TANISHQ

Five years after Tanishq launched its first showroom in Chennai, it seems to have come a full circle when it opened its 48^th boutique in Anna Nagar, recently.  From just five showrooms in 1995 - 96' to 48 showrooms in 2001 and with a presence in 37 cities in India, Tanishq can lay claim to being the only national jeweller in India.  The five-year old brand created a ripple of sorts, when it was first launched in Chennai. And it was in Chennai that the company discovered how to retail gold. 

As V Govind Raj, Divisional Manager - Marketing put it, "Initially, Tanishq showrooms were company owned and managed.  Once we discovered how to retail gold, we started franchisee outlets where we chose our partners with great care.  Of our 48 showrooms, 42 are franchisee outlets.  Tanishq aims to make not only jewellery, but even shopping a memorable experience with its exclusive designs and boutique ambience.  While preference has been given to local tastes, a conscious effort has also been made to introduce people to new designs.  Tanishq has become synonymous with superior craftsmanship, exclusive designs and known for its quality.  Tanishq has over the past five years developed a loyal customer base not only in India but also in several other parts of the world." 

He said that the primary aim of Tanishq was to have a major presence in every major metro and city with a population of over 5 lakhs.  "Having achieved this, we now plan to increase the number of boutiques within the city to ensure that our boutiques are easily accessible to our customers" he added.

Speaking about the jewellery market in general, he said that, jewellery as a business in India is huge.  He valued the market to be around Rs 40,000 crore.  Presenting a few statistics to indicate the size of the market, he said that in the year 2000, Indian customers bought 855 tonnes of gold, a jump of 25 tonnes from the previous year.  He expressed surprise at there being no real organised players in such a huge market.  He remarked that at best major players were organised and dominant only in their regional bases. 

Jewellery is a business that is steeped in tradition and calls for trust between the jeweller and the customer, he said while highlighting two aspects of the business - the usage of gold and crafting of gold.  Gold is associated with every festive occasion, with marriage being the main usage event.  24K gold is pure gold, what you actually mean by 22K gold is 22 parts of gold with 2 parts of other elements.  22K gold is 91.6% pure gold plus alloys, while 18K gold is 75% pure gold plus alloys.

When asked about the production of jewellery he said that the production process was monitored at every stage and the gold is brought to the purest form and alloys are added to bring it to the desired level of purity.  Jewellery sold at Tanishq are manufactured at a huge modern facility at Hosur, Tamil Nadu.  Tanishq invested Rs 60 crore in this 1, 35, 000 sq ft facility that is dedicated to jewellery making, and is completely integrated and equipped to the highest international standards.

As of now in the market, there is not much information about diamonds available to the customer regarding the clarity and colour of the diamond.  At Tanishq this problem is solved since all diamonds are certified.  After sales service is assured and is taken care of by trained personnel at the store itself.

"22K gold jewellery and gem set jewellery designed by designers from India and abroad are available at the showroom. New collections in this showroom are a set of wedding collection.  We also have a young line range; we call it so because of the target audience, though it has not yet been branded.  We have a set of products in diamonds, inspired by the seven stones concept, which is basically a floral pattern with a single stone surrounded by six stones.  We also plan to launch our Platinum collection very soon", he said when asked about the new collection from Tanishq.

Address: Tanishq, Anna Nagar Showroom: 115A, 3^rd Street, Near Round Tana, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600 040.

Cathedral Road Showroom: 34, Crown Court, Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram Chennai 600 086. 
Phone: 2811 0405 / 0368.