Diamond business not affected by recession

Despite global downturn diamond prices in the market have seen only a marginal drop and demand for it has not been affected by the ongoing recession.

''In fact, the first two months of the financial year have been very positive for Tanishq as we witnessed a double digit growth. We are looking forward to a 100 per cent growth over the previous year in diamond business,'' Dwaipayan Sen, Regional Buisness Manager, East, Tanishq, told newspersons here yesterday at the launch of a quality checking campaign for diamonds in collaboration with HRD Antwerp (Belgium).

''In India there is hardly any system to check the quality of precious stones like diamonds as customers generally rely on their chosen jeweller even when buying an expensive gem. However, several malpractices are in vogue in the market which is why it is utterly important to get the cut, colour, quality and purity of diamonds checked through a specialist,'' said Sirish Chandrasekhar, Manager, Merchandising and Marketing, Tanishq.

Tanishq, known for its gem set jewellery, had launched this quality checking campaign in collaboration with HRD Antwerp (Belgium), an internationally acclaimed organisation, which accords the international mark of approval for diamonds.

''The response to this quality check campaign has been tremendous. In fact, we had to turn away customers due to dearth of time in Mumbai and Pune. The expereince has also been varied with some diamond pieces turning out to be a mixture of glass and diamond. In other cases the quality of the diamond was inferior and was not worth the value it claimed,'' said Devika Gidwani, Country head, HRD Antwerp.

Customers can walk into any Tanishq outlet during the six-day campaign starting June 5 at any Tanishq outlet in the city.