Kochi: Platinum Guild International (PGI) India concluded yet another successful edition of its annual ‘Platinum Buyer-Seller Meet,’ on the 4th and 5th of July 2024. Every year, the prestigious event, brings together the leading names from across the jewellery industry and offers them a platform to collaborate and work towards collective business development for platinum. Held at the Grand Hyatt, Kochi, the recently concluded event, continued to serve as a significant business opportunity for partner retailers and manufacturers under the PGI program to share new designs, innovations, cutting edge technology and best practices while reviewing the latest platinum jewellery collections.
The energy and enthusiasm across the manufacturer booths reaffirmed the growing demand for platinum jewellery across all three PGI brands – Platinum Evara, Men of Platinum and Platinum Love Bands. Retailers were given an exclusive preview of the highly anticipated MS Dhoni Signature Collection, set to launch later this year, just in time for the festive and wedding season. The overall demand for platinum was evident in the substantial purchases and restocking undertaken by the retailers for the upcoming season. This event set a positive tone for the months ahead, with an air of optimism and confidence.
The event witnessed a key announcement on the metal innovation front as well, with the creation of a new platinum alloy that has the potential to transform platinum jewellery design and manufacturing. Inoveo Platinum, has been formulated in response to the challenges jewellers experience when working with platinum.
In his presentation Mr. Benny Oeyen, Executive Head of Market Development for Platinum Group Metals, Anglo American said, “Inoveo Platinum will provide the jewellery industry the best that platinum can provide. It is a new platinum alloy created with the help of artificial intelligence and digital chemistry to reflect the workability of white gold, while enhancing the core properties of Platinum, including its naturally white colour, durability, and wear resistance. So Inoveo Platinum is all about the benefits of Platinum with the ease of white gold. It will help transform platinum jewellery design and manufacturing.”
The evening gala dinner was prefaced by very informative speeches and presentations by Ms. Vaishali Banerjee, Managing Director, PGI India and Mr. Tim Schlick, Chief Executive Officer, Platinum Guild International (PGI) outlining the accelerated growth of platinum jewellery in the Indian market. Ms. Sujala Martis, Director Consumer Marketing, PGI India shared the marketing programme line-up for the season. The exciting new marketing initiative with M S Dhoni got an overwhelmingly positive response. The Evara Squad, a unique idea to build cheerleaders and brand evangelists for women’s platinum jewellery was met with high interest from retailers and manufacturers. A brief overview of the upcoming trade agenda was shared by Ms. Pallavi Sharma, Business Director, PGI India. She stressed on driving volume growth. She also emphasised on the criticality of delivering higher profitability via the proven success of exclusive designs in bi-metal jewellery across categories and differentiating to create value for the consumer via retailer exclusive collections in platinum.
Vaishali Banerjee, Managing Director of PGI India addressed PGI India’s strong partnership with leading retailers and manufacturers and said, “It is heartening to see the event emerge as a marquee industry event with such enthusiastic participation from retailers, manufactures and industry leaders. Platinum jewellery has come a long way, and the success of such events highlights the large potential platinum jewellery has in the country across all markets. We are grateful to our partners for their overwhelming response. The new designs and collections will feature as part of the upcoming collections for the festive and wedding season.”
Mr. Tim Schlick, Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI), shared his thoughts on the 2024 Platinum Buyer-Seller Meet: “The recently concluded Platinum Buyer-Seller Meet highlighted the immense potential of the platinum jewellery industry in India. This annual event symbolizes our commitment to nurturing and empowering strategic partnerships with retailers and manufacturers. Our goal is to create value for our partners, and the BSM allows us to demonstrate how we achieve this, including driving incremental business opportunities, identifying new segments, building differentiation, and targeting a sustainable traffic of younger consumers. Our primary intention is always sustainable growth, ensuring long-term benefits for all our partners.”
Through various programmes, both direct-to-consumer and in collaboration with jewellery retailers and manufacturers, PGI creates consumer-ounce demand by first identifying opportunities for platinum in jewellery, and then developing them with partners. It also aims to build an enduring commitment to platinum in jewellery.
PGI’s consumer marketing and educational programmes are focused on developing awareness and an appreciation for platinum’s unique properties as a precious metal for fine jewellery.
In addition, PGI works globally with collaborative partners running extensive marketing programmes in the four main platinum jewellery markets of China, Japan, USA and India. These markets are staffed with strategic planning, marketing, retail, design, and business development experts.
PGI is funded by the leading platinum producers of South Africa, as well as through co-funded programmes with the jewellery industry.
