Archive for March 7th, 2006
Dubai jewelry group pledges $1 million for marketing
[From NationalJeweler.com, March 1, 2005]
The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group has pledged to raise $1 million in U.S. dollars to launch an integrated, global plan for marketing jewelry to consumers.
At the 3rd Dubai Conference, held Feb. 20-21, representatives of the gold, gemstone and pearl industries agreed to establish a committee to endorse a focused marketing initiative. Paul Walker, CEO of Gold Field Mineral Services, was selected to chair the committee, which was charged with positioning jewelry for growth against other lifestyle options in the market.
Conference participants agreed that a unique opportunity had been presented for all segments of the precious metals, gemstone and jewelry value chain to act together. Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, publicly praised the Dubai Group’s pledge in a release.
“This is a tremendous step forward in the global effort to promote jewelry sales worldwide,” Cavalieri said in CIBJO’s announcement.
At the conference, Cavalieri spoke in a session dedicated to “Global Jewellery Marketing” In his talk, the CIBJO president warned that the newer, younger consumer markets may need special attention to convince those consumers to buy jewelry.
“In this information age, the younger consumers especially may be losing interest in jewelry products,” Cavalieri told conference attendees. “To answer these challenges, we need ingenuity and originality from the jewelry designers, and well as from the marketers. Furthermore, in the current climate, they must also be sure that their products are not linked to any controversial issues—social and/or economic—that may cause consumer confidence in jewelry products to waver. The marketing messages should be inclusive of elements of confidence.”
CIBJO’s 2005 Congress took place in Hong Kong, March 4 through 7, with the theme of “Maintaining consumer confidence as we face new challenges in the jewellery industry.”
For more information on the CIBJO Congress, visit: www.cibjo.org
March 7th, 2006
Michele Watches Announces the Launch of Its First Fine Jewelry Collection
[Press Release] PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance
Monday March 6, 12:52 pm ET
- Collection Will Be Available Exclusively at Neiman Marcus -
MIAMI, March 6 /PRNewswire/ — Michele Barouh, Creative Director of Michele, announced the arrival of the first Michele Jewelry Collection in select Neiman Marcus stores nationwide. This 18 karat gold collection mixes precious stones with the fun personality of the Michele brand to create distinctive and unique jewelry. The Michele Jewelry Collection is the first brand extension for the fine watch company, which was acquired by Fossil (Nasdaq: FOSL - News) in 2004.
Like Michele Watches, Michele Jewelry celebrates effortless glamour by marrying modern fashion with independent style. The predominance of color, the interchangeability of pieces, the weight and scale are all signature Michele. “We are so excited about the launch of Michele Jewelry, says Creative Director Michele Barouh. The collection enhances the beauty of the woman wearing it without overpowering her.” Michele’s impeccable eye for detail can be attributed to three generations of family experience, world travels, and love for both the fashion and watch businesses.
Michele has created four groups, which comprise the first collection, all inspired by her Miami surroundings, where she and the accessories brand are based. The groups — Signature, Hula, Seaside and Terrazzo — combine geometric details with curvilinear links inspired by the pattern of the Michele logo. Beautifully colored stones such as lemon citrine, blue topaz, and rose de France are the hero of this fine jewelry story with accents of diamonds, amethysts, and sapphires throughout. The stones are primarily rose- cut on both sides, allowing the stones to capture the light and reflect color brilliantly. The collections were designed to be intermixed, layered, and combined to create individual style statements.
The collection includes rings, earrings, bracelets, charms, necklaces and pendants. Price points range from $250 for charms to $8,000 for more statement pieces.
A company with more than twenty years of family history, the Michele brand was named after daughter and muse, Michele Barouh. Michele has revolutionized the way we look at watches … from simply being a timepiece to being a statement of fashion, of attitude, of mood and of individuality. Launched as a fine watch brand in the United States in the fall of 2000 with its celebrated CSX Diamond Collection, Michele Watches (http://www.michele.com) was acquired by Fossil in the spring of 2004. Fossil, headquartered in Richardson, Texas, is a leader in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of contemporary, high quality watches, apparel, and accessories predicated on fashion and value.
March 7th, 2006
RFID Tag targets jewelry industry.
ThomasNet
March 6, 2006 - Measuring 16 mm dia and 2.6 mm thick, 13.56 MHz RFID Tag guarantees accurate traceability and quick inventory checks of jewelry, from manufacturers to retailers. When tag is attached to item, it cannot be removed without deactivating it, making it impossible to remove tag and place it on different item without leaving electronic or physical evidence of tampering.
Sokymat Launches Revolutionary Tamper-evident 13.56 MHz RFID Tag Designed for the Jewelry Industry
Granges, Switzerland, January 31, 2006 - Sokymat SA, the world’s leading supplier of RFID transponders, announces the launch of a next-generation RFID tag designed specifically for the jewelry industry. Sokymat, in collaboration with The Jewellery Store dmcc (TJS), a Dubai-based service provider to jewelry wholesalers and retailers, has developed a tag that guarantees accurate traceability and quick inventory checks of jewelry, from the manufacturers to the retailers. The RFID transponder is also the key that allows TJS to offer its unique consignment and jewelry services to retailers.
The new 13.56 MHz RFID tag has a diameter of just 16mm and a thickness of 2.6mm, and has a specific patent-pending feature for tamper evidence. When the tag is attached to the item, it cannot be removed without deactivating it. It is therefore impossible to remove the tag and place it on a different item without leaving electronic or physical evidence of tampering.
The two companies have been collaborating since 2004, when TJS entrusted Sokymat with developing and supplying a customized RFID product for their needs as service providers to the jewelry industry. This project led to a patented RFID transponder design and successful real world pilot tests, and finally to a full-scale roll out with over one million RFID tags.
TJS, a Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre (DMCC) free zone company, offers jewelry wholesalers and retailers a unique solution based on Sokymat’s tamper evident RFID tags. The tag allows TJS to guarantee traceability and accurate inventory across the supply chain. With greater accountability for stock, TJS and its partners will offer technology services that will enable enhanced financing and more cost effective insurance solutions to retail and wholesale partners. Retailers can also use the RFID technology to quickly and easily carry out inventory checks in their stores using RFID scanners.
Philippe Held, Industry & Logistics Product Manager, Sokymat, comments, “It was a very challenging project right from the start. The first challenge was meeting the customer’s wishes in terms of time to market, catching up on the delay caused by unsuccessful attempts by other tag vendors to meet the project’s stringent requirements. The second challenge lay in meeting the actual technical specifications required of the tag: a tamper evident feature, small dimensions, good reading performance and ability to withstand all handling and cleaning process to which jewelry is subjected. I am very proud to say that Sokymat successfully met both challenges with a unique 13.56 MHz tag design.”
Gabriel Nasser, TJS Information Technology Director, explains: “Such an ambitious and challenging project requires equally ambitious and professional partners. Sokymat was selected from among a dozen or so tag manufacturers and was easily ahead of its closest competitor. As our partner, Sokymat was initially able to meet our needs and will be able to fulfill our long-term goals. We’ve made a considerable investment in this large order for one million tags so that we achieve a cost per tag that is acceptable. Our customers cannot obtain such a tag from any other vendor.”
About The Jewellery Store dmcc
The Jewellery Store dmcc (TJS) offers revolutionary new services to the jewelry industry. The company was founded by four leading players in 2002 to explore more efficient means of financing, and in particular to investigate the potential of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to provide improved assurance to the location, authenticity and ownership of jewelry.
The technology has progressed from proof-of-concept to pilot using real clients and real retail spaces and is now offered to customers in the industry. TJS has unique patent pending technology, specifically tuned to the solution.
The founding partners are Yusuf Nonoo Jewellery, Damas Jewellery LLC, Deepu Jewellers LLC and Standard Bank Plc. Each partner brings a depth of experience in jewelry wholesaling, retail, bullion and finance.
About Sokymat
Sokymat, the world’s leading supplier of RFID transponders, is present in all major market segments that express a strong interest in the benefits of RFID technology, namely access control and security, industrial automation and supply chain management as well as animal identification. Thanks to its 15 years of experience in transponder manufacturing technology and its know-how in packaging technology, Sokymat can design and manufacture virtually any type of custom-made transponder suited to the specific operating environment and packaging material requested by the customer - including metal.
Alongside with its expertise in 125/134.2 kHz and UHF RFID technology, Sokymat boasts the most complete know-how in 13.56 MHz technology and serves fast growing industry segments such as the emerging market for government-issued electronic passports and travel documents.
The group employs more than 400 people worldwide, has both research and development centers and manufacturing plants in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and Malaysia.
March 7th, 2006
