Lifetime Achievement Award for Sanjay Kothari

Kothari, who received the award at a GJF function on Friday night, was given a standing ovation by the capacity crowd at the venue. Known for his personal humility and trait of listening to opinion from every side of an issue before marshaling decisions on sometimes thorny issue, is held in almost universal esteem by the industry.

Kothari led GJEPC when it decided to turn its small and heavily consumer-dependent trade show into a business-to-business platform that would network the Indian diamond pipeline, jewelry production and retail industries, long before the new open-economy policies of the Indian government ushered in today’s rapidly-growing consumer market. That bold decision to close the show’s doors to the consumers who were seen as its mainstay, led to the development of today’s huge IIJS trade show, which is among the world’s top three in size and considered an unmatched industry networking platform throughout India and a major one for many other markets.

It was Kothari who convinced the leading lights of India’s fragmented jewelry retail industry that they needed a single platform with a cohesive voice to tackle the many problems of the industry and help compete successfully in the ever-more-crowded luxury retail space. True to his style, he observed in his acceptance speech that he looked forward to the GJF achieving for the retail industry in ten years, what the GJEPC had taken decades to achieve for the export production industry.

Today, Kothari is known as the insistent voice prodding the industry to collectively launch generic promotion initiatives for diamonds and diamond jewelry. He warns that the new generation will easily turn its back on diamonds and diamond jewelry if it isn’t given a value proposition that resonates with its own ideals and priorities. The Anant generic campaign for diamond jewelry in India was a result of his efforts.

In an endeavor to get the diamond pipeline closer to and more in touch with the end consumer, he has spearheaded a GJEPC initiative to hold a trend-forecasting seminar next month. He is also a strong advocate for the development of niche trade shows targeting the end consumer directly and thus helping keep jewelry among the most desirable luxury items.