Having established a firm presence in the Indian market, with a reported Rs. 12,000 million ($279 million) worth of sales from its nearly 100 outlets across the country, India’s largest jewelry brand, Tanishq, plans to enter the U.S., the world’s largest jewelry market.

Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan Industries, the parent company of Tanishq, has revealed that the brand will be launched in the U.S. shortly. He also said that the first Tanishq stores would open in Chicago and New Jersey by January 2008. The firm plans to open up to 10 stores with an initial investment of $6-7 million.

Ruling out any plans to enlarge its presence through acquisitions in the short term, Bhat also clarified that all the Tanishq stores will either be franchisee outlets or company-owned.

Titan’s COO - International business, S Ravi Kant, said that the stores would be in high-traffic malls and would be a little larger than typical US stores with about 2,000 square feet each.

While some part of the product range would be the same as in India, most of it would be special products developed especially for the U.S. The company has even recruited American designers with experience in working with luxury brands.

The move is expected to boost the share of jewelry of the company's international business from its present 40 percent, (60% accrues from Titan’s watch business), to about 55% over the next 3-4 years.