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According
to an old believe and psychological approach analyzing personality
of ring wearer, it has been found that ring wearing habit
on different fingers could tell us accurately about the personality
and character of the wearer, provided the ring is worn on
any right hand finger.
Characteristic
of the Fingers
Index The
person who wears ring on this finger always does irregular
things But there is a charm inside you that attracts people
around you. You have your own kind of style, are self-confident
and dress your own way… You are fond of exotic, unique
kind of luxury. You like hard-to-find, weird jewelry. With
your wit and elegance, you are an attractive high society
woman. You have a good taste but keep in mind that your love
of extraordinary things may prove to be your weakness.
Middle Finger
If you wear ring on this finger you are a pleasant person,
with high imagination and lots of creative ideas. People may
find you quiet and serious or lively or sympathetic. You are
gentle and shy, and more often than not you will lose control
when interacting with a man. This is due to your lack of self-confidence.
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Ring
Finger If you wear ring on this finger you are
an inconsiderate person. If a man approaches you who disguises
himself, you will hate him eternally. You will, however, love
to see bravery in a man that is trying to get to know you.
There will be only one person who knows exactly that you are
actually a fragile person, despite the fact that you are perceived
by others to be strong. You are a great conversation partner
and love to discuss or being obstinate. When you fell like
having no friend and lonely, disappointed or brokenhearted,
you may be able to show people that you are fine and that
nothing has happened to you even though you are deeply wounded
inside. But in no time you will gain control and become the
same person…
Little Finger If you wear ring on
this finger, you are believed to be a person who finds herself
in a dream rather
Than in a real world. You are a lovely person but a little
bit depressed. You always keep your feeling save. People will
hardly know what you are thinking of, especially the love
affairs (in other words, you refuse to talk). In general,
you are affected by what is going on around you. For example,
you may cry upon learning that one of your friends is brokenhearted
or may jump up and down with gladness when she finds a handsome
man. You are calm and satisfied with you own lover. You are
not too picky. This makes people around you very comfortable.
A man who gets close to you will find himself relaxed and
with fun. You are truly feminine… You outstanding character
is ability to make a guy happy when he is with you. You are
serious about love. You are consistent and never forget important
days. In fact, you are very romantic. |
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Graceful,
elegant, smart, charming-all appropriate descriptions reflecting
the long time love affair people have for pearls. Small wonder
they are know as the “forever jewel.”
Barely two generations ago pearls were available only from
their natural source under the sea where they occurred rarely
and were a challenge to retrieve. Their scarcity helped build
their value as one of the most precious of gems. Then a method
of culturing pearls was developed and they became much more
accessible.
Fortunately, demand for these gems of soft beauty had grown
to such proportions that despite nearly 90% of today’s
pearls being cultured their value remains high.
Following are the three main groups of cultured pearls: |
1.
Freshwater Pearl :
Sizes vary from 2 to 10 mm with color ranging from white,
pink, orange, yellow, grey and pale violet. Generally
the shapes are not round but oval, rice seed or button.
China is the biggest producer of freshwater pearls.
2. Akoya or Japanese Pearl :
Sizes vary from 2 to 9 mm with colors ranging from white,
pale pink, yellow, gold and blue-grey. The most popular
color is pinkish-white. These are saltwater pearls occurring
in round, oval, pear and baroque shape.
3 South Sea Pearl :
There are two types, black pearls (also called Thailand),
and white-golden south
Sea pearls. Sizes vary from 9 to 18 mm with shapes including
round, oval, pear, button and baroque. |
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* Black
(Thailand) South Sea Pearl : Black, dark grey to pale
grey with overtones of green, pink or peacock colors.
* White/Golden South Sea Pearl : White south sea pearls
are white and silver-white in color. Some pinkish whites
are found but are rare. High quality whites come from
Australia. True golden (Not yellow or cream) south sea
pearls come from Indonesia.
The price of pearls
is determined by factors including luster, surface perfection,
color, size and shape. When shopping for pearls you
would be wise to go to respected experienced dealers
who can assist you with your questions and guarantee
the authenticity of the pearls. Pearls can be a source
of eternal pleasure and a sound investment. |
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Thai
gems and jewelry industry has experienced a steady growth
and its product has been recognized as of great quality in
the market worldwide, with the majority of its consumers living
in the principle world markets, namely U.S.A. European Union,
Japan and China. Due to ever-growing competition, However,
competitor countries have improved their production as well
as marketing in a variety of goods and have become our fearsome
competitors.
This study analyzes Thailand
and its 4 competitor countries, namely China, Hong Kong, India
and Italy, with emphasis on the following aspects: |
Situation
and the Competition
Diamonds
India has a very high
proportion of diamond trade, especially in the US and Japan
markets, leaving far behind its competitors like Hong Kong,
Thailand and Italy. In addition, India has high potential
in manufacturing diamonds smaller than 0.10 karat, and 90%
of these small-sized diamonds sold in the world market are
from India. Thus, Thailand should focus more on cutting medium
and larger-sized diamonds to avoid Indian advantage over abundant
and cheap labor.
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1. Giovanni Ferraris 2. M.J. Miller & Co. 3. Juni
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Color Sapphires
Thailand is the world center
and leading trader of color sapphires. Thailand has a very high
potential to compete, especially in the US and Japan markets, due
to its expertise in improving color gems, hard gems in particular,
and its renowned standpoint in the world market, which result in
its highest gems export amount in the world.
Thailand’s
major Competitors such as Hong Kong and India in particular, however,
are the countries to watch because they have high trade potential,
especially in terms of resources.
Synthetic Gems
China has very high proportion
of synthetic gems trade in the principal world market, especially
the US, while Thailand has higher competition potential, compared
to countries like India and Italy that have almost no active role
in synthetic gems export. |
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1. Friedrich Stahl 2.Quinn 3. Monomania |
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Silver
Thailand is a leading exporter
of silver ornament, with higher competition potential than other
countries, especially in the US and EU markets. In Japan, however,
Thailand’s potential tends to decrease, with Italy on the
rise. In addition, China has gained its respect and reserves close
monitoring while India and Hong Kong has less active role.
Gold
Owing
much to its manufacturing and exporting capability, Italy has very
high proportion in gold jewelry trade in the world market, except
for China market that trades mainly with Hong Kong. At present,
however, Italy’s competition potential has decreased in the
US while Thailand, India, Hong Kong and China have become stronger.
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Imitation
Jewelry
China
is the leading exporter of imitation jewelry in every world
principal market. It has higher trade proportion than other
countries as well as possesses continuously growing potential
in export. India is experiencing the same but total trade
volume is not as high, while Thailand has potential in the
EU market exclusively, with major competitors such as China
and India that follow closely. In other markets, Thailand’s
potential tends to diminish.
Manufacturing Analysis
Countries
differ in the way they manufacture gems and jewelry product,
depending on the past industrial evolution, industrial structure
and supporting industry. For example, India has outstanding
diamond cutting and gold jewelry industry because it has been
in this for extended period of time; in addition, it is a
center of color gems cutting. Italy, by the same token, has
long developed its own industrial cluster and designed modern
machinery, making its gold jewelry industry a boom. For China
and Hong Kong, mixed production technique has been introduced
paying attention to unique technique of each country. While
Hong Kong is selected to be a base for planning and designing,
China is a production host. Moreover, China has started the
development of supporting industry, e.g. production of machinery
with the quality matching European counterparts but cheaper.
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Gerry Weber |
Mostly,
manufacturing countries have no internal resource or raw material
but have to rely on importation. China is an exception. With
its vast territory, China has plenty of resources and raw
material not yet discovered. In short term, shortage of raw
material does not cause problem to Thailand as long as improvement
of color gems can be maintained. For production, it is Italy
that is most advanced both in terms of machinery and designing
and manufacturing technology, followed by Hong Kong, that
is ready to transfer the know-how to China. It is advisable
that Thailand speed up to offer highly value-added, exclusive
product to the market. While a number of competitors, except
for China and India that are in early stage of brand development,
have lunched their brand name product, Thailand still lacks
its own. |
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Trade
and Marketing Analysis
Marketing
is an important step in adding value to the industry
because the investment return is from pricing though
system of marketing penetration. Research done on buyer’s
attitude over Thai goods is in accordance with data
collected on importation of each country, which shows
that buyers admire diamonds from India, color gems from
Thailand and India, Silver ornament from Thailand, while
gold jewelry must be from Hong Kong and Italy.
Regarding product
characteristic, buyers seem to be pleased with Italian
goods, thanks to its quality, design, brand and the
country image. The only disadvantage is high price.
While both product from Thailand and Hong Kong are of
the same price range and close design, buyers tend to
favor the quality of Hong Kong product and brand. Product
from India and China are unique in their low price,
however, their quality is lower than that of Thai product.
In penetrating the
market, India emphasizes on low cost and aggressive
marketing strategy at international level. Like India,
China uses low cost strategy and broad marketing penetrating.
Hong Kong has adopted the concept of brand development
and a more aggressive marketing strategy, replacing
its traditional low cost emphasis. Italy is the only
nation that uses the strategy of differentiation, penetration
to selected market group by ways of product itself and
type of customers, with focus on premium product.
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Role
of Government and Private Sector
In
the countries where industry is at an advanced stage e.g.
Italy and Hong Kong, private sector play an important part
in establishing production network and world class exhibition.
While the government sector plays minor part in pushing for
the search for new markets to assist small-sized business,
private sector focus more on trade issue and improvement on
education for industry.
Thailand and India are
similar in the way both countries develop the industry that
is to say both government and private sectors are important
force in driving production and trade. Indian entrepreneurs
are strong in creating world class network, this is why most
diamond trade is in the hands of Indian traders. At present,
India has more influence than Israel and Belgium. For Thailand,
the support from private sector lacks clear marketing strategy,
even though close coordination with the government sector
exists.
China began its free trade
policy for gems and ornament following its admission into
the World Trade Organization (WTO) e.g. central diamond market
and central gold market that are designed to facilitate the
sourcing of raw material. This includes the product quality
control, consumer protection law and regulation. covering
buying, exchanging and repairing the goods. In addition, China
has established special economic zone, which can manufacturer
and export its product, though co-investment with many countries
and possible marketing penetration.
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| 1.Swatch 2. Michel
Herbelin 3. John Hardy |
Recommendation
on Strategy for Competition
In
maintaining Thailand’s potential to compete with others,
researchers recommend the following 6 strategies:
1. Strategy for maintaining
the Thai market and high potential product e.g.
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Improvement of color gems and cutting technique.
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Coordination in locating source of raw material.
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Systematic improvement of gems quality as well as protection
of Thai know-how.
2. Strategy for international
communication
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More aggressive marketing strategies e.g. participation in
major world class exhibition - Promotion of Thai gems and
jewelry brand. |
3.
Strategy for upgrading Thai product at the international market
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Supporting manufactures and traders in certifying quality
e.g. issuance of product quality certification,
engraving to certify warrantee and purity of gold, silver
and platinum jewelry, etc.
4. Strategy for
establishment of strong foundation for related industry
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Improving personnel e.g. designer, cutting technician, gemologist
and marketing staff.
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Supporting improvement in production technology
5. Strategy for development
of competition capability and opportunity development for
potential Thai product
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Development of opportunity to add value to cutting industry
and maintaining good relationship with
source of raw material.
6. Strategy for Facilitating
Trade
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Establishment of versatile gems and jewelry production trade
center in a form of One-Stop
Shopping Center, e.g. at the central diamond trade center
at Ramat Kan, Israel and at Antwerp,
Belgium.
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