Smriti Mandhana wears jewellery every day, and that is exactly why Candere wanted her. “For me, jewellery isn’t something that’s reserved for special occasions; it’s something I wear every day,” the India batter said when the brand named her an ambassador on June 27. “It’s a part of my personal style and often the finishing touch that makes me feel like myself.”
Candere is the lifestyle jewellery label of Kalyan Jewellers. Mandhana, a left-handed batter and one of the best-known faces in Indian sport, now stands beside Shah Rukh Khan, who has fronted the brand since May 20, 2025.
The two have different jobs. Khan’s ads were about love, memory and gifts. Mandhana is there to sell jewellery as something a woman puts on for a normal workday, not only for a wedding.
What the brand said
Ramesh Kalyanaraman, a director at Candere, said her pull “extends far beyond the cricket field.” In his words she “represents a generation that values ambition, authenticity and confidence.” He called Khan and Mandhana together a reflection of “the diversity of today’s India.”
Candere said campaigns with her would run across digital, stores and social channels. A welcome film went out the same weekend. Trade press read the deal as part of a wider pattern, with brands turning to women athletes to reach younger buyers as women’s cricket enjoys a surge of popularity in India.
The shopper behind the pitch
The 2025 Diamond Acquisition Study from De Beers Group gives the idea some weight. Outside weddings, 64 percent of natural diamond jewellery sold in India is bought by women for themselves, the study found. About 52 percent of diamond jewellery is now worn every day, against 27 percent in 2014, when 56 percent of pieces were kept for special days. Buyers aged 18 to 28 account for 51 percent of market value.
Candere has been growing fast. Kalyan Jewellers said the platform’s revenue rose about 112 percent in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, from a year earlier, and that it ended the quarter with 129 Candere showrooms after opening five. Mandhana’s signing came three days before that quarter closed, so she cannot take credit for the jump.
The business is still in the red. An exchange filing showed turnover of Rs 425.36 crore in FY26, up from Rs 163.8 crore, alongside a loss after tax of Rs 12.77 crore. On September 21, 2026, Kalyan told exchanges it had put Rs 350 crore into Candere through a rights issue, all of it to repay loans the parent had made earlier.
Mandhana already fronts campaigns for ONE8, Rado, ONLY India and OnePlus. By mid-July Candere was promoting a diamond collection built around her style, and a launch film with her as the endorser was circulating by late August.
Sources
- Candere names Smriti Mandhana as brand ambassador alongside SRK – Indian Television Dot Com
- Herbalife signs up cricketer Smriti Mandhana as brand ambassador
- Smriti Mandhana Joins Candere Beside Shah Rukh Khan
