorised retail outlets. At the retail end too, there is a careful selection process and, “Only a few, exclusive jewellers; each passionate about creating the finest designs inspired by these exceptional diamonds are able to sell (them) at retail”, says De Beers.%% A personalised Forevermark identification card accompanies each and every Forevermark diamond and is given to the consumer. %% The process which began with the establishing of awareness and credibility of the brand through select private events with key opinion leaders, has now culminated in the launch in Bengaluru. Hereon, the Forevermark will continue on its journey to other cities of the country and will be helped along the way through various marketing initiatives.

{{|*“Our ambition is to establish Forevermark as a leading diamond brand” - Binita Cooper, MD, Forevermark – India*|}} {{What are you targets for the Forevermark programme in India? How many retailers do you hope to enroll?}}$$ Our ambition is to establish Forevermark as a leading diamond brand and we do hope all our efforts help us achieve this single minded objective starting Year One itself. We are looking at approximately 50 partners in the first year, spread across key cities of India.%% {{Which regions /cities will be covered?}}$$ In addition to Bengaluru, we are currently looking at Mumbai, Delhi Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. %% {{What are the criteria for selection of a retailer?}}$$ Forevermark will partner with jewellers who have been not only leaders in their field, but also those who meet our particularly stringent requirements of business, social and environmental integrity. We are seeking to build, in effect a partnership between leading jewellers, diamantaires and the De Beers Group based upon our mutual passion for diamonds and our long-term view of our industry. %% {{How will launch and growth here be different from China? Any change in strategy?}}$$ We certainly hope to replicate the phenomenal success of China but know fully well that there will be a slight difference. While the brand will mean the same thing for consumers anywhere in the world, in China while key products sold are solitaire rings, studs and pendants, we are hoping Forevermark here in India will straddle several purchase occasions and also piece types. We want to be as relevant to a bridal purchaser as we would like to be to someone who is considering an everyday wear purchase or for other occasions. Our ambition is that every time someone wants to buy diamond jewellery, they naturally consider Forevermark. %% {{What are your plans to drive consumer sales?}}$$ We have already started advertising - to support our launch in Bengaluru, besides prominent positions in leading magazines. We supported our launch with advertising in leading dailies, OOH, PR and even digital. We also used a strong in-store presence and even CRM activities to help create awareness for the brand at launch. We hope to keep the visibility going amongst target consumers. %% It’s very heartening to know that current efforts in Bengaluru are helping our partners get new footfalls into their store. It’s early days but we are clearly seeing a positive impact with the work done so far.