The pink city of Jaipur is the home
to jewellery brand Achal Jewels
whose forte lies in marrying
traditional designs with modern
manufacturing techniques and bringing
these artistic creations to life. Achal
Jewels has really established itself as the foremost jewellery manufacturer
under the able guidance of Managing
Director Poonam Kothari. In 2013, the
company completely transformed itself
to what we now know as Achal Jewels
thus putting it on the world map.
With his vast knowledge on the global jewellery industry, Poonam Kothari has
his fingers in every pie. His presence in
leading cities like Hong Kong, Dubai,
New York, Antwerp and Thailand has
given him a 360 degree understanding
of the inner workings of the diamond
and jewellery industry. Sharing his ex-pertise he says, “The global economic
climate is of uncertainty as there have
been many different trade disputes
which are causing luxury demand and
spending by major economies of the
world to reduce. However, there are
some positive offshoots seen in the U.S.
and India, where middle class incomes
are on the rise after a period of stagnation.
We find that Hong Kong is facing
headwinds due to the US-China Trade
War and rising political unrest in the
face of the extradition bill.”
Troubled Times
However, he expects Hong Kong and
the rest of South East Asia including
Thailand to return to normal once these
two issues are resolved. In the case of
Antwerp and Dubai, they are facing a
tougher market scenario as rough trading
declines and there are further restrictions
in bank financing. Kothari is
optimistic on the jewellery market in
India as he is aware that as organization
takes place, those with a bigger presence
will benefit from this change.
With diamond industry going through its lowest point, how exactly does a brand like Achal manage to survive these turbulent times? Kothari believes in adapting a steady growth environment rather than feeling nostalgic about previous years with rapid growth. An eternal optimist, he believes that sales can be increased with proper data analysis and customer relationship meetings to understand their pain points. “As a jewellery manufacturer, we focus on the positives we get from our customers and our strength being our in-house factory, we are able to take this feedback and implement it almost immediately. We find that in tougher times, it is more important to pay close attention to your customer’s needs so that you can support one another through these times and strengthen your business relationship.”
Design is King
In this ever evolving industry, Kothari
still believes in the power of rare colour
stones that have high demand in
auctions. Emeralds continue to rule the
roost in the coloured stone market in
Hong Kong. Talking about the Indian
coloured stone demand he says, “There
is definitely a move towards lighter coloured
stones such as Russian emeralds
and Pink tourmalines in the Indian
market thanks to fashion designers using
these colours recently.”
Kothari believes that design is the key element in any jewellery creation as it adds value to the otherwise known values of gold and stones. For it is the design that makes a jewellery be chosen amongst hundreds and thousands of other designs in a jewellery retailer’s showroom, thus making it indispens able “We want our retailers to always keep their customer’s on their toes and keep them pleasantly surprised. Having that power over your customer gives you the ability not only to demand a better value for your creations but also to continually generate new business rather than rely on old relations.”
The ongoing US-Sino tensions have created a ripple effect within the entire gems and jewellery industry further complicating matters. “The U.S. diamond and jewellery industry is facing the possibility of higher tariffs on goods from China as the trade war escalates. It now appears the trade tariff will likely lead to 25 per cent levies on a wide range of Chinese jewellery imports, from pearls to diamonds and gemstones. We are all linked in today’s digital age and although the trade dispute is between two countries, it has meant that business has suffered throughout South-East Asia and India to some extent as well.”
Tackling Gen X
Millennials have a completely different
perspective on diamonds. Convincing
them to purchase jewellery has proved
to be a challenge for jewellery manufacturers.
“To tackle this challenge one
of the ways is marketing. Marketing to
millennials to make them buy requires
a thorough understanding of consumer
psychographics. Also understanding
their preferences, values, lifestyle,
tastes, and desires is essential for any
jewellery business to grow in today’s
digital world.”
Kothari believes that one must ensure
that to meet consumer demand
for a seamless retail experience, one’s
website is functional on mobile devices
and sales team is well-versed with
fashion trends and there is transparency
in pricing and billing. One must
also be responsive to online customer
feedback, have an excellent online and
offline customer service, and that the
website loads faster.
“As millennials begin buying jewellery,
a brand such as mine has to help
retailers connect with this generation
through design language and attract
this fickle group of customers to their
showroom rather than the competition’s,”
he adds.
Threat of Technology
The previously tiny lab grown market is
obviously becoming larger day by day.
The Guangzhou Diamond Exchange
(GZDE) in China has signed a strategic
cooperation agreement with China’s
major synthetics suppliers to develop
and promote lab-grown diamonds in
the country. Following these footsteps,
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
(DMCC) offered a rough lab-grown diamonds
at tender for the first time.
do see a future where lab-grown and
natural diamonds co-exist but when is
something I cannot guess. It still is a
long way off and a lot of regulatory hurdles
and consumer perceptions have to
change. There is a lot of resistance to
this in India and therefore I don’t see
India following the U.S. model in accepting
CVD as easily.”
What Next?
Achal has always promoted expansion
as a form of company culture and vision.
“We will continue doing this as it
is ingrained within our identity to dive
deeper in our businesses and expand
from within. We will continue to expand
by investing in our people, offices and
product offerings. This approach has
and will continue to satisfy our longstanding
customers. We also have a
knack of seizing an opportunity when
it presents itself to us, therefore we are
always ready to take part in expansion
to new markets, new product offerings
or newer technologies when they are
available,” concludes Kothari.
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