Motoring jewels

Place: DELHI

Cartier reaffirms its affinity with India with an ambitious vintage car show as it looks to grow its Indian market

Classic cars came up one by one to claim
their prizes at the Cartier Concours d'Elegance 

India’s elite have long enjoyed their favourite equine speedsters win races at Delhi’s Jaipur Polo Grounds. On a recent pleasantly sunny Saturday afternoon however, the horses were replaced beauties from another era, and species, as 56 vintage cars competed for honours in the second Cartier Concours d'Elegance in India. On hand were not just vintage car enthusiasts but some leading car collectors and experts from across the world.

Cartier and India have had a long, though interrupted, love story, dating back to the days of the erstwhile maharajas. It is no surprise therefore that despite India’s current negligible share in global sales that the world’s top jewellery brand, or maison as it prefers to be known as, sees India as an important potential market that needs to be nurtured so that it can deliver up to a tenth of global sales in future.

A winning beauty roll up 

“India is in love with jewellery and its aesthetics have influenced Cartier over time,” says Bernard Fornas, President and CEO of Cartier, who was in Delhi for the Cartier Concours d’Elegance, one of the four big concours globally. The Cartier Concours d'Elegance is globally positioned as the ultimate show of motoring grandeur. The first in India was held in Mumbai in 2008, and contributed considerably in introducing new local clients to Cartier, whose largest sales in the country come in watches and jewellery.

The maharajas had wanted not just the best, but also often wanted their pieces to be unique, and that was reflected in the number of unique customized cars on show among the cars selected by Manavendra Singh, curator of the Cartier Concours. And that reflects still in the jewellery that Cartier, now part of the global luxury conglomerate, Richemont, is selling in India.

This one belongs to the erstwhile royals of Mayurbhanj

“There is great potential in India, but the taxes are an impediment,” says Fornas. Cartier opened its first 300 square metre boutique at Delhi’s Emporio two years ago, and has since been looking for other locations to open in.

India’s share in global sales are still a very small percentage, though Fornas declines to disclose figures. While jewellery is a great love for Indian women, watches also contribute an equal share for India in revenue, he says.

Various challenges remain. “A boutique in Mumbai would be good,” says he, pointing out that while there were no set rules for a store location, the overall environment and central location were crucial for any potential store site. A high street works as well as a mall, Fornas points out, pointing to the success Cartier has had in China, where weather can be a challenge too. Cartier today has 37 boutiques in China, which range from 400 to 900 square meters in size. And China could be Cartier’s largest market, a growth story Fornas would like to see replicated in India.

Louis Ferla, Cartier MD for Middle East and South Asia, says the Indian market for Cartier has grown by 30 to 40 per cent in the last three years. “The boutique is doing well, but high import duties and lack of a high street are impediments to the growth story in India,” he says.

He also admits that Indian customers have traditionally gone for local jewelers, though he is encouraged by the response international jewellery houses are getting of late.

In India, even as Cartier waits to open more stories, Cartier is investing in communication and staff besides of course events and car restoration. Even ‘The Best Car of the Show Award’ went to a historic 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Dome Roof Limousine, a throne car that belongs to former princess Ezra of Hyderabad, which Cartier helped restore to its original form. Whether the cars spur more Indians to try out Cartier timepieces or jewellery remains to be seen.