Court decision scores knockout for Tiffany against jewelry knockoffs

A federal court in New York has entered a final judgment by consent for jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. and against Starglam Inc. and its principal owner, enjoining them from any further infringement of the Tiffany name and trademark. Starglam had been charged with selling Tiffany knockoffs online and via retail stores.

Under the judgment, defendants paid Tiffany $950,000. The principal owner had previously pled guilty to charges of trademark counterfeiting and has served his sentence, Tiffany says.
“We are pleased to announce this judgment,” says Tiffany’s chairman and CEO Michael Kowalski. “Trademark counterfeiting severely damages brand owners and consumers alike. The way to stop it is to take aggressive action against the counterfeiters and make them pay, criminally as well as civilly. That’s what happened in this case which should send a message to anyone trying to sell counterfeit Tiffany merchandise.”

Starglam was charged with selling the counterfeits on the Internet, including on eBay. Tiffany, No. 98 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, has a civil suit awaiting trial in a federal court in New York against eBay because of the large amount of counterfeit Tiffany silver merchandise that has been sold on eBay auction sites, Tiffany says.

Starglam also was accused of distributing counterfeit silver Tiffany merchandise, some of which was purchased in Asia and some in New York, Tiffany says. The government brought proceedings against the New York seller who was prosecuted and convicted.

Damiani Signs Paris Hilton for New Jewelry Line

Paris Hilton has signed an agreement to be the new face of Italian jeweler Damiani’s new Bliss collection. As reported in E! Online, the socialite was recently photographed for the launch of the three-year print campaign.

The Bliss line is Damiani’s lower priced line, geared toward the younger market. The pieces incorporated gold, stainless steel, wood and diamonds, with prices ranging from $60 to $3,000.

Vice President Silvia Damiani said, “She’s perfect. It’s our young and our very fashionable line.”

Diamond Jewelry For The Holidays!

A festival diamond jewelry grip may be just the chunk that makes this a Christmas to memorize! Whether it be a new diamond halo, diamonds earhalos, ornament, armlet or some other chunk pf diamond jewelry, the festival time can be a flawless time to fast your perpetual keenness to those you ardor with a diamond all their own! There are a few equipment to keep in brain when exchange diamond jewelry for the holidays, and here's a few of them.

WHAT DO THEY LIKE?
each has their own special type, and to have the best shot at discovery diamond jewelry that compliments their untreated special type you want to come armed with proof. What do they like? Classic, contemporary, or vintage styling? What metal do they wish.
Exclusively gold, platinum, silver? Do they like bold or ingenious diamond jewelry, and what magnitude are the chunks they own now?

SHAPES and SETTINGS
Diamond jewelry can come in many outranks and locales. Some choices might enter a circular diamond, a marquise cut or oval, a princess cut or emerald, pear or sympathy; as well as many other cuts and outranks and really even flag of diamond jewelry out there. verdict superstar's special wishence when it comes to diamond jewelry can be a tricky attempt; you don't want to give it away! See what they stare at when space shopping; you may get a suggest at some of the equipment they like.

Be assured to take into consideration the magnitude and outline of their hands, particularly for a female. presume how it would look on her hands. If you're in a retail store have a clerk with like hand assembly paradigm it for you.

The last thing you want to do is have a large halo that overwhelms her hand.

WHAT magnitude DO YOU BUY?
You may have to become a furtive agent to get this report, but it would be finicky to have an idea of magnitude when you're Choosing that halo. Another firmness is austerely exchange limp diamonds and shopping together for the locale.

You're still her knight in shining shield and she get to elect how it shines!

WHERE TO BUY DIAMOND JEWELRY?
This part is receiving easier and easier. In addition to the diamond traders in your theme, the internet has revolutionized diamond jewelry shopping, to the point where it's now wishable to do your diamond shopping online. Time, convenience, greatly more gladly open reportrmation and array make diamond jewelry shopping on the net an no- brainer.

You regularly run into great prices online as well, as there is no overhead online and also no commissioned salesperson there to "direct" you into the diamond jewelry they want to push you, not necessarily what you want. No presassured, no ranks, no parking, no crime, and all the chief diamonds traders have an online ghost, as well as some that are chastely web-based. Let me ask you: would you fairly buy your diamond jewelry from a timeal worker who is pushing you what they have left on hand, or make a greatly more reportrmed and leiassuredly firmness from a web-based trader with a great contract more array and maybe better prices? approve, you elect! Most of the chief Most all online stores will agreement you guarantees and earnings privileges, and in my panorama putting my prestige license online is a great contract safer than generous it to an eighteen year old final for the hottest XBOX.

If you're looking for diamond jewelry for the holidays, let your fingers do the walking and find that flawless chunk they'll adore eternally!

Good Things Come in Three, All About Three Stone Jewelry

He brings her to an empty movie theater and the lights darken. Suddenly, there she is on the screen—black-and-white images of their courtship. And there he is, by her side in the dark, presenting a three-stone diamond ring.

The ad ran late one afternoon in July 2000 in a darkened room in Charterhouse Street. It was the day De Beers unveiled the three-stone ring known as the “Diamond Dream.”

The impact was far-reaching, extending to other categories (three-stone jewelry, sometimes referred to as PPF—past, present, future—now accounts for some 10 percent of all women’s diamond jewelry worldwide, according to the DPS) and to every continent.

Clearly a bridal product (it was initially an anniversary band but soon became an engagement ring alternative), and very much a “diamond as the hero” piece, it nonetheless had modesty written large. Like the woman in the ad, and the women in the “Steps” and “Hands” ads that followed, this new three-stone ring was as serious as it was lovely. Its beauty lay in trim and thoughtful lines—Audrey Hepburn rather than Liz Taylor—and in each ad, its presentation induced a quiet but profound reaction from a woman who played her cards close to the chest.
Madonna, Sharon Stone, Toni Braxton, Jennie Garth, and others received them in mid-proposal. Their celebrity helped expand the category—from anniversary band to engagement ring, but also from emotion driven to aspirational, modestly private to glaringly public.

In the process, a new three-stone guideline was born. With centers two or three times larger than the sides’ total weight, the ring was an engagement ring, and centers were often raised in such settings. Those differences lost the abbreviated diamond wall for a look that was almost a solitaire, with the sides as supporting cast, but it still worked.

We at Diamondsonfifth offer the most beautiful three stone rings, earrings pendants, prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, that way we fit everybody’s budget.
If you have any question please feel free to contact us at 866-382-0288.

Thanks
The DiamondsOnFifth Team

Do you want to know everything about jewelry?.

A new jewelry book aimed at consumers discusses jewelry-wardrobe building and aesthetics, and offers retail jewelers both a marketing tool and a sales-team training guide.The 224-page book, Jewelry Savvy: What Every Jewelry Wearer Should Know, is written by third-generation jeweler Caroline Stanley and certified image consultant and jewelry designer Cynthia Sliwa. It features more than 100 images.

The authors say their book covers "everything that people should know about jewelry but probably have never been taught," including developing a jewelry wardrobe, understanding personal style, care and maintenance of jewelry, and understanding the basics of metals, gemstones and costume jewelry.

The authors offer retail jewelers several methods for using the book in their stores: offering it for sale to customers, using it as a training guide for sales associates, offering it as a gift to better customers, or using it in conjunction with an in-store event focusing on jewelry wardrobing.The book retails for $19.99. Copies may be purchased by calling (310) 937-8997. Online purchasing will soon be available through Jewelrysavvybook.com.

Where Does The Name Tennis Bracelet Come From

Did you ever think to yourself where the name tennis bracelets came from, ok here is your answer.



According to Diamondbug it is called a tennis bracelet because in 1987, Chris Evert, the former World No. 1 woman tennis player and the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, was playing in the U.S. Open. She was wearing an elegant, light in-line diamond bracelet, which accidentally broke and the match was interrupted to allow Chris to recover her precious diamonds. The ‘tennis bracelet’ incident sparked a new name for the item and sparked a huge jewelry trend.



We at www.diamondsonfifth.com sell beautiful tennis bracelets from $2000.00 and up.

Angelina Jolie is doing good with here extra jewelry

The Bochic necklace and earrings vintage-style suite of rose cut diamonds set in 22K gold that she wore at the Golden Globes will be auctioned off by charityfolks.com and all proceeds will go to UNHCR programs in Chad for refugees from the Darfur region. Keep it up.

More Women Picking Out Their Engagement Ring

Just as we see from our great customers, this report just confirms what we see.



Once upon a time, when a man proposed, he gave a woman a shiny solitaire diamond engagement ring. It was the standard. It's probably what her friends had and she was eager to join the club.





Fast forward to 2007: It's now the norm for a woman to influence what her engagement ring will look like -- if not to pick it out herself, says Mary Moses Kinney, director of the Independent Jewelers Organization. The result is bigger stones, nontraditional settings and some rings that forgo the diamond altogether. "Size matters," says Millie Martini Bratten, editorial director of the Conde Nast Bridal Group. "People love a big sparkly ring, especially coming from the person they love most in the world."



Moses Kinney thinks the larger rocks are being driven by two things: Women aren't shy about asking for what they want, and, because couples are getting married a bit older, they typically have more money to spend. The older bride also has had more time to carve out her personal style. "Women want personality in their ring. They want to make an emotional statement with the ring.



They want it to reflect who they are," says Moses Kinney. The groom, Bratten says, if left to his own devices, would probably still go for a classic solitaire because that's what he thinks an engagement ring looks like. But he's rarely left to his own devices. Usually, she says, "He will take his fiancee to the store and let her point out shapes she likes -- the shape is the priority -- and settings. She'll drop hints whether she likes gold, platinum or white gold."



Read more http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=83512

More grooms-to-be are pointing and clicking to find their honeys the perfect wedding ring

Future dentist David Ung wore out a lot of shoe leather shopping for a diamond engagement ring for his fiancée, Ynhi Nguyen.


"I went from 47th St. to Chinatown," said Ung, 29, who visited more than 10 stores in a month. But when it came to actually buying the bling, he went online to jewelry Web site diamond.com.
Ung, who's studying at New York University College of Dentistry, plunked down $5,000 for a 1.15-carat, round, colorless diamond ring, even though he first saw it when it arrived in a box at his home.


"I love it, it's shiny, it's sparkling," said Nguyen, a 33-year-old accountant from Vancouver.
Ung loves it too - for a different reason. A comparable ring "would have been $7,000 to $8,000 in a store," he said.


For many men, there are few things more daunting than buying an engagement ring. Not only are they expected to fork over a huge sum - etiquette experts have long recommended spending two months of salary - assessing the quality and value of diamonds can be as angst-ridden as meeting the in-laws.


But jewelry Web sites such as diamond.com, ice.com, whiteflash.com, diamondsonfifth.com, mondera.com, ross-simons.com, abazias.com and industry leader bluenile.com are taking the guesswork out of the hunt, and offering a growing number of grooms a less expensive alternative to traditional and often intimidating stores.


Prices for diamond rings purchased online can be 20% to 40% less than comparable stones behind the glass shelves. The reason: jewelry Web sites, which have far lower expenses, will often take a much lower markup on their merchandise.


"A $1,000 diamond at Zales will be $650 at Blue Nile," said Ken Gassman, president of the Jewelry Industry Research Institute, an independent research firm. "Zales' profit margin is 50%," he said, while "Blue Nile's is 20%."


For Gabriel Weaver, a 29-year-old lawyer from Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, scoring what he considered a good price on a ring - $4,000 for a 1.1-carat, near colorless Asscher-cut rock - wasn't the only reason he bought from bluenile.com.


Weaver said the Web site had great information that helped him choose among Blue Nile's vast selection - 50,000 stones and 100 settings. The catalog ranges from a .23-carat diamond of medium clarity for $277 to a 12.23-carat piece of ice for $1.369 million.


Blue Nile and others are making jittery grooms more comfortable with 30-day return policies and certificates from independent diamond-grading labs backing up their diamonds. Place an order and the ring will arrive at your doorstep in three business days.


The sites demystify the buying process by detailing what's universally known as the four c's - cut, clarity, color and carat weight - that factor into each diamond's value. Knowing those attributes for any given stone makes it much easier to compare prices.


For now, online sales are still just a fraction of the diamond engagement ring business. But the numbers are growing along with online jewelry sales - the fastest-growing Web retail category overall.


Gassman estimates that, of the $6.2 billion worth of engagement rings sold last year, $500 million, or 8%, were bought online. Five years ago, Net sales accounted for only 1%. The average price of an engagement ring online or off was $3,200 last year, according to the Diamond Information Center.


Jewelry stores aren't going away any time soon, though many are hurting because of the Web. There will always be people who insist on actually seeing a stone and comparing it to others.
Buying a diamond is "a touch-me, feel-me kind of thing," insisted Harvey Nagin, president of the 47th St. Business Improvement District, which represents 3,000 Diamond District retailers and wholesalers. He added that wise shoppers will find 47th St. prices competitive with the Web.
If you choose to buy a diamond online, make sure you are buying from a reputable store. Read shoppers' reviews on comparison shopping sites such as shopzilla.com or shopping.com, said ice.com marketing chief Pinny Gniwisch.


Only shop at a retailer that has a liberal return policy and provides certification from the Gemological Institute of America or the American Gem Society.


And once you buy, have an independent appraiser grade your diamond, said gem expert Antoinette Matlins, author of "Diamonds." Given the investment, she said, "It is money well spent."


$500M - Value of engagement rings bought on jewelry Web sites in 2006$3,200 - Average price of an engagement ring bought in 2006 on or offline

Who decides to buy jewelry and diamonds in wealthy households?

According to a new Luxury Institute study, 78 percent of jewelry purchases by wealthy households begin with women expressing a need for it (what a suprise). Following the expression of need, the percentage of men engaged in the jewelry-buying process more than doubles, with 54 percent of men participating in the final decision. ( Even a bigger suprise if the men would not go along they know how there credit card bills will look like).

In addition, men appear more likely than women to make the actual jewelry purchase.Likewise, women seem more involved than men in the purchase of fine china and glassware, home furnishings and bathroom fixtures, although men do play a part.

The study also finds that 86 percent of wealthy Americans (those making more than $150,000 per year) research big-ticket items and services before purchasing them. Nearly half of the wealthy ages 44 and younger set a budget for such purchases.