Archive for November, 2006
Bulgari’s 3Q Jewelry Sales +10%, Profits +29% to $43.7M
Diamonds.net, NY
By Jeanette Goldman Posted: 11/15/2006
RAPAPORT… Sales at luxury jeweler and watch company Bulgari rose 9.6 percent to $306.5 million (EUR 239.0 million) during its third quarter of fiscal 2006.The company’s operating profit increased 32.8 percent to $54.3 million (EUR 42.3 million.) Bulgari’s net profit for the third quarter climbed 29.4 percent from third quarter 2005 to $43.7 million (EUR 34.1 million.)
Bulgari’s jewelry continued to grow during the three-month period with a 9.7 percent increase, and the group’s watch sales registered a 14 percent growth rate. The company’s year-to-date jewelry sales increased 10.2 percent while watch sales rose 17.3 percent. Perfumes grew sales by 19.3 percent and accessories sales dropped by 16.4 percent.
By region, sales performance was very strong in the United States and rose 30.1 percent in the quarter. Excluding the 14 percent decline in Italy, sales across Europe rose 26.4 percent. Bulgari in Japan showed a slowdown of 4.2 percent compared with a very high base of 13.6 percent growth in the third quarter of 2005. The Middle East performed well with a growth rate of 9.5 percent. The Far-East registered a 13.6 percent sales increase during the quarter.
Sales performance in the quarter reflected significant sales growth in Bulgari owned stores and a more selective policy carried out by the company towards third party distributors, the company reported.
“The outstanding sales results of the first nine months confirm the positive trend, with all product categories registering a double-digit growth rate,†said Bulgari CEO Franscesco Trapani. “I would like to underline the brilliant performance of watches, also driven by the success of the new high-end models recently launched. As far as geographical areas are concerned, I am not surprised by the current growth slowdown in Japan, a mature market where a further expansion is less easy to be achieved.â€
November 16th, 2006
Harvard E-Commerce Guru to Address Fine Jewelry Summit
IDEX Online, Israel
(November 14, ‘06, 10:26 Joseph V. Kuca)
VNU Expositions announced that the business author and e-commerce expert Jeffrey Rayport will speak at the second annual Fine Jewelry CEO Summit, taking place February 20 – 22, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia.
As a faculty member at Harvard Business School, Jeffrey Rayport developed and taught the first e-commerce course in the United States. During his decade-long tenure at HBS, he focused his research on new information technologies and their impacts on companies’ service and marketing strategies. Rayport is founder and chairman of Marketspace, a business that specializes in the development of breakthrough service strategies for network-based businesses, particularly in consumer marketing and media.
His most recent book, Best Face Forward: Why Companies Must Improve Their Service Interfaces With Customers, addresses service strategies in the digital age. Eddie LeVian, CEO of LeVian who is sponsoring Rayport’s appearance at the upcoming summit remarks, “Jeffrey Rayport is an excellent choice and we are proud to help bring him aboard. His theories of technology-enabled service channels go along with LeVian’s founding principles of how to marry the best of the past with the trendsetting ideas of the future.”
November 15th, 2006
Art, jewelry and more at holiday craft market
- PAUL L. ALLEN,
Tucson Citizen
Tucson Citizen, AZ
More than 120 Southwestern artists will take part in the Tucson Museum of Art’s 25th annual Holiday Craft Market from Friday through Sunday at 140 N. Main Ave.The event, scheduled 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, will feature jewelry, glass, paintings, mixed media, pottery, furniture, sculpture, textiles and photography. Art books will be offered Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free.
Additional information is available at 624-2333.
November 14th, 2006
Rapper Scarface facing jewelry lawsuit
United Press International
NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) — Houston rapper Scarface is facing a lawsuit from famed celebrity jeweler Jacob Arabo over items the musician bought from him years ago.
Arabo, who is known by his famous customers as Jacob the Jeweler, filed suit against Scarface alleging the rapper never paid him for some jewelry back in 2002, The New York Post said.
Arabo has claimed that he has attempted to contact Scarface about the missing funds but to no avail, so instead he filed the $37,000 suit against him seeking payment.
The court case comes after Arabo, who was born Yakov Arabov, was arrested in June on charges that the jeweler had assisted Detroit’s Black Family Mafia launder more than $270 million.
Scarface, whose real name is Bradley Johnson, had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.
The Post reported that Arabo has maintained that his arrest in the laundering of the alleged drug profits was a complete misunderstanding.
November 13th, 2006
Tara and Sons appoints new jewelry designer
National Jeweler, NY
NOVEMBER 09, 2006 - New York — Jennifer Jiunta has joined Tara and Sons as the new head jewelry designer of the company’s signature TARA collection.
Jiunta brings almost 20 years of experience in the estate, fine-jewelry and accessories industries. Her designs will launch Tara and Sons’ spring-summer collections in April.
Jiunta founded Jiunta Fine Jewelry in 1997 and spent time in Europe studying under design houses such as Emilio Pucci, Fendi, Gucci and Missoni.
Her career also included stints in the jewelry divisions of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Louvre Museum in Paris, where she specialized in product development, marketing and licensing. Jiunta has also collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution, The Franklin Mint, Coach Leatherware and Monet Jewelry, as well as fashion designers Mary McFadden and Bob Mackie.
Jiunta has received coverage in consumer, trade and fashion publications and counts as customers several celebrities, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christy Turlington and Sharon Stone.
November 10th, 2006
Finlay to Buy Fla. Luxury Jewelry Chain
Houston Chronicle, United State
NEW YORK — Jewelry retailer Finlay Enterprises Inc. said Wednesday it will purchase Congress Jewelers, a privately-owned regional chain of five jewelry stores located in Florida, with annual sales of about $23 million.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The stock purchase agreement is subject to various closing conditions and obtaining certain consents.
Finlay Fine Jewelry, a fine jewelry retailer and operator of licensed jewelry departments in department stores throughout the United States, posted 2005 sales of $990.1 million. The number of locations at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2006 totaled 819, including 34 Carlyle & Co. specialty jewelry stores.
November 9th, 2006
IDEX Online Research: America’s Best Jewelry Market Niches
IDEX Online, Israel
(November 7, ‘06, 7:04 Ken Gassman)
Jewelry merchants need to identify market niches for advertising and marketing purposes. Aside from direct one-to-one marketing (direct mail, for example), it is difficult to identify and reach the “best†jewelry customer with mass media; the distinctions are too subtle and nuanced.
If jewelers can identify a large market niche which can be reached by one or more media – radio or television, for example – it is possible that they would be better off accepting a smaller average ticket (lower per-household jewelry expenditure), but generate greater aggregate revenues by reaching many more consumers
In addition, jewelers’ profits could be larger since lower-priced jewelry generally carries a higher gross margin.
Market Niches by Demographic Factors
Markets are segmented by the same demographic factors as individual consumers. That’s logical, since market segments are comprised of groups of individual consumers.
To arrive at the aggregate buying power or market potential of a market segment, we multiplied the average annual household jewelry expenditure by the total number of households in each demographic category. Thus, it is possible that a target market may have not have the highest average annual jewelry expenditure, but if the group is disproportionately large, the combination of the average annual expenditure multiplied by the total consumer units may yield a very large target market.
The table below summarizes the largest market niches for jewelry. For all demographic categories except education and age, the largest aggregate market is also the market with the highest per-household annual jewelry expenditures.
In the case of age, the average annual household expenditure for 35-to-44 year olds, as shown on the table, is $574. This is the third largest per-household jewelry expenditure. Both 25-to-34 year olds and 55-to-64 year olds have larger per-household jewelry expenditures, but their total market niches – per-household spending multiplied by total number of households – are smaller in terms of total jewelry sales volume.
Likewise, consumers with only a high school education spend a modest $366 per year on jewelry, well below both the national average of $492 per-household jewelry expenditure and far below the $818 per-household jewelry expenditure of college-educated consumers. But there are a disproportional number of households (72 percent of all American households) with only a high school education; thus, their total jewelry expenditures, as small as they are on a per-household basis, add up to a majority of the aggregate market (53 percent)
November 8th, 2006
Imelda Marcos to launch her own jewelry collection (10:30 p.m.)
Sun.Star, Philippines
MANILA — Former first lady Imelda Marcos, notorious for an extensive shoe collection and eye-popping jewels accrued under her husband’s dictatorship, is launching a jewelry collection she “recycled” using castoffs from her old wardrobe.
Marcos, known for her shopping trips to ritzy shops in New York while the country wallowed in poverty, made the one-of-a-kind pieces from her old accessories and clothes, mixed with newly bought stones and other materials.
Her daughter, Representative Imee Marcos, said that unknown to many people, her mother shops for trinkets and accessories at flea markets, and keeps earrings with a missing pair or brooches that have some missing stones.
Using her own glue gun, scissors or pliers, Imelda “can combine them with her vintage items in a way that comes out beautiful,” Imee said during a promotional photo shoot that journalists were invited to.
The 77-year-old grandmother and widow of Ferdinand Marcos took time out Monday to talk to reporters in between hectic photo shoots for brochures that will launch “The Imelda Collection” of fashion jewelry later this month.
Lying on a divan in a Manila hotel’s seaside garden, Imelda was clad in a gossamer top with a butterfly design and black pants for the photographs. For the brochure, she modeled several chunky necklaces, rings and bracelet sets, some made with fake tiger eye stones.
Pointing to a set of matching earrings and brooch made of blue imitation tiger eye stone she was wearing, she told reporters, “This thing I wear now is something I recycled.”
Imelda said the jewelry collection was the idea of her grandson Martin “Borgy” Manotoc, who was directing the photo shot.
Manotoc, Imelda said, told her, “You are creating beautiful things, like jewels from practically garbage.”
The collection will be officially launched November 18, most likely in Manila.
The first designs to be shown to the public are the accessories and the jewelry and will “not yet” include shoes, her daughter said. But a close aide of the Marcoses said there are plans to expand the collection to include shoes, clothes, and maybe furniture.
Describing how the collection came to be, Imelda recalled, “One day my grandson came to me and said, `Mama Meldy, I would like to use your collection to tell the world the real Imelda and the spirit of my grandma.’”
“What we are selling is not something valuable, but … it is something invaluable because it’s only beauty that can feed the spirit,” she continued.
“Even Plato said God is made real in what is beautiful,” she said.
Imelda says the items will be inexpensive, costing around US$20 (euro15.67) to US$100 (euro78.37). But her daughter says prices and details about the collection are still being ironed out.
“The accessories are just an excuse. It’s just a visual and tactile reminder of this attitude she wishes to share, the Imelda spirit, the Imelda way and that’s what it will represent,” Imee Marcos added.
For sure, their value will be a far cry from the dozens of suitcases of genuine diamond tiaras, ruby brooches, emerald necklaces and other jewelry pieces the government has confiscated from Marcos and which officials plan to auction off.
“(The government) got everything. If they want to get it, good,” Marcos said, referring to her less expensive collection. “Maybe they will change their attitude and they will be more positive and they will see beauty (as) its own reason for being.”
The Marcoses have been accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth and were driven out of the presidential palace by a military-backed nonviolent “people power” uprising in 1986. The ousted strongman died in exile in Hawaii three years later.
The government has recovered about 80 billion pesos (US$1.6 billion; euro1.25 billion); in cash and assets from the Marcoses and their associates over two decades, including Swiss bank deposits now worth about US$680 million (euro534 million).
Ricardo Abcede, an official of a commission recovering the Marcoses’ wealth, said about 220 billion pesos (US$4.4 billion; euro3.45 billion) worth of assets are tied up in criminal and civil cases in the Philippines against the Marcoses and their associates. The total amount of the Marcoses’ assets abroad is unknown. (AP)
November 7th, 2006
Denison jewelry store allows customers to buy, create own pieces of beaded jewelry
Sherman Denison Herald Democrat, TX
There is now a place in Denison to shop for jewelry where a customer is not limited to what is only seen on display. If the piece of jewelry is not there or the item is only in the buyer’s head, Wild Lotus Beads will help the buyer create that piece of jewelry. Wild Lotus Beads, at 613 West Main St., in Denison, is not a new store, but it is new to this area. Owner Alison Jones has been in business for five years.
“The main thing about my gallery is, a customer can choose from a lot of pre-made jewelry, or you can design your own jewelry,†said Jones. “My whole bead section is set up so you can copy a piece of jewelry or design something themselves. They can build it or I can build it for them. I usually let the customer pick something out that jumped out at them, and together in an hour or so we can create a unique necklace that we designed together. It’s a one of a kind with parts you can’t find just anywhere.â€
Jones said she has found that most people have designs in their heads and she said it makes her day when she can help get it out and help them produce the perfect piece of jewelry for their collection. Jones said the worst thing that can happen is the customer doesn’t like the piece when it’s finished, so all you have to do then is to start over.
“I like it when people surprise themselves when putting the pieces together,†she said. “Even people that don’t consider themselves creative come up with the most interesting jewelry.â€
Jones said that in a few weeks she will begin holding classes, teaching the basics of earrings and necklaces.
Wild Lotus Beads carries gifts and artifacts imported from Asia. “Everything I have in here are high quality gemstones from all over the world and right now I am importing a lot of things from Asia,†said Jones. “I wanted it to be more than just a site gallery where you can actually shop, have fun and create things.â€
Jones said she loves matching a personality with a necklace. She said a lot of people are picky shoppers, and in her store they can be as picky as they want to be.
The shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Jones also does gift wrapping and jewelry repair of all kind.
Jones’ Web site is www.wildlotusbeads.com.
November 6th, 2006
Baseball players honored at halftime with jewelry from championship run
Corvallis Gazette Times, OR
By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS — Five months after winning the College World Series, the national championship bling arrived.
The Oregon State baseball team received the rings that go with being the best in the spring of 2006. The players and coaches were presented with them Saturday afternoon at halftime of the homecoming football game in Reser Stadium
“It’s an exciting weekend, and it’s nice to see everybody again,†shortstop Darwin Barney said. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, just to finally get the rings.â€
The celebration went beyond the ceremony. There was a banquet for the players Friday night; they were involved in the morning homecoming parade and held an autograph signing session before the football game.
All the players except for pitcher Dallas Buck returned for the presentation, even though many of the key members graduated or turned pro early.
Nine players, a school record, were selected in the Major League Baseball amateur June draft, and eight signed pro contracts. Two more signed as free agents.
“This is what we were looking forward to, was the rings,†said Chris Kunda, the second baseman from Philomath who began his pro career during the summer. “It’s nice to see the guys again and talk to them. It’s kind of hard when you go from the College World Series to playing all summer. Now we get time to reflect together.â€
The team was honored for winning the Pacific-10 Conference title and cruising through an NCAA regional tournament and Super Regional series over rival Stanford to earn the program’s third trip to the College World Series.
OSU was one of eight teams in the double-elimination tournament in Omaha, Neb. It didn’t look good early, losing to Miami in the first game, 11-1.
After a day to recuperate, the Beavers rallied to defeat Georgia, Miami and Rice twice in four days. That set up a best-of-three series with North Carolina.
The Beavers dropped the first game again, but won the next two to claim the program’s first national title. It was the university’s second NCAA national title.
“It’s good to remember what we’ve done, and now we can move on,†Barney said. “This gives us a chance for closure and for us to put into prospective what we’ve done. It’s just now starting to settle in.â€
November 6th, 2006
Next Posts
Previous Posts
