Archive for April, 2007
Sisters who own jewelry store keep focus on the customers
Sheboygan Press, WI
By Charlie Mathews
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
TWO RIVERS —Linda Streu and Paula Schuette wouldn’t shed any tears if the Internet disappeared.
Enter the search term “Online Jewelry Store” into Google, and links to 179,000 sites are displayed.
The growth of the Internet has been the biggest change the sisters, (their maiden name is Batchelder) and co-owners of downtown Dalebroux Jewelry, have witnessed in their 17 years of ownership.
With Internet sites and local jewelers including Inman, Rummele and Boelter’s and Crystal Pathway, the sisters have plenty of competition.
“Customer service … that’s the main reason why we’re still in business,” said Schuette, 42, quickly touting the expertise of their three veteran employees, Wendy Deubner, Pat Lawler and Yvonne Stodola.
Ring inspections and cleaning are free, as is engraving on products purchased at Dalebroux. Watch batteries are priced between $5 and $7.
Schuette recalled Streu going to Sheboygan in a snowstorm to pick up an engagement ring so their customer wouldn’t have to delay his trip.
In addition to making sure customers are well cared for, Streu, 48, said the sisters, who own all the inventory in the store, have developed over the years a strong sense of what products at what prices will sell in the Lakeshore economy.
Customers may spend $50 or several thousand. “We aim to find everybody’s price point,” Schuette said.
They carry Precious Moments and Fontanini collectible figurines to complement fine crystal and jewelry, and hundreds of men’s and women’s watches.
The sisters realize that even though the store’s lineage dates back to 1875, that doesn’t guarantee success today.
Selection, value and how the products are displayed are all important, with that last factor prompting a recent $50,000 investment for new carpeting, display cases, a redesigned interior, new exterior facade windows and signage.
The sisters wanted to make sure they could continue to attract customers in future years, including patrons such as Helen Belonger, who last week was having a watch battery replaced but has often made more substantial purchases.
“I have bought bracelets and necklaces for granddaughters,” said Belonger, a customer for a half-century. “My mother and father-in-law used to come buy rings and watches and we do, too,” she said of acquisitions by herself and her husband, Donald.
The Belongers will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary next month and Helen said she is expecting something with diamonds.
Personalized designs
Whether or not she’ll bring in a design printed off an Internet site is uncertain, but that is something some customers do, Schuette said, citing one of the positives of the technology.
The sisters, their staff and goldsmith often assist customers in creating custom mountings, perhaps reusing jewels from, say, a deceased mother’s wedding ring into a pendant or earrings.
The sisters also sell Seiko Melodies in Motion clocks that feature hi-fi melodies, such as Beatles and Elvis Presley songs, including some timepieces with Swarovski crystals.
“Seiko Melodies in Motion clocks are built on the idea that to merely tick away and do nothing more interesting than keep the time is a waste of perfectly good wall space,” is the marketing slogan for timepieces costing from about $100 to $500.
Both sisters often wear sets of matching necklaces, bracelets and rings that draw the admiration and inquiries of shoppers. Schuette and Streu enjoy wearing what they can help customers buy.
The sisters worked for Dick and Bette Dalebroux when they were students at Washington High School. That school is closed, making way for the new Two Rivers High School. Streu has been at the store, as employee or owner, for about 33 years, and Schuette, about 28 years.
They plan to run the business for several more years. The sisters said they are in the people-pleasing business and that is exactly what they enjoy doing.
April 30th, 2007
Friends of Shelter redefines jewelry sales at Chairs event
Robertson County Times, TN
The Friends of the Shelters will be this year’s beneficiary to the chair sale for Chairs on the Square. But they are hoping to raise even more money to help the three local shelters and they’ve come up with a unique way to do it.
Friends of the Shelter will sell donated fine and costume jewelry at 50 percent of its appraised price.
“Most women love jewelry. We love bargains,†explain organizer Baygan Hartzheim. “And we love a good cause. The Springfield Chairs on the Square offered the (Friends of the Shelter) a wonderful opportunity to get involved in all three areas.
“The (Friends) were looking for a way to raise money to improve the existing shelters (Greenbrier and the City of Springfield) and contribute to the building fund for the new County Shelter.â€
And the idea for the jewelry sale came to them.
“We are collecting costume, vintage, antique, and fine jewelry to sell at the May 19 Chairs on the Square,†Hartzheim continued. “Tee best part of the event is the jewelry will be sold at 50 percent off the appraisal price and the Community Foundation is helping us provide a tax deduction for any donations.
“We all have jewelry that we do not wear any more and what better cause to give it to! Some nice items have come in – a pearl ring with value of $750, an aquamarine and blue topaz ring, value $350, tons of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.â€
With a new county animal shelter in the works, more resources will be needed for the shelters.
Hartzheim hopes that improving the shelters will mean more people take animals to the shelters instead of dumping them in rural areas where they can get sick, hurt or killed.
“We want the shelters in Robertson County to be so nice, so humane that people think of them as a place they want to take strays to,†Hartzheim said. “We want people to be able to adopt healthy animals from our shelters. We want the shelters to help provide low cost spay and neuter programs.
“But all this takes money.â€
Formerly known as Robertson County Humane Association, the group is in the process of “morphing†into Friends of the Shelter, according to Hartzheim.
“The reason is each shelter – Springfield, Greenbrier, the County and eventually maybe a few others like White House – needs a specific group of people to be responsive to each shelter needs,†Hartzheim explained. “For example, the county shelter needs construction funds, the Springfield shelter needs additional landscaping, and Greenbrier needs immunization shots. Friends of the Shelter will have a Greenbrier Branch, a County Branch, and a City Branch and hopefully be able to respond quickly to needs.â€
The Friends are also pairing up new friends in the adoption process.
One of the best programs that has been initiated has been the Senior to Senior Program,†said Hartzheim. “We love to place senior dogs with senior citizens! Rescue funds are used to vet the senior doggy or cat and then they are placed up for adoption with first dibs going to a senior citizen. We recently had a peppy 8-year-old rat terrier mix dog find a home with an equally peppy 75-year-old senior.
“Neither could do without the other now. And by the way, any jewelry left over from the sale will be donated to the Senior Center ‘boutique.’â€
Hartzheim has been working with the abandoned animals of Robertson County for many years.
“People often ask me why I started the Humane Association,†she explained. “It’s easy. Animal neglect, abuse, and abandonment, was a problem staring me right in the face. I live in the county and there are animals in all kinds of need running in and along the roads.
“And I was raised to tackle problems not avoid them even if tackling them was inconvenient or time consuming. For me, it was also the right ethical choice. The seven years I have spent working with animals have taught my three children that big overwhelming hard situations can be changed.
“The Humane Association has provided warm blankets to tiny shivering kittens, fed starving black Labs, transported sick German shepherds to vets, thrown out rusty cages and purchased clean stainless steel kennels. Good Samaritan actions prove to me that you can overcome evil with good.â€
Jewelry donations are still needed as well as small boxes and velvet cases. The jewelry will be shown off to its best advantage in a unique way.
“We are displaying the bracelets on vintage long evening gloves,†described Hartzheim. “We are hanging antique pins on old evening dresses.â€
Anyone wanting to spearhead a collection drive, for example, a church youth group, a Girl Scout Troop or a school group should call Hartzheim at 347-0217 and she will help co ordinate the effort.
April 26th, 2007
JUDIE & EVELINDA: Jewelry and jobs
By JUDIE SCHWARTZ and EVELINDA URMAN - Scripps Howard News Service
Style Matters: We love jewelry and always have had a secret desire to work at a big time jewelry store. We decided to live vicariously through 25-year-old Jaime Miller, a girl who snagged a job at Harry Winston right out of college.
Harry Winston, the man who once said “People will stare. Make it worth their while,” is best known for once owning the notorious and supposedly cursed Hope diamond, the world’s most famous stone. Originally stolen from a statue of an Indian Hindu goddess, the diamond brought misfortune to all who owned it.
Winston bought the stone from Washington Socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean, and eventually donated it to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, where you can visit it today. His reputation as King of Diamonds was cemented when Marilyn Monroe, starring in “Gentlemen Prefer Blonds” uttered the line “Talk to me, Harry Winston” in the song “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
All this tradition and reputation was waiting for Miller when she moved to New York City after graduating from college. She stumbled upon an ad for an entry level position and was hired as an assistant in the jewelry giant’s retail division, handling non glamorous duties such as running credit cards. Rotating through various positions, Miller fell in love with public relations. She now coordinates photo shoots, product placement and jewelry loans to celebrities.
Miller couldn’t talk about current product placements, but told us that Winston gems have shown up on shows such as “Sex and the City” and “The Bachelor.” When it comes to loaning jewelry for award shows, Harry Winston gives priority to existing clients, then nominees and presenters. She has worked with Abigail Breslin, up for best supporting actress in the film “Little Miss Sunshine,” Joan Rivers, Kathy Bates and male celebrities such as Alan Arkin, who need cufflinks, tuxedo stud and watches.
Winston prices range from $4,000 to the multi-millions. What can you get for around $4,000? A pair of one carat diamond drop earrings, just what Breslin wore to the Golden Globes.
What makes Winston diamond jewelry so special? Miller said that Winston jewelry is known for minimal platinum settings that allow the light to come in from more angles to maximize the brilliance of the stones.
Does she get to wear the jewelry? It depends on the day and the event. But Miller confided that her engagement ring is from Henry Winston. Even though colored stones are very popular in the marketplace, Miller’s favorite stone is diamond. We asked her how women should begin to build their jewelry wardrobe. Miller’s answer came quickly: “Diamond studs are a must.”
If you can’t make it to your nearest Harry Winston, we will leave you with Miller’s advice on how to purchase jewelry: “Take your time, don’t buy just on instinct, know your jeweler.”
Style Matters: Right after jewelry, our next desire is great hair. Next week we interview an assistant at famed hair dresser Frederic Fekkai.
April 25th, 2007
Fine Living: When green jewelry is a good thing
Marin Independent-Journal, CA
When Matt and Bonita White were getting married four years ago, they looked for environmentally conscious wedding rings. These two Texans couldn’t find any, so they didn’t exchange any. Instead, they formed greenKarat, a small family-run company that uses mostly post-consumer gold and platinum to create wedding and commitment rings, custom and all-occasion jewelry.
“Wedding rings are a traditional symbol, but a lot of people haven’t found a way to buy rings that they feel good about,” says Matt White. “‘Greenies’ tend to examine their actions and their footprints in life through the green lens and, even if they weren’t aware of the gold or diamond issues, they probably Googled ‘environmentally responsible rings’ and found us.”
The gold and diamond issues he mentions include the large gold-mining pits in North America and Canada where, he says, “cyanide is poured in the basins to separate the gold from the rock. They say it doesn’t escape, but it does and it gets in the ecosystems and rivers.” Smaller operations include the 25 million people in other parts of the world, he says, who separate the gold by using mercury. The mercury is burned off with a torch, inhaled by the workers and absorbed into the environment where it
“ends up in your tuna.”
Diamond mining also has an environmental price. On the Ivory Coast, “it involves child labor and is used to fund civil wars,” he says. “In Canada, they bill their diamond-mining operations as environmentally aware but, instead, they’ve been trashing the environment. They mine in the permafrost area, which repairs slowly, if at all, and the streams are poisoned by the acid rock drainage.”
At greenKarat, new jewelry is created from what White calls “idle gold,” gold that sits idle in jewelry boxes, like class rings, broken chains and single earrings. After that, the new jewelry can be enhanced with recycled natural diamonds or synthetic diamonds and gemstones.
The key to solving the gold issue, says White, is making more post-consumer gold available, so soon the company will introduce a new program encouraging individuals and couples to contribute their own idle gold toward the creation of new jewelry such as wedding rings. “The gold will be refined of old alloys, distilled to pure gold and we’ll put fresh alloys in it.
“And ” he adds, “it will reduce the cost of the new piece.”
For details, call 800-330-4605 or visit www.greenkarat.com.
Fun-ctional Art
On your next weekend trip up the coast, stop in at Renga Arts on the main street - you can’t miss it, it’s called Main Street - of downtown Occidental (Sonoma County). I’d tell you that the downtown was so small it only had one stoplight, but there’s not even one of those, only a single stop sign. So, Renga Arts won’t be hard to find.
It’s a small store devoted exclusively to cleverly reused or reclaimed materials that now function as clever and artistic personal accessories or home and garden items. It’s a shop where you have to look twice at an item to really “get” it and, even then, you might need the explanatory help of the nearby identification labels provided by owners Joe Szuecs and his wife, Sherry Huss.
For instance, that retro wall clock on the wall or the sleek black bowl on the shelf are really a clock and a bowl, but in their past lives, they were jumpin’ on phonographs as favored rock or pop 45s or LPs.
The album covers themselves might be among those cut down and reused as memory-indulging sketchbook covers or note cards. That shoulder bag is really an assemblage of soda can pop-tops or vintage kimonos; a colorful bowl, rimmed in orange “admit one” tickets, is created from rolls of recycled carnival or movie tickets; and the elemental tea-candle holders or bright and flexible bottle openers are really old bike parts.
The couple, who opened the store three years ago, now feature 70 artisan vendors worldwide and offer about 200 products. Szuecs also sells his own rustic furniture and charming, copper-clad birdhouses crafted from recycled wood.
“We try to find things that are fun and inspiring,” he says. “Even if someone doesn’t want to buy something, but says ‘oh, I can do that,’ that’s fine. The ideas and inspiration are free.” Renga Arts is at 3605 Main Street in Occidental. For more information, call 707-874-9407 or visit www.rengaarts.com
PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertainment topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at pj@mindspring.com.
April 24th, 2007
21st Century Jewelry Designer
Jewelry Weblog, CA
Jewelry designer, Laura Gibson, has been named one of the year’s “Designers of the 21st Century” by JQ magazine. Reports Diamond World:
Jewellery designer Laura Gibson, known for her gold, silver and colored-gemstone fine jewelry, has been named one of the year’s “Designers of the 21st Century” by JQ magazine.
The award is given annually to an exclusive group of fine-jewelry designers who “exemplify the creation of fine jewelry and true design for the 21st century.”
With extensive knowledge and expertise in colored gemstones, Laura Gibson not only uses some of the finest exotic stones in her pieces, but has a unique ability to create unexpected color combinations that set her work apart and make it instantly recognizable.
She will be showcasing her collection at the Couture Show in Las Vegas from May 30-June 4 in booth #367.
I surfed around and found some images of her jewelry creations available on Touch of Class.
April 23rd, 2007
Enter Your Own Unique Jewelry Design To A Competition!
Diamond Vues, NY
The Diamond Promotion Service (DPS) is inviting U.S. Sightholders, manufacturers, and designers to create new and innovative Journey diamond jewelry for an up coming competition.
The DPS is seeking designs that are the “latest and greatest†Journey diamond jewelry that will “capture the attention of retailers and consumers alike.â€
On April 23 a team of industry experts will select the top designs which may one day join the S-Curve and Heart-Shaped Journey diamond jewelry designs.
Winners will be highlighted at the DPS booth at the 2007 JCK Las Vegas trade show, added to the DPS website and considered for future “A Diamond Is Forever†consumer advertising campaigns.
To participate in the competition, email submissions to Nicolina.Nelson@jwt.com at the DPS by April 20. Submissions must be photographs, renderings, or Cad-Cams. Jewelry will not be accepted.
Winners will be announced Tuesday April 24, and they will have until May 21 to submit winning jewelry designs.
Hmm… I wonder if they will allow renderings of unique jewelry designs from consumers, enthusiasts, and jewelry designers in training??
Try it out!
Via: IDEX
April 20th, 2007
Jewelry firm IPO sparkles on debut
By Hui Ching-hoo (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-19 09:51
Hong Kong-based jeweler Noble Jewelry Holdings witnessed a fairly remarkable performance in its IPO debut on Tuesday, which bodes well for latecomers such as Country Garden and China CITIC Bank.
Shares of the jewelry producer began to trade in Hong Kong on Tuesday, just days ahead of the two mega IPOs. And on the first day of trading, they gained 6.67 per cent over the offer price to close at HK$1.6.
Noble gained 5.33 per cent to reach HK$1.58 in the opening session. The momentum continued in the afternoon, when the share peaked at HK$1.8, before finally settling at HK$1.6. Some 53.36 million shares changed hands, involving a transaction of HK$88.72 million.
The rally is in line with market expectations. Analysts attributed it to the general bullish sentiment.
CASH Asset Management Associated Director Patrick Yiu said the share’s performance was bolstered by the IPO frenzy. “Despite the Country Garden and China CITIC Bank IPOs taking in an enormous amount of capital, investors have appetite for more.”
Guangdong-based property company Country Garden will debut for trading on April 20. Over 650,000 Hong Kong residents applied for the shares, making the IPO the second all-time high behind ICBC, taking in HK$310 billion.
The public offer of CITIC Bank also received an overwhelming response. The margin financing quota of eight local securities houses had to be exercised fully in the first day of the public offer period.
Noble Jewelry sold 78 million shares to raise HK$78 million. Some 7.8 million shares were allocated for public offer. The offer price was set at the top of the indicative range of HK$1.5 per share.
The jeweler said the proceeds would be used to expand production facilities, overseas sales network and repay debt. The company’s net profit increased from HK$28.3 million to HK$48.5 million between 2004 and 2006, while the turnover increased over 50 per cent to HK$547 million in 2006.
The company forecast that it will achieve 16 per cent growth in net profit this year, reaching HK$56 million.
(China Daily 04/19/2007 page15)
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
April 19th, 2007
Jewelry Trend Branches Out
Jewelry Weblog, CA
Hillary Duff is one of a number of stars featured in the April 30th issue of Life & Style magazine, showing off the trend toward nature in their leaf-themed jewelry selections.Duff is pictured here wearing a long gold chain and green jade pendant, which has been carved into a leaf. Nature inspired jewelry is for sure not a “new” trend, but it looks like it’s getting hot again this spring
Rings and bracelets are also highlighted in this issue, such as this gunmetal ring (thus the dark color) from Allison Daniel Designs, which also comes in antique gold, matte gold, and antique silver.
This mulit-strand bracelet with leather and 14kt plated leaves is from WinkNYC.
April 18th, 2007
House of Taylor Jewelry Reports 2006 Fourth-Quarter, Full Year Financial Results
MSN Money
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — House of Taylor Jewelry, Inc. HOTJ today reported a sharp increase in 2006 fourth- quarter and full-year sales, as the company continued to build its infrastructure and establish a solid foundation for growth.
For the 2006 fourth quarter, net sales increased more than six-fold to $15.9 million from $2.5 million in the same period a year ago and were up from $12 million in the immediately preceding third quarter. For the full year, net sales grew to $31.8 million from $5.6 million in the prior-year.
“2006 was a year in which we further enhanced and broadened our infrastructure and achieved a number of important milestones in the launch of House of Taylor Jewelry as a preeminent global branded jewelry company,” said Jack Abramov, president and chief executive officer. “Our solid progress in achieving strong sales momentum throughout the year has positioned the company as a competitive and reliable source of branded jewelry products and loose diamonds.”
“During the past year, we focused on establishing a sales force backed by an internal service and call center. We successfully launched several key sales initiatives to independents, including Kathy Ireland Diamond Essentials and our loose diamond program, that are already contributing to the growth of the company,” Abramov said. “We also completed television and radio commercials, packaging, marketing materials, new ads and point-of-purchase store displays for jewelry retailers to capitalize on the powerful consumer awareness of our brands, and we added important new sourcing relationships with major global suppliers.
“The day-to-day support from Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Kathy Ireland, both major shareholders of the company, has been integral to our product design and marketing outreach, as well as the company’s growth to date,” Abramov added. “House of Taylor Jewelry is distinguished among its competitors, in large part, because of the consumer awareness and loyalty gained through the media outreach of Ms. Taylor and Ms. Ireland. These two world renowned icons represent a critical element of House of Taylor Jewelry’s ability to touch consumers and attract independent jewelry retailers worldwide.”
During the fourth quarter, the company had income from operations of $168,000, compared with a loss from operations of $928,000 in the immediately preceding third quarter and a loss from operations of $1.6 million in the comparable year-ago period. For the full year, the company posted a loss from operations of $4.8 million in 2006, compared with a loss from operations of $4.3 million a year ago.
House of Taylor Jewelry recorded a 2006 fourth-quarter net loss of $2.8 million, equal to $.07 per share, which includes $1.1 million in non-cash interest expense for amortization of debt issuance costs and $1.7 million in non-cash loss on the change in warrant liability, compared with a net loss of $1.7 million, or $.04 per share, for the comparable period in 2005.
The net loss for the 2006 full year amounted to $8.4 million, or $0.21 per share, which includes $2.7 million in non-cash interest expense for amortization of debt issuance costs. For 2005, the company reported a net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.10 per share, which included a $1 million gain on settlement of a payable to a vendor.
Abramov said the loss, as expected, principally reflected expenses in connection with product roll-out and marketing and includes approximately $4.5 million in non-cash expenses related to amortization of debt issuance costs and intangible assets, as well as stock-based compensation for services. The company’s diamond program, a major driver for the sales increase, produced $11.6 million in loose diamond sales in the 2006 fourth quarter and $22.4 million for the year. Abramov said sales to the wholesale trade were purposely at a nominal markup throughout the year in order to accelerate market penetration and bolster brand awareness and ultimately stimulate jewelry sales carrying higher margins. Abramov also noted that in the 2006 fourth quarter, the company achieved an operating profit for the first time.
“Proceeding into 2007, we are further strengthening relationships with our existing independent retailers, as well as building strong new inroads with a significant number of independents in a disciplined approach that we believe will add tangible value as our company expands,” Abramov said. “We believe this strategy provides the company with a solid, diverse revenue stream, without dependency on any one large retail organization. At the same time, we are providing independent jewelry retailers with the highly respected House of Taylor Jewelry brands in a wider range of price categories, along with related marketing tools to enhance their businesses and give them distinct competitive advantages.”
House of Taylor Jewelry shares began trading on Nasdaq in March 2006. In May 2005, the company secured exclusive licensing agreements with Dame Elizabeth Taylor’s Interplanet Productions and SandBox Jewelry, LLC, a subsidiary of Kathy Ireland Worldwide.
About House of Taylor Jewelry, Inc.
House of Taylor Jewelry is a Los Angeles-based international jewelry company whose principal shareholders include entities owned by Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Kathy Ireland, along with members of the Abramov family. It serves fine jewelry retailers worldwide with diverse jewelry collections marketed under the brands Elizabeth(TM), House of Taylor Jewelry(TM), and Kathy Ireland Jewelry(TM) Exclusively for House of Taylor Jewelry. More information on the company can be found at www.hotj.com.
Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward- looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These statements, including, but not limited to, further widening relationships with independent retailers, programs to provide an ongoing revenue stream, further enhancing brand awareness and stimulating jewelry sales with higher margins, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements include the availability of funding for current and future operations; the acceptance of the company’s branded products in the marketplace; and the characteristics and pricing of the company’s branded products as compared with competing products, as well as others discussed in House of Taylor Jewelry, Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. House of Taylor Jewelry, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Angie Yang/Evan Pondel
PondelWilkinson, Inc.
Investor Relations
Corporate/Financial Communications
(310) 279-5980 House of Taylor Jewelry, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Operations Year ended December 31, 2006 2005
Net sales (including sales to related parties
of $946,410 and $23,698, respectively) $31,793,037 $5,613,379
Cost of goods sold 28,145,891 4,968,516
Gross profit 3,647,146 644,863
Expenses: Selling, shipping and general and administrative 8,496,666 4,980,704 Loss from operations (4,849,520) (4,335,841)
Other income (expense): Discount received on settlement of payable to vendor — 981,980 Interest income 119,220 56,953 Interest expense (3,617,913) (226,783) (3,498,693) 812,150
Loss before income taxes (8,348,213) (3,523,691)
State income taxes 5,064 6,181
Net loss $(8,353,277) $(3,529,872)
Net loss per share: basic and diluted $ (0.21) $(0.10)
Weighted average shares outstanding: basic and diluted 38,954,128 36,001,544
Copyright 2007 PR Newswire
April 17th, 2007
Material diversity enriches visual appeal
Global Sources, Singapore
Makers are combining glass, sequins, beads and inlaid metal to increase product distinctiveness.
Suppliers of jewelry boxes in China and India are adding visual interest to their latest designs by utilizing a range of special decorative materials.
In China, makers are releasing wooden, PU and PVC models that feature colored thread, sequins, beads and flocking fabric. Such appearance enhancements are incorporated mainly by handembroidery.
Further, suppliers are offering designs that combine one or more decorative elements, resulting in a complex look. One company, for example, has launched a glass jewelry box studded with synthetic diamonds and other semiprecious stones.
Like their counterparts in China, India makers are updating the appearance of their products through material integration. Apart from MDF models, versions in cardboard, aluminum and brass are being manufactured. These boast lids with crystal embellishments and inlaid metal.
The majority of new jewelry boxes from both areas are marketed in vibrant colors, which are applied mainly by spray-painting. Most designs come in sky blue, orange, violet and green. Floral-themed releases are popular as well.
Besides enhancing aesthetic appeal, suppliers are improving the functionality of their latest products. Many models, for instance, have additional trays and compartments to store more pieces. A number of versions have spring-loaded hinges for easy opening, gold-plated clasps and even combination locks for security.
April 16th, 2007
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