CEOs, Country Heads, Brand Directors, Heads of Retail and Heads of High Jewellery for fine-jewellery maisons, Indian heritage jewellers and luxury-watch houses in India.
Fine Jewellery & Luxury Watches
Executive Search
32+ Jewellery & Watch Placements — typical mandates close in 105-130 days, with a 12-month candidate guarantee.
Specialisation withinLuxury Goods & Services·Crafting the Category of Desire
India's fine-jewellery and luxury-watch market spans global luxury conglomerate watch and jewellery divisions, independent Swiss haute-horlogerie maisons, Place Vendôme high-jewellery houses, listed Indian heritage jewellers, regional bridal-jewellery chains, multi-brand luxury-watch retail networks, and a fast-emerging tier of designer-led contemporary jewellery houses. The major players include Richemont brands (Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Montblanc, Piaget), LVMH watches (TAG Heuer, Hublot, Bulgari, Tiffany, Chaumet), Swatch Group (Omega, Longines, Breguet, Blancpain, Rado, Tissot), Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Chopard, Graff, Harry Winston, plus Indian heritage and listed jewellers (Tanishq and CaratLane by Titan, Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Joyalukkas, PC Jeweller, Senco Gold) and designer-led houses (Hazoorilal, Sunita Shekhawat, Tribe Amrapali, Isharya, Hanut Singh, Forevermark / De Beers India). Combined addressable market exceeds US$90 Bn, with wedding-jewellery at the core and daily-wear, high-jewellery and investment-grade pieces growing sharply.
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→A Richemont watch brand seeks a Country Head to open two mono-brand boutiques and build a high-complications programme
→An Indian heritage jeweller needs a CEO to lead IPO readiness and scale bridal-plus-daily-wear revenue to ₹5,000 Cr
→A global-maison high-jewellery division requires a Head of High Jewellery to launch Indian private-salon and trunk-show calendar
→A luxury-watch multi-brand retailer needs a Head of Retail to scale boutiques from 55 to 110 in three years
Our Fine Jewellery & Watches Track Record
Situation:
A Swiss watch maison sought a Country Head to open its first India mono-brand boutique and build a high-complications clienteling programme.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate with Swiss-HQ stewardship and UHNI-client depth in 104 days; boutique hit breakeven in month 7; high-complications register crossed 40 in year one.
Situation:
An Indian heritage jeweller needed a CEO for IPO-readiness, store-network expansion and daily-wear portfolio build.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate with listed-retail and jewellery pedigree in 112 days; store count grew from 72 to 135 in 24 months; revenue crossed ₹5,000 Cr.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Fine Jewellery & Watches Practice
India's fine-jewellery and luxury-watch market spans global luxury conglomerate watch and jewellery divisions, independent Swiss haute-horlogerie maisons, Place Vendôme high-jewellery houses, listed Indian heritage jewellers, regional bridal-jewellery chains, multi-brand luxury-watch retail networks, and a fast-emerging tier of designer-led contemporary jewellery houses. The major players include Richemont brands (Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Montblanc, Piaget), LVMH watches (TAG Heuer, Hublot, Bulgari, Tiffany, Chaumet), Swatch Group (Omega, Longines, Breguet, Blancpain, Rado, Tissot), Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Chopard, Graff, Harry Winston, plus Indian heritage and listed jewellers (Tanishq and CaratLane by Titan, Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Joyalukkas, PC Jeweller, Senco Gold) and designer-led houses (Hazoorilal, Sunita Shekhawat, Tribe Amrapali, Isharya, Hanut Singh, Forevermark / De Beers India). Combined addressable market exceeds US$90 Bn, with wedding-jewellery at the core and daily-wear, high-jewellery and investment-grade pieces growing sharply.
The sector demands leaders who can navigate BIS Hallmark architecture, HUID compliance, gold-monetisation, CBDT jewellery norms, BCD / GST structure, GJEPC export schemes and high-jewellery / private-salon / trunk-show clienteling. Our practice covers CEOs, Country Heads, Brand Directors, Heads of Retail, Heads of High Jewellery, Heads of Design, Heads of Manufacturing and Chief Marketing Officers for jewellery and luxury-watch mandates.
As a specialist Country Head mandates in jewellery maisons, our practice also covers CMO placements in heritage jewellers, our practice also covers Luxury Goods & Services practice overview, and as a source for Luxury — luxury automotive.
The Fine Jewellery & Watches Landscape Today
India is the world's second-largest jewellery market (US$85–90 Bn TAM) and the fastest-growing luxury-watch market after China. Tanishq (Titan) leads organised jewellery (₹50,000+ Cr revenue), Kalyan, Malabar and Joyalukkas anchor regional leadership, and Richemont / LVMH / Swatch Group watches grow 18–22% CAGR through Jio World Plaza, DLF Emporio, Palladium, UB City and Phoenix Palladium flagships, Chronos-by-Ethos and Kapoor Watch Co. multi-brand networks and Tata Cliq Luxury / Ethos digital platforms.
Key Leadership Challenges in Fine Jewellery & Watches
Navigating BIS HUID Hallmark compliance across fine-gold, diamond and coloured-stone jewellery at Tier-1 and Tier-2 retailer scale
Executing bridal / wedding-jewellery commercialisation at scale while building investment-grade and high-jewellery private-salon clienteling for UHNI
Scaling high-jewellery, bespoke and trunk-show programmes for global maison and independent-house calendars in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai
Managing luxury-watch multi-brand and mono-brand boutique economics, pre-owned watches and Watchmaker-Certified-Pre-Owned programmes
Driving omnichannel integration across flagship retail, multi-brand watch e-commerce, Indian luxury-marketplace platforms and brand DTC
Attracting Heads of High Jewellery, Design Directors and Master-Watchmakers amid constrained local talent and heavy global-HQ dependence
What We Look For in Fine Jewellery & Watches Leaders
Across mandates, fine jewellery & watches leadership tends to cluster into a small set of archetypes. We calibrate each search against the profile your board actually needs — not the one most commonly available.
The Jewellery Maison Country Head
A jewellery-maison country head with bridal / daily-wear / high-jewellery portfolio command and HUID / BIS regulatory fluency.
The Watch Maison Country Head
A luxury-watch country head with mono-brand-boutique-build depth, Richemont / LVMH / Swatch Group governance and Chrono24-pre-owned fluency.
The High-Jewellery Head
A high-jewellery leader with bespoke / private-salon / trunk-show programme discipline and UHNI-top-client relationship depth.
The Heritage-Jeweller CEO
A heritage-jewellery CEO with multi-state store-network P&L command, IPO / capital-market credibility and sourcing / refinery stewardship.
The Design Director
A design director with Indian-craft / temple / Mughal / Art-Deco heritage depth and global-runway-to-counter commercialisation discipline.
The Luxury-Watch Retail Head
A luxury-watch retail leader with multi-brand-boutique P&L, global-brand-partner stewardship and certified-pre-owned programme discipline.
Regulatory & Compensation Context
Regulatory Backdrop
BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations 2018 and mandatory HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification) scheme for gold jewellery; BIS (Hallmarking of Silver Jewellery & Artefacts) Regulations; Gold Monetisation Scheme; Consumer Protection Act 2019 and Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020; Legal Metrology Act 2009; Customs Act 1962 and BCD on gold / diamonds / platinum / watches (gold BCD revised periodically in Union Budget); GST (3% on gold and silver jewellery; higher on watches); Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 including ₹10 lakh cash-receipt KYC norms for bullion / jewellery retailers; CBDT Instruction 1916 / 1994 on family jewellery holdings; Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) norms and SEZ (Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone, Surat Diamond Bourse) incentives; FDI / FEMA for foreign-maison investment; Companies Act 2013; SEBI LODR for listed jewellers; Shops & Establishments Acts; EPR for packaging; ASCI Code.
Compensation Architecture
Jewellery / Watch-Maison Country Heads (global luxury conglomerate India units): ₹6–18 Cr fixed + STI + LTI; Heritage-Jeweller CEOs (listed Indian heritage jewellers): ₹8–22 Cr + STI + ESOP; Brand Directors: ₹3.5–8 Cr + STI; Heads of High Jewellery: ₹4–10 Cr + high-sale STI; Heads of Retail: ₹3.5–8 Cr; Design Directors: ₹3–7 Cr; Heads of Manufacturing / Sourcing: ₹2.5–5 Cr; CMOs: ₹3–7 Cr; Heads of Luxury-Watch Retail (multi-brand boutique networks): ₹3–7 Cr.
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Fine Jewellery & Watches
Mandate experience covering CEOs, Country Heads and Brand Directors across global luxury conglomerate watch and jewellery divisions, independent Swiss haute-horlogerie maisons and Place Vendôme high-jewellery houses
Deep coverage of Heads of Retail, Heads of High Jewellery, Heads of Clienteling and Heads of Watchmaking Services
Executive-search expertise for CEOs, CFOs, CMOs and Heads of Retail at listed Indian heritage jewellers and regional bridal-jewellery chains
Strong track record placing Design Directors, Heads of Manufacturing and Heads of Sourcing for heritage jewellery houses
Leadership talent for multi-brand luxury-watch retailers and mono-brand boutique networks
Confidential mandates for high-jewellery / bespoke private-salon heads and trunk-show leads at global maisons
Board and advisory-director searches for listed jewellery players and PE-backed challengers
Organisations We Serve
Global luxury conglomerate watch and jewellery divisions operating India units
Independent Swiss haute-horlogerie and high-complications maisons
Place Vendôme and equivalent high-jewellery houses with India private-salon programmes
Listed Indian heritage jewellers operating multi-state store networks
Regional bridal-jewellery chains with deep South / West / North franchises
Multi-brand luxury-watch retail networks operating boutique-and-online architectures
Designer-led contemporary jewellery houses scaling beyond a single atelier
Diamond and coloured-stone investment-grade specialist platforms
Fine Jewellery & Watches leaders assessed on the Luxury “ATELIER” framework
Seven dimensions calibrated for luxury leadership — where commercial rigour meets brand custodianship. Dimensions are calibrated for fine jewellery & watches mandates where relevant.
Parent Practice
Return to Luxury Goods & Services
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