The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Diamond Trading Company plans to woo more customers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 23, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Diamond Trading Company plans to woo more customers

N. Ravi Kumar

Aims to localise its promotional campaigns

Cherie Tandon Saldanha, DTC managing director-India. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: With south India emerging as a major market for diamond jewellery, the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), a part of De Beers Group, will localise its promotional campaigns to lure more customers.

Though sales by volume is still lower in the region than in north India, the retail market in terms of value is comparable to the north, said Cherie Tandon Saldanha, managing director, DTC, India. This trend, coupled with the boom in the diamond jewellery trade in the country, has forced the company to orient its promotional campaign to suit the tastes of the customers in the region. "We are focussing on the south," she told The Hindu here recently.

`Forevermark' programme

Noting that some of the major jewellery showrooms in Chennai, with whom she held discussions, had reported buoyancy in business, Ms. Saldanha said the DTC would launch the `Forevermark' programme.

Under the programme, the DTC will engrave a special number of the table facet of the diamond. This number will be unique to the diamond, assuring the customer of its authenticity. The symbol and the number forming part of the mark will, however, be not visible to the naked eye. Only diamonds of 0.30 carats and above are eligible. The DTC, she said, favoured setting up of independent laboratories certifying the quality of diamonds.

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