PC Jeweller Ltd has signed an exclusive collaboration agreement with Blue Nile Inc, a leading online jeweller in the US, the company said in a stock market disclosure.
The partnership aims to evaluate the Indian market for potential online jewellery sales on a long-term basis. It is a stepping stone towards a potential strategic partnership between the two firms.
As a part of the agreement, PC Jeweller and Blue Nile will initially launch joint branded products for which both the teams have already started working.
They will work together on aspects like products design, diamond sourcing, branding & marketing, packaging, customer experience, etc. The joint branded products will be retailed through PC Jeweller's showrooms and e-commerce portal WearYourShine.com.
Founded in 1999, Blue Nile is one of the largest online retailers of diamonds and offers engagement rings, wedding rings and fine jewellery. The company competes with traditional jewellery stores such as Tiffany & Co and online retailer stores such as James Allen, Belgium Diamonds and Angel City Jewelers.
Founded by PC Garg, PC Jeweller is into manufacturing, retailing, and exporting gold, diamond and silver jewellery. The company has a pan-India jewellery retail chain with a focus on diamond and gold jewellery. It went public a little over two years ago. PC Jeweller currently has more than 50 showrooms across 42 cities in 17 states.
An email sent to the spokesperson of PC Jeweller to get more clarity did not immediately elicit a response.
Recently, South- and Southeast-Asia focused private equity firm Creador bought a minority stake in the firm for Rs 135 crore through a secondary market share purchase.
Other deals in the space include Warburg Pincus making a big bet on Kalyan Jewellers and SAIF Partners investing in Senco Gold.
In online jewellery space, last September, Ratan Tata, former chief of Tata Group and currently chairman emeritus of group’s holding company Tata Sons, had invested an undisclosed amount in Bangalore-based Jewels Online Distribution India Pvt Ltd, the company behind online jewellery retailer BlueStone. The online jewellery retailing space is dominated by the likes of Caratlane among others.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
