India's major jewelry manufacturer Kothari Group launched a new lab-grown diamond (artificially cultivated diamond) brand called "Keemti," opening its first store in June 2026 on Link Road in the Andheri area of Mumbai, near Infinity Mall. For a group with more than 35 years of experience in manufacturing and export, this marks its first move into retailing under its own brand. At the opening ceremony, investors Nikhil Kamath — known as a co-founder of Zerodha — and entrepreneur-investor Kavin Shah were listed as backers, and former banker and social activist Amruta Fadnavis attended the ribbon-cutting. The move of a manufacturer shifting from "behind the scenes" to "brand owner," and the lineup of investors gathered around it — these two points hold clues that Japanese jewelry makers, jewelry D2C brands, and anyone interested in putting money behind Indian consumption trends shouldn't overlook.
The facts confirmed in this announcement are as follows. The brand name is "Keemti Jewels." The founder and managing director is Armaan Kothari, and the chairman is Sunil Kothari. Kothari Group is a company that has handled jewelry manufacturing and export to the US, Europe, and the Middle East for more than 35 years, and Keemti is its first retail brand. Investors include Nikhil Kamath and Kavin Shah. The first store is in the Andheri area of Mumbai, a service-oriented store equipped with individual consulting, private fitting spaces, and a lounge. Sales channels combine physical retail with e-commerce through its own site and Amazon in an omnichannel setup, and expansion into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities (regional hub cities and semi-urban areas) is also under consideration going forward. Sunil Kothari commented, "Keemti is a brand that reflects where the future of fine jewelry is heading."
Lab-grown diamonds have the same chemical composition and crystal structure as natural diamonds, but are cultivated in a factory reactor rather than mined. India is becoming the world's manufacturing hub in this field. India's exports of polished lab-grown diamonds reached about 18.8 million carats in fiscal 2025-26, surpassing natural diamond export volume (about 16 million carats) for the first time. Investment in CVD (chemical vapor deposition) reactors, centered on Surat, has pushed up mass production, lowered prices, and created a price range within reach of younger consumers.
This is where Kamath's investment carries meaning. He is the man who built Zerodha, a retail brokerage for Indian individual investors, and his money can be read as flowing not toward "a substitute for natural diamonds," but toward "a new category where manufacturing country India holds the price and supply." A country that took world market share in manufacturing is now moving to capture added value through a brand born of its own soil — and layered onto that turning point are the money of a celebrity investor and the attendance of a socially prominent figure. The reason Japanese media has picked this up as "the lineup of investors is making waves" is precisely because it symbolizes this "downstream shift by the manufacturing country."
To the extent it could be verified, here is how the two compare. On price, lab-grown diamonds are significantly cheaper than natural diamonds of equivalent quality — while estimates vary by research firm, a 1-carat stone typically falls to a fraction of the natural price. On the other hand, looking at export value rather than volume, loose lab-grown diamonds account for under 10% of India's wholesale diamond export value. In other words, the current situation is an asymmetry where lab-grown has overtaken natural by volume, but its value share is still small.
In terms of market size, India's lab-grown diamond jewelry market is projected to grow at around 15% a year, from about $450 million in 2026 to about $1.8 billion by 2036. Keemti's entry can be positioned as a move that strikes at exactly this transition timing — from volume to value, and from material to brand. Note that this article does not deal with unverified figures such as store-count or sales targets.
Here are views from people knowledgeable about jewelry distribution, paraphrased from multiple industry reports (individual speakers withheld).
One industry insider assesses that "when a company with a manufacturing track record has its own brand, it can get ahead on the strength of its quality explanations and price transparency. Without a middleman in the way, it has more freedom in pricing strategy." Another points out that "an omnichannel design aimed at Tier-2 and Tier-3 from the start starts from a different place than the conventional model targeting only urban luxury stores. It's a statement of intent to capture the new middle class in regional areas." There are cautious voices too, however, with the view that "the more supply of lab-grown increases, the more prices tend to fall. How to prevent price collapse through branding will become a shared challenge for every company entering this space."
This is the core that Japanese jewelry, food, and manufacturing companies should translate into their own decision-making. This move doesn't end as "a story about an Indian jewelry company." Here are the 3 points worth reading across.
First, The stronger a company is in manufacturing, the more room it has to consider "moving downstream under its own brand"— that's the point. Kothari Group has, for the first time, converted 35 years of manufacturing track record into retailing under its own brand. Japan, too, has many mid-sized jewelry, metal-processing, and food companies that have spent years honing their skills through OEM and contract work. What such companies can learn from this India-born case is the structure by which accumulated technical skill only converts into pricing power once it takes the form of a brand. It's exactly the companies feeling their contract-manufacturing margins hit a ceiling that stand to gain from putting a combination like "new category × own brand," as seen with lab-grown diamonds, on the table as a concrete business hypothesis.
Second, Japanese companies wanting to sell products or materials into the Indian market should redesign around the premise of Tier-2, Tier-3, and omnichannel— that's the point. Keemti built in regional hub cities and Amazon use from the very start. When a Japanese company supplies jewelry materials, packaging, inspection equipment, or processing machinery to India, the required lot sizes, pricing, and logistics conditions change depending on whether the counterpart is expanding on the premise of "urban flagships only" or "regional plus e-commerce." Simply confirming, before negotiations, which direction the counterpart's store-opening strategy is heading in greatly sharpens the accuracy of a proposal.
Third, Use the "temperature difference" from Japan's own lab-grown diamond market as a factor in timing your entry— that's the point. Japan's own lab-grown diamond market is also forecast to grow from about $500 million in 2024 to about $2.2 billion by 2033, and department store floor space for it is expanding too. However, Japan has its own particular circumstances: the focus is on sub-1-carat stones and melee (small stones), and the price gap with natural diamonds tends to narrow because of the labor involved in cutting. India's "mass production brings the price down" model won't necessarily apply as-is. If a Japanese jewelry D2C brand or select shop wants to handle this category, it can consider a division of labor — "grow it cheaply in India, add value through a Japanese brand context" — as an alternative option to downstream integration like Keemti's.
What this case shows is that lab-grown diamonds have shifted from "competition over materials" to "competition over brand and retail." If companies in manufacturing-country India move to control retail under their own national brands, distributors in other countries — who have until now sourced the material and put their own brand on top — will have no choice but to rethink their sourcing and differentiation strategy. Now that investor money has started flowing into downstream brands, it's natural to expect more combinations of "manufacturing × brand × celebrity investor" of the same kind going forward. For Japanese companies, this is both the emergence of a competitor and an opportunity to work their way into India's brand ecosystem as a manufacturing partner or supplier.
Here are the minimum points worth grasping before moving on anything related to Indian lab-grown diamonds. First, always confirm the issuer of the grading certificate (whose lab did the grading) — the accrediting body differs by brand, and this connects directly to your accountability when selling in Japan. Next, assume an operation that clearly states "the difference from natural diamonds" alongside the product, from a labeling and misrepresentation standpoint. Furthermore, since this is a category where prices tend to fall, structure your trading terms on the assumption of speeding up purchasing and inventory turnover. If your negotiating partner is targeting Tier-2, Tier-3, and e-commerce, locking in lot sizes, delivery times, and return conditions as a separate arrangement from those for urban flagship stores will reduce the chance of having to backtrack later.
Keemti's opening isn't just a new store launch. It's a turning point where an Indian company that won the world in manufacturing moves to seize pricing power under its own brand, with a celebrity investor's money layered on top as a double signal. The question for Japanese manufacturing and jewelry companies is simple: when, in which new category, and under whose brand will you move your accumulated technology downstream? And if you're supplying into India, can you match your terms to the counterpart's regional-plus-e-commerce strategy? Whether your company has answers to these two questions is what will determine the quality of your next move.
Its chemical composition and crystal structure are nearly identical to natural diamonds; the difference is that it's cultivated in a reactor rather than mined. At equivalent quality, the price is significantly lower than natural, and it is winning support mainly among younger consumers.
He is known as co-founder of Zerodha, a retail brokerage for Indian individual investors, and the fact that his money has flowed into brand retail originating from manufacturing-country India is being read as symbolizing a "shift of capital from manufacturing to downstream brands."
Companies with a manufacturing track record should consider the option of moving downstream under their own brand, while companies supplying into India should consider trading terms matched to the counterpart's Tier-2/Tier-3-plus-e-commerce store strategy — having thought through each in advance speeds up decision-making.
[Sources]
RECENT
2026.09.24Bridgestone India’s 30th-anniversary film builds on the founder’s motto2026.09.24Flipkart’s move: putting the two meanings of "BBD" on Kolkata buses2026.09.24Veteran fertilizer maker KICL enters beverages with coconut water, starting in three South Indian states2026.09.24Pinit delivers saris in under 45 minutes, setting up a mirror and lighting at the customer’s home to choose fromCONTACT
Considering entering the Indian market?
Building on the developments on the ground covered in this article, we will suggest an approach that fits your products.
Book a free consultation →SOJAPAN
We support Japanese companies entering India, from market research through local partner development, test sales, and import.