Making the cut

Come tomorrow, diamonds should dazzle the most among all other gifts.

The precious stone has emerged as a present for all occasions and jewellers expect a rush of buyers as Poila Baisakh, apart from being the Bengali New Year?s Day, also means the start of the marriage season.

If the last two years are any indication, they may be right ? Calcutta is glittering among the metros in terms of sale of diamonds.

?The city has witnessed a surge in diamond sales since 2003 and registered a huge jump in growth to 31 per cent from 11 per cent in 2002. Similar momentum has been maintained in 2004 with a sales growth of 30 per cent,? says Premjit Sengupta, manager (east), Diamond Trading Corporation, on the basis of a survey by research agency IMRB across six cities.

Keeping pace with the growth, city jewellers have assigned more space to the gem. P.C. Chandra Jewellers, for instance, has increased the space for diamond jewellery at showrooms to 20 per cent from 5 per cent, while upcoming ones like R.R. Agarwal Jewellers stock 75 per cent diamond jewellery.

?Diamond fascination has caught on and shifting preference among consumers is the main reason for increased sales. People have started moving away from chunky, grandmother jewellery to dainty and trendy pieces,? says Uday Kumar Chandra of P.C. Chandra Jewellers.

Consumers, too, have found out that diamonds could be as good an investment option as gold. ?Earlier there was no resale value of diamond as there was no specific quality specifications and valuations,? says Chhabi Das, who recently bought a high-value set for her son?s wedding. ?But now that jewellers provide such guarantees, such apprehensions have abated.?

Another reason why sales have zoomed is because diamonds have come ?within the reach of the common man?, says Chandra. ?Now, it is possible to provide good quality diamonds at even the smallest size but carved in trendy and intricate designs.?

Senco Gold?s Shankar Sen feels the demand for good quality and big size diamonds have also increased substantially. ?Nowadays, if one buys three sets of jewellery, that person would ideally want one of them to be of diamond,? he says.

Observers also attribute the growth in sales to increased spending power, a younger working generation and promotional activities by branded diamond jewellers and retailers.