Further, Argyle, the Australian diamond conglomerate, which has been in India for over the last three years, has been actively marketing lower ranges of cut and polished diamonds in the country. Now that De Beers has incorporated `A Diamond is Forever' in its corporate logo (effective 1998) and will remain with it forever, it intends to sharpen its marketing edge for finished diamonds by promoting design and sales of diamond jewellery. At a ceremony, De Beers announced two awards for `The 1998 Indian Jewellery Design Competition',considered to be the most prestigious one in the diamond industry. Of over 20 diamond jewellery design winning entries, Sachee Mehta and Sonali Shah emerged winners. They will be entitled to travelling scholarships to UK, Italy and France. First launched in 1996, this year's jewellery competition was the third one. it was organised jointly by Dee Beers and the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

Giving the awards to the two the winners, De Beers marketing director, India, Nicholas Graham-Smith said, "The Indian Jewellery Design Competition is our way of extending support and encouragement to jewellery designing in the country. The competition has successfully pushed forward the barriers of jewellery designing in in India and we are confident that these innovative, trendy and exciting designs will set the benchmark for design trends in India and around the world the year ahead."

Smith said, "This is our way to market diamonds in a country which is the third largest diamond consuming country in theworld. Diamonds world-over are considered to be ultimate symbols of love. In India too, almost 80 per cent of mothers of brides and bride grooms indicated a clear preference for diamonds over gold, while 83 per cent among them felt that diamonds are the ideal gift for a bride." In 1997, De Beers had seen its pre-tax net profit decline to $892 million from $1,055 million in 1996, even when its total income had improved to $1,140 million from $1,275 in the previous year.