Making Big Strides

Achal Jewels
Making Big Strides

Carrying forward the rich legacy of Achal Jewels, Managing Director, Poonam Kothari has been instrumental in the global expansion of this world renowned jewellery manufacturing brand

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.”

Sea of Uncertainty

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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