Damas Jewellery, one of the Gulf’s most enduring names in fine jewellery, is entering a period of significant transition with the appointment of Ananthanarayanan Hariharan as Chief Executive Officer. His arrival coincides with an important strategic development: Titan Company Ltd., through its UAE subsidiary, is progressing toward a transaction that, once completed, will give the company a 67 percent stake in Damas, while Mannai Corporation will continue to hold its 33 percent share. The timing is notable, bringing together the long-standing heritage of a century-old Middle Eastern jewellery house and the disciplined, design-led approach that Titan has championed in India.
Hariharan’s appointment signals the beginning of what may become one of the region’s most closely observed retail transformations. His career spans more than three decades across some of India’s most respected consumer, fashion, and jewellery enterprises. He began in the operations-driven environment of Madura Coats before moving to Reliance Retail, where he worked across supply chain, category management and store operations at a time when India’s organised retail industry was undergoing rapid expansion. His leadership journey broadened significantly at Reliance Trends, where his work across merchandising and assortment planning placed him at the heart of contemporary Indian fashion retail.
A turning point in his trajectory came with his move to Titan Industries as General Manager – Merchandising for Tanishq, a role that deepened his understanding of design processes, product genealogy, sourcing ecosystems and the emotional vocabulary of jewellery as a category. This experience is widely seen as one of the strongest foundations for his new position at Damas, given the brand’s legacy and its need to appeal simultaneously to tradition-rooted buyers and younger consumers seeking modern expression. His recent roles at Reliance Retail and Novel Jewels further broadened his command over retail architecture, product development, customer experience, and the integration of design thinking into commercial strategy. Academically, his grounding at BITS Pilani and IIM Calcutta adds analytical sharpness to his creative instinct.
Damas itself stands at an unusually interesting moment. Established in 1907, the brand has long been regarded as a custodian of jewellery culture in the Gulf, shaped by regional design codes, craftsmanship techniques, and an aesthetic language that moves fluidly between heritage and cosmopolitan aspiration. Its collections, across gold, diamonds, bridal and signature lines, have historically been tied to the cultural rhythm of the region. Over the years, Damas has balanced this heritage with an awareness of changing tastes, increasingly cosmopolitan shoppers and a vibrant, competitive luxury retail landscape.
Titan’s advancing transaction is expected to introduce a new layer of momentum to this evolution. While the deal is still moving toward completion, its direction suggests a long-term view of the region, and an intention to build deeper relevance in a market defined by high design consciousness, strong brand loyalties and a mix of traditional and modern buying behaviours. For Titan, Damas offers a rare blend of legacy, market familiarity and emotional equity — elements that might otherwise take decades to cultivate organically.
In this context, Hariharan’s leadership is emerging as a subject of considerable interest within retail and design circles. Observers expect him to focus on strengthening Damas’s design story, enhancing product architecture and elevating the contemporary expression of the brand without disrupting the heritage embedded in its identity. The company’s retail environments, which play a crucial role in communicating luxury in the GCC, may also see refinement as experiential standards continue to rise across the region. There is an increasing expectation that the brand’s future collections will reflect a tighter interplay between regional aesthetics and global design currents, particularly in bridal, diamond-led and seasonal lines. His experience at Tanishq and later at Novel Jewels suggests a strong orientation toward design clarity, merchandise discipline and customer-inspired innovation—qualities that align well with the creative opportunities ahead.
The broader market context adds further weight to this transition. Jewellery consumption in the GCC is changing rapidly, driven by younger affluent buyers who are more experimental in their style choices, a renewed wave of tourism-led spending in cities like Dubai and Doha, and a growing emphasis on transparency, certification, and design-led differentiation. These shifts open space for brands that can blend craftsmanship with contemporary relevance, and Damas—under its incoming leadership structure—seems poised to navigate this intersection with renewed confidence.
What emerges from this appointment is not merely a new CEO at a legacy jewellery house, but the early outline of a creative and strategic evolution. Damas is entering a chapter where heritage and modernity will need to coexist more meaningfully than ever before. Titan’s evolving role adds institutional strength and design-led discipline, while Hariharan brings the experience required to reinterpret a classic brand for a new generation of buyers. It is a convergence of timing, leadership and market momentum that could reshape how the region’s jewellery industry thinks about luxury, design influence and cultural resonance.
As the transaction moves toward completion and Hariharan settles into his role, the luxury retail world will be watching closely. The possibilities before Damas are broad — from a refreshed design language to a more refined retail identity — and the journey ahead promises to be one of the most intriguing developments in the GCC’s jewellery landscape in recent years.
