"This was a very intense win for us," Carlson said after her team’s nondistrict match at Fort Marcy. "The girls,shop for tiffany money clips, they were getting everything down and making plays when they had to. As a coach it was fun to watch. It was amazing, actually."

Monte del Sol had only five missed hits all night. Its efficiency was key as Waldorf extended the match to a decisive Game 5.

"We pulled together and didn’t give up,money clips," Carlson said. "Each time they got close, we pulled out a big play."

Seniors Monique Lujan and Kamille Archie-Payne — the only upperclassmen on the Monte del Sol roster — led the way with a combined eight service aces.

Lujan added two kills and four blocks while Archie Payne chipped in with a kill, a dig and two blocks.

Freshman Erin Brooke finished with three aces and three kills, helping Monte del Sol keep the ball in play with a solid night as the back-row specialist.

Outside hitter Aisha Herrera helped the Lady Wolves storm back to force a decisive fifth game with three aces and three kills.

Shrenuj, a Mumbai-based diamond company, recently formed a joint venture with Israel’s SWA Trading, for developing and marketing sports diamond jewellery to woo soccer lovers globally. The JV will make special diamond cuts for clubs such as InterMilan, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, who collectively have a fan following of over a billion people worldwide.

The diamonds will be specially cut and polished to resemble the logo of the individual club and set in jewellery items such as medals, trophies, rings, pendants, and bracelets, said a senior company official on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to media. The specially designed sports accessories, which have a wider choice for team sponsors, clubs and consumers, will be patented world wide, he added.

The move — the sports jewellery industry is valued at over $2 billion worldwide — could come as a booster for the diamond industry which is just recovering from the slump in sales seen during the recent liquidity crisis. The slow demand prompted retailers in the US and Europe to cut purchases, affecting Venetian Link necklace of units in India. The small revival of sales in this region and increased purchases by high net worth individuals in India and China has prompted workers who had left this sector, to return.

The diamonds for the sport clubs will be cut and polished in a diamond manufacturing facility of Shrenuj. Also, there is a dedicated Strategic Business Unit (SBU) exclusively controlling the supply chain and promotion of the sports jewellery and mementos, co-branded with various national and international sports clubs and team sponsors. The company has created a dedicated team for product development and manufacturing of these products.

When contacted, Vishal Doshi, Executive Director, Shrenuj & Company, declined to comment on financial nitty-gritty of the deal. However, he confirmed the development saying, “These are special cut diamonds for creating three new varieties dedicated to sports only. We are encouraged by the overwhelming response from various sports clubs and sponsors from Europe and Middle East where this game is widely popular.”

The company is in process of developing cricket ball and tennis ball diamond cuts and will soon be available to the Indian consumer in retail stores, said Mr Doshi. The sports jewellery industry is valued at over $2 billion worldwide.

Trapz, a division of Israel based SWA Trading, which is an expert at unusual tiffany Notes Dangle Key ring cuts, has developed the three unique diamond cuts for Shrenuj, which will polish the new cuts in India and distribute the jewellery in India and Far East. SWA Trading will concentrate on matured market like the US and the Europe, said the company official. Diamond industry has recently started doing well, especially in small diamonds segment says, Pinakiranjan Mishra, Partner, Risk Advisory Services, Ernst & Young.

Sports diamond jewellery is a very niche market, which can cash in on mass fan following of foot ball and elite fans of golf and tennis, added Mr Mishra.

“I arrived in Beijing like 6:30 a.m. A TV-5′s sports crew was waiting for me in the gate. I didn’t even wake up yet,” giggled Li, 28, who became the first Chinese player, man or woman, to crack the top 10.

“It was a change in my life. Many people know who I am, ask for autographs, take photos.”

However, the eighth-seeded Li lost 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) in a 2-hour, 25 minute second-round match to Timea Bacsinszky on Thursday in the Sony Ericsson Open.

Countrywoman Peng Shuai, ranked 56th, also went down, but not before scaring erratic, top-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to run her match-losing streak to top five players to 12.

Kuznetsova scattered 43 unforced errors to Shuai’s 23, but won 15 of 20 at the net to prevail.

“I think they are working on the court and just learning like Chinese people and improve so much.”

The 19th-ranked Zheng is still alive and plays Virginia Razzano on Friday.

Chinese women virtually ignored tennis until the 2004 Athens Olympics when tiffany earrings sale Chinese duo of Li Ting and Sun Tiantian captured the gold.

“People didn’t know what tennis is and say maybe it looks like table tennis,” smiled the 11th-ranked Li, who became the first Chinese woman to win a title in 2004 at Guangzhou. “After the Olympics many children start to pick up rackets.”

Ivanovic’s spirits improve

Ana Ivanovic, whose rank has plummeted from No. 1 after her French Open title in 2008 to 58 — the first time she’s been out of the top 50 in five years — beat Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-3.

Under the direction of new coach Heinz Gunthardt, Ivanovic has rediscovered her on-court joy.

“I was spending too much time on the court working and off the court doing fitness,” said Ivanovic, 22. “It was hard for me to compete and find the freshness and enjoyment to compete again.”

Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm fought valiantly, but the 39-year-old couldn’t convert tiffany necklaces set points before losing 6-3, 7-6 (7) to 16th seed Nadia Petrova.

Ms. Bancroft, who has managed to become a fixture at fashion shows, movie premieres and fund raisers without being mega-wealthy, maximizes her closets, which are modest by socialite standards. Her 1,600-square-foot Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, the top half of a duplex that once housed George and Ira valentines day jewelry, includes three closets for her wardrobe, one 10 feet by 4 feet, the others 4 feet by 5 feet and 8 feet by 6. The three closets hold only her go-to, in-season items; everything else is stored in her Southampton home. Ms. Bancroft, 55 years old, lives with her husband, William Woodward Bancroft Jr., an investment manager, and their daughter, Serena, 13. Their son, 19-year-old Will, is away at college.

Ms. Bancroft, who writes a society column for Avenue magazine, gets a lot of her clothing as gifts from designer friends such as Vera Wang. “With this social life, I go out a lot and have a good shot at getting photographed,” she said. The rest are mostly presents from friends or deals she scored at sample sales. “For me to go and outright and buy something is unusual for me,” she said. “There are very few pieces I’ll pay full price for without blinking.”

Wearing a custom, short, strapless, feathered dress given to her by Calypso, Ms. Bancroft said she has no intention of retreating to older, perhaps more matronly styles of clothing. “The legs are holding up. I’ve got plenty of time to wear conservative suits,” she said. She pulled out a funky ensemble by her friend designer Nicole Miller: a black coat decorated with Art Deco and vaguely ethnic prints with a matching sheath dress and skirt.

“She’s fearless,” said Ms. Miller. “I’ve never heard her say ‘I’m too old for it.’ Not that you want to go out and look earrings, but she’s a very confident person.”

Ms. Bancroft’s bedroom closet is hung with 100 dresses in the front; in the back are skirts and blouses on a bottom rung and 30 suits on the top. Her attic, an unusual feature in New York, has the two other closets, the first bearing spring summer clothing and the other containing long, evening dresses and skirts, including a grey silk dress by Carolina Herrera decorated with hand-painted flower motifs, crystals and silver threads. “There are traces of the last party on it,” she said, pointing to liquid stains.

The Carolina Herrera was purchased at a sample sale. Ms. Bancroft said she sticks to a budget whenever she shops, often buying on discount. She said she thinks her least expensive purchase is a $60 Kate Moss Topshop dress, bought on sale last month while she was shopping with her daughter and since worn at an art-crowd party. “I was kind of hip in my Topshop,” she said, holding the black and silver metallic three-quarter-length sheath. She also bought a pair of $100 silver high-heel shoes to go with the dress.

Occasionally, however, she will splurge, like the time, four years ago, when she spent $1,500 on a vintage Chanel dress. The torso of this sleeveless piece, which was made in the late 1980s, is made of black plastic that resembles the quilted pattern on Chanel’s classic quilted handbag.

She recalled the day she purchased the item from a trunk show for Decades, a Los Angeles boutique that specializes in 20th century vintage couture. “I was at my thinnest. I was feeling at my most physically optimal moment. I put it on and it was an enchanted moment. There’s always a piece you put on and when you come out and in the whole room there’s a collective sigh. So I bought it.” She hasn’t worn it recently. A size 2, “it’s a little tight,” she said.

The only child of a doctor father and a nurse-turned-homemaker mom, Ms. Bancroft grew up on Long Island. After key rings Finch College, a women’s college in Manhattan, she embarked on a career working for magazines such as Elle Decor.

“There’s nothing boring in her closet,” said another friend, tiffany Dubin, a decorative-arts appraiser, auction coordinator and stepdaughter of A. Alfred Taubman, a former chairman of Sotheby’s. “Everything’s unique. It reflects her personality. It’s creative, but it’s got an edge and it’s got a little conservatism. It’s also kind of ageless in a way.”

Ms. Bancroft’s bedroom is also packed with shoes — she estimated owning roughly 150 pairs in total. One favorite is a pair of black satin Manolo Blahnik shoes with crystal-studded heels that she holds up like jewelry. “I wear [them] often, but judiciously, as they are satin,” she said of the shoes, which were given to her for her 50th birthday by Lisa Jackson, an interior designer. “I know there will be a day when the satin has frayed around those beautiful, hard crystals, and am already planning on how I’ll revive them.” Ms. Bancroft keeps her 60 bags or so in cabinets built inside her closet.

She got a tan silk wrap dress patterned with orange, pink, black and white ovals and semi-ovals of various sizes by necklaces merely by showing up to a lunch hosted by the label. “At the end of the lunch, [a senior public-relations person] held a little picture of four different dresses and said, ‘Tell me which dress you like and you’ll get it on the way out,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ ” she recalled, still awestruck. “That’s my best goody bag ever in the history of my life.”

“We will see what we can do and seek continuation of support where it is absolutely necessary,” he said, adding valentines day jewelry that labour-intensive sectors such as handicraft, leather, and gems and jewellery continue to be in trouble.

“Sectoral reviews have been completed. I am soon going to work on the recommendations. They will also get reflected on our budget proposals,” Sharma told reporters at the sidelines of a conference organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or Ficci.

The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the ministry carried out the performance review of key export sectors.

It also examined if any sector might need additional incentives due to the slump in external demand for Indian earrings goods.

Asked if the finance ministry would withdraw some of the incentives provided to the exporters, Sharma said any such move will be a considered pull-back. “The finance minister will dispassionately examine the sectoral performance and do what is judicious,” he said.

Merchandise exports rose in November for the first time this fiscal to $13.2 billion (Rs61,512 crore) from $11.16 billion earlier, up 18.28%. However, exports in the April-November period were lower than in the year-ago period, having dropped 22.32% to $104.25 billion.

Sectors that saw significant growth are gems and jewellery (40.4%), petroleum products (83.6%), iron ore (47.2%), and plastic and linoleum (28%).

The sectors that lagged behind are textiles (6%), drugs and fine chemicals (8.7%), tobacco (5.6%), carpet (5.8%), and engineering goods (6.8%).

Earlier on Wednesday, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said: “I am not in favour of providing incentives if it key rings cannot be sustained.”

Khullar also called for “some degree of stability”, expressing apprehension that there could be a tendency to “claw back some of the incentives” already provided to exporters.

According to Mr Babu Emmanuel, President of the Madras Jewellers & Diamond Merchants Association, this year there will be over 150 stalls spread over 30,000 sq.ft. More than 125 manufacturers from India and countries such as Thailand, Dubai, Hong Kong Malaysia, Italy and the US have confirmed their participation. “The expo will be a platform for manufacturers and retailers to meet, and will benefit both as this will eliminate middlemen in the trade,” said Mr Emmanuel.

The Madras Jewellers & Diamond Merchants Association, founded way back in 1938 and which earrings has more than 1,000 members today, started the expo in 2005 as a regional show with 50 exhibitors. “Now it has become an international event and attracts retailers and manufacturers from many foreign countries too,” says Mr Yogesh J. Shah, Chairman of the event. This year, the expo is expected to draw over 10,000 visitors, he said.

UBM India is part of the global business media company, United Business Media, which organises trade fairs across the world.

Copyright 2010 Business key rings Line

The event highlights the fact that it will have some of the most beautiful and stunning collections from the world of jewellery and watches. Well known designers like Roberto Coin, Carrera Y Carrera, Mikimoto, Fope, Parmigiani, Chronoswiss and many more from Italy, Spain, Japan and Switzerland will be present during this prestigious event. Damas is quite confident that by organising this event for the first time at The Dubai Mall Les Exclusives Boutique it will attract more clients. The visitors would be able to enjoy and appreciate impeccable service while they choose from a wide range of exclusive jewellery and timepieces.

Tamjid Abdullah, Deputy Managing Director of Damas, said: “We derive great pleasure in bringing the most stunning collections from some of the world’s most renowned, appreciated and loved brands during this annual event. Such an event shows our continued leadership in this market segment as well as our strong partnerships with leading watch and jewellery houses that are known for their high aesthetic and technical standards. For sure, the new creations available during Damas Luxury Week will captivate Dubai’s connoisseurs with their magnificence.”

The launch to be held on November 5 will be a gathering of 1000 guests including Damas officials, international brand principals and members of the media. Guests will have a chance to witness a walk-through of models wearing some of the most beautiful creations on display during the week-long extravaganza and something very exciting awaits all the visitors who visit Damas Les Exclusives Boutique located at The Dubai Mall during the week.

About Damas:The journey of Damas began in 1907. It has grown from a UAE based company into a global fashion and jewellery network spanning the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and North Africa. The Damas Group has over 500 stores in 18 countries around the world as of 30th April 2009. Damas houses internationally acclaimed jewellery and watch brands such as tiffany & Co., Mikimoto, Daniel K, Faberge, Carrera y Carrera, Paspaley, Pasquale Bruni, Roberto Coin, Fope, Chronoswiss, Parmigiani, Perrelet, Quinting, Montega, Frederique Constant, Chanel, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin, Girard-Peregaux, Jaquet Droz, Parmigiani, Perrelet, Chronoswiss, Chaumet, Sarcar, Hysek among many others. The innovative in-house collections include the majestic Bridal jewellery, exclusive jewellery brands such as Damas Cut, Boudoor, Hayati, Riwaya, Jawaher, Farasha, Fairouz, Harmony, Farfasha, Al Manthourah; watch brands Varotti and Aquamarin; and a wide range of other classic and contemporary jewellery and watch collections. Quality consciousness, inspirational leadership and international reputation have led Damas to win prestigious awards including the exclusive De Beers Award 2000, 2004 and 2007 for jewellery design. Damas International Limited is listed on Dubai Nasdaq (former Dubai International Financial Exchange) and its shares are traded under the ticker ‘DAMAS’. 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)