Archive for March 28th, 2006
Pertahankan Kemilau Perhiasan
Beda Bahan, Beda Pula Jenis Perawatan
Penampilan standar pasti bisa berubah jadi anggun berkat kemilau perhiasan. Namun, kemilau itu akan pudar, jika kamu tidak memperlakukan perhiasan dengan benar. Sama seperti benda berharga lain, perhiasan juga butuh perawatan. Beda bahan, beda pula perlakuannya.
Tapi, ada tip yang bisa kamu terapkan pada semua jenis perhiasan. Agar awet, segera bersihkan perhiasan sesaat setelah selesai digunakan. Tapi hati-hati, caranya nggak sembarangan. Untuk membersihkan minyak dan kotoran lain, gunakan kain yang terbuat dari 100 persen katun. Setelah itu, rendam dalam air hangat yang dicampur sabun, selama kurang lebih sepuluh menit. Pakai sabun yang tidak mengandung deterjen ya!
Untuk menjangkau kotoran di sudut-sudut perhiasan, kamu bisa menggunakan sikat berbulu lembut. Bisa dengan sikat gigi anak-anak. Setelah semua proses tersebut selesai, keringkan kembali menggunakan kain. Kalau bisa, jangan pakai bahan berserat seperti tissue. Karena bisa menimbulkan goresan. Gosok dengan gerakan memutar hingga perhiasan benar-benar kering. Berikut, perawatan perhiasan berdasar bahan dasarnya:
” Emas dan Platinum
Emas dan Platinum bisa dibersihkan dengan cara yang sama, yaitu merendamnya dalam air sabun, lebih baik lagi jika ditambahkan beberapa tetes amonia. Minyak dan kotoran yang melekat bisa dihilangkan dengan menggosokkan kain yang sudah dilumuri dengan alkohol.
” Perak
Perak punya nilai minus, karena cenderung lebih mudah pudar. Biasanya diakibatkan karena proses oksidasi antara perak dengan oksigen dan sulfur. Makanya, menyimpan perak sedikit lebih ribet. Bungkus dengan kain yang lembut, jauhkan dari bahan-bahan karet dan kayu karena bisa memicu kepudaran. Bersihkan minimal seminggu sekali, cukup dengan air sabun dan selembar kain bersih. Untuk kotoran yang lebih bandel, bisa juga pakai cairan pembersih perak yang biasa beredar di pasaran.
” Tembaga dan Kuningan
Bahan ini tergolong perhiasan yang cukup mudah untuk dibersihkan. Menggunakan bahan-bahan dapur juga bisa kok. Bubuhkan beberapa tetes sari lemon ke dalam semangkuk air, kemudian tambahkan satu sendok garam. Setelah itu, rendam perhiasan selama satu atau dua menit. Angkat dan bilas dengan air bersih, setelah itu keringkan. Untuk mendapatkan hasil yang lebih baik, proses ini bisa diulangi dua atau tiga kali.
” Berlian
Batu yang satu ini mempunyai kecenderungan lebih mudah dihinggapi kotoran dan minyak dibanding perhiasan lainnnya. Sebelum membersihkan, rendam dengan alkohol, agar semua kotoran yang melekat mudah hilang. Setelah itu, gosok dengan sikat gigi lembut. Jangan terlalu keras karena bisa menimbulkan goresan. Kemudian, bilas dengan air hangat dan diamkan hingga kering.
” Mutiara
Bisa dibilang, mutiara adalah perhiasan paling manja. Butuh ketelitian ekstra untuk merawat bahan ini. Sebelum mengenakan mutiara, pastikan tidak ada make up yang perlu ditambahkan lagi, karena kosmetik yang terlanjur menempel sulit untuk dihilangkan. Begitu juga dengan penyimpanannya, lebih baik pisahkan mutiara dengan perhiasan-perhiasan lain. Karena permukaannya lembut, mutiara sangat mudah tergores. Lebih aman lagi, bungkus dengan kain dari bahan sutra atau satin saat menyimpannya. (pan/bs)Minggu, 26 Mar 2006/jawapos.com
STYLE STUFF
Liontin Kaca Pembesar
Bermain ala detektif sambil bergaya yuk! Jika pengin melakukannya, koleksi kalung ini. Soalnya, ada liontin berfungsi ganda sebagai kaca pembesar. Bentuknya yang terkesan vintage, bakal memperunik gaya. Apalagi, kalung ini juga dihasi bebatuan cantik. Panjang liontin ini 52 mm dan berdiameter 36 mm. Nggak ketinggalan pula rantai kalung bergaya jadul, bikin penampilan makin unik. (jaq/gothicstyle)
Jam Plus Pembuka Botol
Produsen jam tangan merek Fossil nggak cuma jago bikin jam tangan berkualitas. Tapi juga bikin jam yang multifungsi. Misalnya jam ini. Tak hanya sebagai penunjuk waktu, jam ini dilengkapi alat pembuka botol. Sayang, jam ini nggak bisa dipakai di tangan. Pasalnya, item ini didesain sebagai gantungan kunci. Dengan merogoh kocek sebesar USD 20, jam ini udah bisa kamu koleksi. (jaq/solis)
Kodok “Telan” Perhiasan
Masih ingat dengan legenda pangeran kodok? Kalau tidak, benda yang satu ini bisa sedikit mengorek ingatanmu. Tapi, kodok yang satu ini tidak bisa menjelma menjadi seorang pangeran tampan. Kodok hjiau ini bisa “menelan” perhiasan. Benar sekali. Ini adalah kotak perhiasan dengan tubuh bertabur bebatuan kuning. Begitu pula dengan mata yang bersinar merah. Hiasan mahkota dan telapak kaki berlapis emas membuat kotak perhiasan ini juga bisa jadi hiasan. (pan)
Ikat Pinggang Kaset
Kalau selama ini ikat pinggang selalu sembunyi dibalik kaos, setelah melihat item ini mungkin kamu berniat memamerkan fashion item. Pantengin baik-baik belt buckle yang satu ini. Bukan saja tidak lazim, tapi juga mendekati unik. Terbuat dari bahan plastik, bahkan daftar judul lagu, dan nama artis masih tercetak jelas ditengah-tengahnya. Mungkin benda ini bisa menumbuhkan inspirasi bagi kamu untuk membuat sesuatu yang baru. (pan/urbanoufitter)Minggu, 26 Mar 2006/jawapos.com
March 28th, 2006
Lawmakers Push To Ban Lead Jewelry
WCCO, MN
(WCCO) St. Paul Years of recalls and the death of a little boy from Minneapolis could lead to new laws in Minnesota.
Monday, a group of DFL senators and representatives announced new legislation that would fund a lead prevention program. The law would also ban almost all jewelry that contains lead.
Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL) said, “Lead remains a serious problem in our environment.”
Last month, 4-year-old Jarnell Brown of Minneapolis died after swallowing a charm off a bracelet that came free with a pair of Reebok shoes his mother purchased.
It’s the first death in Minnesota directly attributed to lead in jewelry, but the problem of lead is something the I-TEAM first exposed two years ago.
The I-TEAM tested gumball machine jewelry and later necklaces from major stores like JCPenney, Nordstroms, Sears and Target and found some pieces had as much as 73 percent lead.
Sen. John Marty (DFL) said, “The WCCO report was just incredible in showing how many pieces of jewelry had it and what the levels of it were.”
Right now, shoppers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission catch problems that lead to recalls. But Marty wants stores to take more responsibility.
“If we can pass this into law, the stores, the bigger stores immediately are going to be clamping down,” he said. “They’re going to say, ‘We’re not going to buy that.’”
Marty also said customers often aren’t aware there’s lead in jewelry because it isn’t labeled.
He said, “The public wouldn’t buy it if they knew it had lead in it.”
Since the I-TEAM uncovered dangerous levels of lead in children’s jewelry two years ago, nearly 162 million items have been recalled.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to randomly test jewelry and issue recalls on jewelry with dangerous levels of lead.
However, Jarnell Brown’s death may be all the proof lawmakers need that things can change. Lab tests done on the Reebok trinket he swallowed and the one medical examiners say killed him show it was 99 percent lead. Similar trinkets had much smaller amounts.
Lawmakers said that proves jewelry makers can keep costs down using safer materials.
If this bill passes, it would go into effect as soon as this summer. Retailers who break the law could face up to 90 days in jail and a fine of $1,000.
March 28th, 2006
Gitanjali & Sanghavi Exports Sign Diamond Jewelry JV Agreement
(March 27, ‘06, 6:56 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)
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Gitanjali Gems today announced the signing of a 50-50 joint venture agreement with Sanghavi Exports to manufacture and market the Sangini diamond jewelry brand.
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Sangini was one of the flagship brands launched in India by the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), the sales and marketing arm of De Beers. It was launched in 2004, and was run by seven Sightholders until 2005.
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Spectrum Jewellery, earlier a part of the Sanghavi group, had purchased the brand from the DTC in January 2006.
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“Through this JV we will add yet another valuable brand to the bouquet of brands being offered by us to the Indian consumer,†says Mehul Choksi, chairman, Gitanjali Gems.
March 28th, 2006
Legislation seeks to ban sale of jewelry with high lead levels
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
The lead-poisoning death of a 4-year-old boy prompted the bill, one of several seeking to reduce the health threat.
Jewelry retailers would be prohibited from selling items that contain high levels of lead under a bill proposed Monday by Senate and House DFLers.
The legislation was prompted by recent news reports about the death last month of 4-year-old Jarnell Brown, a Minneapolis boy who swallowed a charm bracelet that had high lead content.
“Last month’s tragedy needs to serve as an alarm for all of us,” said state Rep. Keith Ellison, DFL-Minneapolis, who for several years has been advocating legislation aimed at the health threats posed by lead, especially in poor and low-income neighborhoods.
Ellison said that about 80 to 100 people a year in Minnesota, mostly children in urban areas, are treated for some form of lead poisoning. The ban on high-lead jewelry is one of only five pieces of legislation aimed at curbing the lead threat, including the creation of a lead prevention program within the Department of Health and a measure to provide more screening.
Low levels of lead poisoning, which often go undetected, are “tightly connected to the learning problems of low-income children in poor neighborhoods,” Ellison said. A chief culprit is lead-based paint in older homes, which children sometimes eat or touch.
Most of the lead-based costume jewelry is in dollar stores and other low-price outlets, sponsors said, and it typically is not a big problem in high-end jewelry stores. The ban is modeled on legislation in New York and California, they said.
Bruce (Buzz) Anderson, a lobbyist for the Minnesota Retailers Association, said that “no retailer wants to sell something to the public that’s dangerous. But I haven’t had a chance to study the workability of the bill.” He added that he thought the national publicity over the case would lead retailers to do more research and self-policing on their own.
The legislation probably stands a good chance in the DFL-controlled Senate but may face more resistance in the Republican-controlled House. House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, said he thought it was “certainly appropriate to look at ways to prevent this” but that the bill “will have to go through the committee process.”
The item that the Minneapolis boy swallowed was a trinket given away with a pair of Reebok shoes. On learning of the death, Reebok immediately asked all stores to pull the bracelets from its shoeboxes and for customers who already had purchased shoes to destroy the trinket. The company has said that it is investigating the matter.
March 28th, 2006
15 held in Jax Hts. jewelry store bust
Flushing Times Ledger, NY
A sting operation in a Jackson Heights jewelry store led to the arrests of 15 individuals on a variety of cha ges including that they were selling or fencing more than $100,000 worth of items suc as gol
The loosely knit group, whose ages ranged from 14 to 36, allegedly robbed apartment buildings and then brought the illicit merchandise to the store, where they sold hundreds of pieces of jewelry over a four-month period, DA Richard Brown said.
The defendants, many of whom are teenagers from Elmhurst, are allegedly “responsible for committing numerous home invasions in burglaries over the last several months and fencing the property stolen during those burglaries for a fraction of its true value at a jewelry store surreptitiously being operated by undercover police officers,” the DA said.
Four men have been arraigned, while the other 11 are awaiting arraignment, prosecutors said. Three individuals are still being sought, they said.
Some of the defendants are facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the DA said.
March 28th, 2006
Turkish gold jewelry maker to expand overseas
Reuters
By Clare Black and Humeyra Pamuk
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s only listed gold jewelry retailer, Goldas (GOLDS.IS: Quote, Profile, Research), aims to quadruple its overseas presence as part of an ambitious strategy to build a strong brand image.
Cetin Binatli, board member of Goldart Holding, Goldas’ mother company, told Reuters that Turkey’s top jewelry exporter was planning to open new stores in Russia and China, as well as expanding its domestic outlets via funding from local and international banks.
Turkey burst onto the gold jewelry scene some 15 years ago and the industry is now the world’s second largest exporter, giving the world leader Italy a serious run for its money.
Official exports of gold jewelry from Turkey totaled 110 tons, worth $1.0 billion in 2005, up from 105 tons worth $847 million the previous year.
Industry analysts say Turkey also exports a similar amount in both tonnage and value via tourist sales the so-called luggage trade to neighboring countries.
“We are getting much closer to the Italian market in terms of quality and price,” Binatli said. “End-buyers have realized there is no difference.”
Producers in Italy have been struggling to match the competitive prices offered by Turkey and many have simply shut up shop. Others now buy their goods in Turkey and then re-export them with Italian branding, industry experts said.
According to UK-based consultants GFMS, Italian jewelry production fell as rivals cut its share of export markets. Fabrication fell in 2005 by some 8 percent to just over 280 tons.
In 1998, before Turkey began seriously exporting, Italy produced a peak of 535 tons. Indian exports have also taken market share from Italy.
Binatli knows that creating a brand is a long process and says the “Made in Italy” brand is recognized and appreciated in the U.S., one of the world’s biggest jewelry consumers.
That’s why Goldas, which is also listed in Frankfurt and Berlin, has decided to focus on places like Russia, China and the Middle East.
“In these emerging markets, it is quite a lot easier to establish a brand, because there is no existing brand,” he said.
“People are hungry for new things and new brands.”
ERODING MARGINS
Goldas’ shift from wholesale producer to retailer is a path that most of Turkey’s 10 or so major jewelry manufacturers are being forced to follow in order to make a profit.
Wholesale margins have been significantly eroded by the effects of an overvalued Turkish lira, coupled with higher labor costs, inflation and a lower dollar.
Add soaring gold prices to the equation and it is easy to see why they are looking to add as much value as possible.
“We are trying to shift to the retail side. The returns are better and we can sell our own products in our own name.”
This means Goldas and other jewelers must not only compete on a cost basis, but they must also raise the quality of their products.
Goldas has not forgotten its domestic consumers and also plans to quadruple its presence in Turkey during the year, increasing its number of stores to 50 from 12.
Stores visited by Reuters in Istanbul were stylish and slick, offering a wide range of modern and more traditional Eastern-style jewelry.
Binatli said Turkish consumers were again looking at gold as they had done in the past — as a safe haven investment, rather than as an adornment.
“Turkish investors are investing in jewelry and they are buying even though the price of gold is going up,” he said.
March 28th, 2006
