After slugging out in the global rough diamond market for more than three years, on the Indian turf, it is the diamond studded jewellery route which is being adopted by both these arc rivals, marketing partners till mid-1996.

In its efforts to expand the market for rough diamonds in the country, Argyle Diamonds, has for the first time, introduced albeit indirectly, range of diamonds and diamond studded jewellery. The marketing aim is not just to catch on the festive season beginning later this month, Argyle wants even to catch the millennium frenzy for diamonds and studded jewellery but continue thereafter to meet the jewellery demand for various occasions. To begin with, Argyle has identified two of its 15-plus clients forroughs who are engaged in making studded jewellery. The list could expand later depending upon the initial experience.

"There's tremendous scope for marketing diamonds," feels Argyle Diamonds' manager (customer and product services) Nirupa Bhat. "We intend to cash in on the market with our unique coloured diamonds and jewellery studded with them." Diamonds are not necessarily white, feels Bhat. And it is for the first time that the Indian jewellery buyers will be getting range of diamond jewellery to chose from, and that too coloured. "Our similar efforts to expand the diamond market in the US had given good results and we intend to replicate the same here".

Argyle has been marketing in the US its own range of diamonds which are cut and polished in India. Through its chain of jewellery exporters under the Indo Argyle Diamond Centre umbrella, it has managed to sell diamonds in USA's upmarket diamond jewellery showrooms like Zales, VenBridge, Carlyle and Fortuneoff among others.

However, In India, inorder to attract the customers' attention, Argyle will have to compete against the De Beers' high-pitched media and marketing campaigns which are backed by a huge $300 million budget for 1999-2000. On its part, Argyle does not have a deep pocket, not at least for supporting the marketing of cut and polished diamonds and diamond studded jewellery. "Apart from electronic media, there are other marketing avenues which we are exploring currently," says Bhat.

One of the major marketing plank of Argyle is the introduction of "affordable" range of diamonds and diamond studded jewellery and low-key print ads announcing the names of the jewellers which are participating in the marketing efforts. "The emphasis is to help Indian jewellery makers to use small diamond studded jewellery and offer affordable ranges of diamond jewellery to customers". On its part, in Mumbai, De Beers has smartly moved in the upmarket showrooms of Titan's Tanishk, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and couple of other jewellery showrooms.

Lastly,despite their respective efforts to expand the diamond base in here, both De Beers and Argyle maintain that they are not into the retail end of the diamond market.