In love with diamonds

A sparkling array of diamond jewellery aimed at Chinese consumers. One piece on show by diamond producers De Beers in Hong Kong is a headband in the shape of a rose. Another set features 16-hundred diamonds. . But the biggest piece on display was a necklace worth US$15 million dollars. The necklace called a Ponahalo holds 305 diamonds and is named after the word "vision" in a South African language. China is now the second fastest growing consumer diamond market in the world. Consumers snapped up about $1.7 billion dollars worth of diamond jewellery last year alone, with a 12 percent increase expected in 2007. Christina Hudson is De Beers head of marketing for Greater China: SOUNDBITE (ENLGLISH) CHRISTINA HUDSON SAYING "We've definitely pegged China as one of our fast movers. China and India would be up there. Although they are not the biggest markets in the world right now China is about the fifth largest diamond market in the world." Engagement rings are the focus of Chinese consumer interest. While women in Japan tend to buy diamonds for themself, Chinese women see diamond rings as a new status symbol: SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CHRISTINA HUDSON SAYING, "The foundation upon which we've developed the current business has been the diamond wedding ring for consumers and that currently represents about 32 percent of the total diamond jewellery sales in China. So more and more consumers are acquiring diamonds in China and you know when consumers used to ask other consumers so did you get a diamond for your wedding, now they'd ask how big is your diamond?" Glitzy jewellery may rival with other luxury goods selling out in upscale Chinese malls. The market is yet another sign of China's increasing purchasing power. Tara Joseph-Hui Reuters, Hong Kong COMPANIES MENTIONED: SYMBOLS:

Submission | September 13, 2007

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