Harpreet Sethi is a trendsetter in her family. For several decades, whenever the Sethis had to buy jewellery, they went to Chandni Chowk in Delhi to their "family" jeweller and chose from an agonisingly banal array of traditional designs. But Sethi, who is only 20 and works for a call centre, wanted jewellery that would match her personality. This Diwali, she bought a trendy gold necklace from Tanishq. The price tag was Rs 25,000 but her father J.S. Sethi feels it was money well spent. "The assurance of purity took us there," he says.

The Sethis are not alone. A growing number of customers in metros and large cities are switching loyalties and dumping their friendly "family" jeweller in favour of a clutch of new design houses selling branded jewellery. Sales of Tanishq, which started in 1992 as a premium range of watches from Titan Industries and leads the pack among the jewellery brands, shot up from Rs 203 crore in 2000-1 to Rs 268 crore in 2001-2. In the first half of the current financial year, its sales have grown by 50 per cent over the same period of the previous year. This rise is impressive, especially because according to an estimate of the World Gold Council, the overall gold market in the country has actually shrunk by over 30 per cent in the past few months. Says Xerxes Desai, former managing director of Titan and the man behind the launch of the Tanishq brand: "Titan's jewellery sales should overtake revenues from the watch business in three years."

OBJECTS OF DESIRE: Tanishq is positioned as an aspirational brand

This is evident by the rush at Tanishq showrooms across the country. In the past one year, an estimated 10 lakh customers visited the 55 Tanishq outlets in 41 cities. Last fortnight, the showroom in Delhi's upmarket South Extension was bursting at its seams with Diwali shoppers. Though the staff strength had been doubled to 20, there were long queues at the two cash counters. The outlet expects to double its turnover from Rs 9 crore last year to Rs 18 crore this year.

The Rs 40,000-crore gold jewellery industry in India is dominated by small unorganised players who account for 65 per cent of the market. Larger, established jewellers like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, Mehrasons and PP Jewellers control 34 per cent. The branded jewellery segment-which includes brands like Tanishq, Carbon, Oyzterbay, Enchante and Gili-accounts for barely 1 per cent of the market but it is growing very fast. Says Arvind Singhal, managing director, KSA Technopak, a retailing and marketing consultancy firm: "This has been one of the less talked about success stories in India."

Tanishq's runaway success is rooted in savvy marketing. When it launched the Tanishq brand, Titan Industries observed that the Indian customer tended to patronise only one jeweller all his life. In fact, the family usually stuck to the jeweller down the generations. Besides the personal ties developed over the years, this was also because the jewellers offered to exchange any old item sold by them for a new one of the same caratage after deducting nominal manufacturing charges. For example, a 20 gm gold chain bought from a particular shop can be exchanged for a 20 gm set of earrings at the same shop after deducting manufacturing charges. However, if a customer wants to exchange the chain at some other shop he stands to lose a bigger sum. That's because small jewellers usually cheat on caratage, passing off 20-carat jewellery as 22 carat. The new shop usually arrives at its own caratage. "It is a vicious cycle. Once you become a customer, you are there for life," says Jacob Kurian, chief operating officer (Jewellery), Titan.

GEM OF AN IDEA: ATanishq is the brainchild of former Titan managing director Desai

Titan decided to break that cycle through Tanishq. The company installed caratometers in major outlets to help customers assess the caratage of their old jewellery. This was followed by the launch of an exchange scheme called Pure-for-Impure in May 2002 to win over new customers. Under the scheme, a customer can exchange any old jewellery as low as 19 carat for 22-carat jewellery from Tanishq. The company absorbs the costs of under-caratage of the old jewellery.

Tanishq jewellery itself comes with a guarantee card of purity. The Tata stamp only reaffirms the promise of quality. The customer is encouraged to check out the caratage. This transparency has appealed to the Indian middle class which attaches a lot of importance to value for money. Says Bhuwan Gaurav, regional business manager (North), Tanishq: "Our challenge is not so much the competition as changing the customer mindset about buying gold jewellery."

Tanishq has also addressed the other Ps of marketing. Its product range is trendy and stylishly different from the outdated stuff offered by traditional jewellers. Besides the regular gold and diamond jewellery, it has platinum and silver collections also. Its designers add up to 3,000 new designs every few months. Joseph George, vice-president of ad firm Lowe India, says, "Tanishq has gelled tradition with modernity very well."

Despite the premium brand image, Tanishq has products for every pocket. Its range begins at Rs 525 for a pendant and can go up to several lakhs of rupees for a diamond ring from the Aria collection. So Tanishq products can as easily be part of a college girl's daily wear as a socialite's accessories for an evening do. As a competitor admits, "Tanishq has positioned itself perfectly as an aspirational premium brand."

While targeting retail customers, Titan has also tapped institutional customers. Early this year, it made miniature gold cars for Hyundai Motors to be given to select dealers. Paint company ICI India Ltd ordered the Navratna collection for its dealers and customers. Last year, Maruti bought gold coins worth Rs 20 crore for gifting to customers. This Diwali, Tanishq has aggressively sold gift vouchers among corporate customers. The revenue from this new stream is likely to touch Rs 50 crore in 2002-3.

Even as it strengthens its hold on the branded jewellery market, Tanishq is planning new launches. In the works are a range of silverware and ladies' bags. It is also eyeing a bigger slice of the custom-designed jewellery pie. Says Kurian: "We want to be the complete feminine brand for the Indian woman."

That may be spreading too fast, too thin. Cautions Singhal: "Jewellery is a huge market. There's enough potential within the category for the company to explore." Expanding into different categories may dilute the brand equity.

Right now, of course, the company is heady on the success of its efforts.