Shaunak Parikh stands at the forefront of India’s evolving gems and jewellery landscape, bringing a sharp, future-ready perspective to the industry. As Vice Chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), he plays a pivotal role in shaping policy, strengthening global trade ties, and amplifying India’s presence in international markets. Known for his articulate voice and strategic vision, Parikh is a strong advocate for innovation, sustainability, and empowering the next generation of industry leaders.
Role of IIJS Bharat Tritiya
IIJS Bharat Tritiya has quickly established itself as an important early-season sourcing platform for the industry. In your view, how does the Tritiya edition complement the larger IIJS ecosystem, and what unique positioning does Tritiya hold within this calendar?
IIJS Bharat Tritiya has evolved into a strategic early-season sourcing platform within the larger IIJS ecosystem. While the flagship IIJS show sets the broader tone for the industry, Tritiya offers a more focused and efficient environment for retailers to replenish inventory and identify emerging trends ahead of key buying cycles.
Today, Tritiya has carved out a distinct position as India’s third-largest B2B gem and jewellery exhibition and one of the most comprehensive trade shows in the country. It complements the larger IIJS shows by providing the industry with an additional, well-timed sourcing opportunity that helps maintain business momentum through the year.
Being hosted in Bengaluru, Tritiya also strengthens our outreach to the fast-growing jewellery markets of South India. Over the years, it has developed a strong identity as a compact yet high-quality B2B platform where serious buyers and exhibitors come together for meaningful business interactions. The fourth edition continues to build on this momentum with over 1,100 exhibitors, nearly 1,900 stalls and participation from more than 40 cities, making it a powerful and focused sourcing destination early in the trade calendar.
Emerging Industry Trends
Trade exhibitions often serve as a barometer of industry sentiment. What early signals about consumer demand, design directions, or material preferences do you expect to emerge from IIJS Bharat Tritiya 2026?
Trade shows often reflect what is happening at the consumer level, and IIJS Bharat Tritiya will likely highlight several evolving trends. With gold prices remaining elevated, we are already seeing strong interest in lighter designs, lower caratage jewellery, and minimalist pieces that offer both affordability and everyday wearability.
At the same time, bridal jewellery continues to remain a major driver of demand in India, particularly in traditional gold and studded segments. Retailers are also looking for designs that balance tradition with contemporary styling, allowing them to cater to younger consumers. We also expect to see growing interest in categories such as silver jewellery, gifting items, and lab-grown diamonds, reflecting the diversification of consumer preferences across price segments.
Enhancing Buyer-Seller Engagement
One of the persistent challenges at large trade shows is ensuring meaningful business interactions. What new formats or curated sections at IIJS Bharat Tritiya 2026 are designed to enhance the efficiency of buyer-seller engagement?
IIJS Bharat Tritiya is fundamentally a serious B2B trade platform, and the buyers who attend are largely committed retailers and wholesalers looking to source products for their businesses. Because of this, the focus is always on creating an environment that facilitates efficient and productive interactions.
To enhance the overall experience, we have introduced several initiatives. Programs such as Retail Connect, conducted across more than 25 cities, help us bring targeted and genuine buyers to the show. During the exhibition, Innov8 Talks and knowledge sessions provide insights into industry trends and business strategies. In addition, digital tools such as the IIJS app, pre-registration systems, and interactive floor plans help visitors navigate the show more efficiently and connect with the right exhibitors.
India as a Global Jewellery Hub
India is positioning itself as a global hub for jewellery manufacturing and design. How does IIJS Bharat Tritiya contribute to strengthening India’s reputation as a reliable and creative sourcing destination?
IIJS Bharat Tritiya plays an important role in showcasing the depth and diversity of India’s jewellery manufacturing capabilities. The show brings together manufacturers from across the country covering a wide range of categories—from gold and diamond jewellery to coloured gemstones, silver jewellery and lab-grown diamonds.
What makes the platform particularly valuable is the strong presence of MSMEs and export-oriented manufacturers, who represent the backbone of India’s jewellery industry. By bringing these manufacturers together with domestic and international buyers, Tritiya highlights India’s strengths in craftsmanship, scale, design innovation and supply reliability.
The concurrent IGJME Bharat machinery show also adds another dimension by showcasing the latest technology and equipment used in jewellery manufacturing. Together, these platforms reinforce India’s position as a comprehensive and competitive sourcing destination for the global jewellery trade.
Strategic Vision
If you were to define the long-term ambition of IIJS Bharat Tritiya in a single thought, would it be scale, specialisation, or strategic influence on the jewellery trade calendar?
If I had to capture the ambition in one thought, it would be strategic influence within the trade calendar. Tritiya is not necessarily about becoming the largest show, but about becoming the most effective early-season sourcing platform for the industry.
Over time, our aim is for Tritiya to be recognised as the event where retailers come to identify trends, place early orders and prepare for the upcoming demand cycles. By maintaining a strong focus on quality participation, business efficiency and meaningful engagement, Tritiya can continue to grow as an influential platform within the global jewellery exhibition landscape.
Sustainability Initiatives
IIJS exhibitions attract a large number of participants every year. What sustainability initiatives has GJEPC introduced to ensure that these events are environmentally responsible?
Sustainability is an important focus area for us as we continue to grow the IIJS exhibitions. Through our ‘One Earth’ initiative, we have undertaken large-scale tree plantation drives, contributing to the planting of over a lakh trees with the support of industry stakeholders.
At the show level, we are encouraging reusable modular booths, promoting eco-friendly materials such as fabric signage, and reducing waste through digital badges and app-based communication instead of paper. We are also working towards reducing single-use plastics and promoting responsible resource use across the exhibition ecosystem.
These initiatives reflect our effort to ensure that while IIJS continues to expand as a global sourcing platform, it also moves steadily towards becoming a more sustainable and environmentally responsible industry event.
Visitor Engagement Initiative
IIJS Bharat Tritiya also features a Mega Lucky Draw for visitors. Could you tell us more about this initiative?
The Mega Lucky Draw at IIJS Bharat Tritiya is designed as an engaging initiative to encourage deeper participation from trade visitors and enhance their overall experience at the show. Paid registered visitors stand a chance to win exciting prizes, including luxury cars, premium SUVs, passenger vehicles and two-wheeler scooters.
Year of Transformation
The 2026 fiscal has been a defining year for Divine Solitaires, a turning point of sorts that posed several challenges but also opened new opportunities. It was a year that kept us on our toes and pushed us out of our comfort zone to rethink our business strategies and align with shifts in the market as well as in consumer expectations.
Market Dynamics
High gold prices, market fluctuations, demand and supply gaps as well as a growing category of young, informed millennials with large disposable incomes and new design orders, have all collectively contributed to the demand for natural diamond solitaire jewellery in India.
Consumer Sentiment Shift
We saw a sharp rise in younger buyers with higher disposable incomes, individuals who researched deeply, understood certification, compared value, and preferred long-term worth over fleeting trends. This growing maturity among buyers reinforced our belief that the future of natural solitaires was strong, provided we tapped into the potential this segment offered with clarity and responsibility.
Consumers sought authenticity, value, and meaning when they stepped into our stores, creating a conducive and smooth purchase environment, directly reflected in the growing demand for certified diamonds. This purchase sentiment also reflected a shift towards quality, transparency, and trust in the purchasing process by retailers.
Growth Performance
For Divine Solitaires, FY 25–26 was a year of disciplined growth and sharper execution. We hope to close the financial year with nearly 30–35% growth over the previous year, driven by strong partner trust and sustained consumer confidence. We continue to add over 1,500 customers every month, with more than 35% being first-time diamond buyers, a clear indicator that the category is expanding beyond its traditional audience.
Innovation Focus
A significant contributor to this growth momentum has been our continued focus on innovation within the natural diamonds space. We introduced the Intense and Vivid Yellow Diamonds and also saw growing interest for fancy diamond shapes like an oval or pear. We delved deeper into smaller diamond sizes in 0.04 to 0.09 carats, which helped us improve overall profitability by over 30% compared to previous years. Rather than extracting short-term gains, we chose to reinvest these earnings into brand building and expansion, strengthening the foundation for long-term growth.
Omni Channel Strategy
Today, Divine Solitaires is present across 215 stores in 108 cities, operating through a Shop-in-Shop model with some of the most reputed jewellers in each market. This approach has not only allowed us to remain accessible to our consumers living in Tier II/III and beyond cities but also helped us focus and gain expertise in a consumer-facing category that is still evolving in India. While nearly 95% of our sales continue to come from offline channels, we strongly believe that every purchase today is influenced by omni channel touch points, with a strong digital presence playing an equally decisive role in building trust before the final in-store decision.
Changing Purchase Occasions
Another encouraging trend we observed in 2025 was the widening scope of natural diamond solitaires as celebratory purchases. From weddings, engagements, and other, once-in-a-lifetime milestones being key drivers for a purchase, we’ve observed a shift to include more ordinary milestones-led purchases like anniversaries, birth of a child, and purchase of a new home, career achievements, and even self-gifting. We saw a surge in this trend during Dhanteras and festive buying seasons but also at venues like The Solitaire Festival of India (TSFI), where solitaires were positioned not just as jewellery, but as markers of life moments.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, we remain optimistic about where the industry is headed. The ₹25,000 crore solitaire diamond jewellery market in India is the fastest-growing segment within the gems and jewellery industry. As a focused brand in this category, our ambition is to build scale responsibly and increase our market share through strategic planning and execution of strategies.
Brand Commitment
The value of natural diamonds has endured through generations not because of trends, but because of what they represent — trust, permanence, and emotional value. As we move into the next fiscal, Divine Solitaires remains committed to building a resilient, value-led solitaire business that grows with its partners, evolves with its consumers, and stands the test of time.
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