Charlie Anderson was nervous as he placed about 20 sample Super Bowl rings on a conference table.

Vicenzaoro, the first leg of Italy’s three powerhouse trade fairs, ended its six-day run recently, with most Italian manufacturers concentrating their efforts on creating stylish, fashionable jewelry aimed primarily at today’s self-purchasing woman. As with most fairs of late, traffic patterns were hard to predict and results for exhibitors differed greatly. For example, some suppliers said they were satisfied with the results of the show and made lots of new contacts; others reported weaker results but remained philosophical, noting this was only the first trade show of the new year.

As part of an aggressive move to become a national advertiser, diamond brand Hearts on Fire, which markets what it calls "the World's Most Perfectly Cut Diamond," has purchased $2 million of national TV advertising on NBC during the Olympics and on USA Network. The 30-second commercials, "Hero" and "Cake Topper" will air a total of 23 times from Feb. 11-13 and reach 30 million people.

Retail participants in Jewelry.com and the Diamond Promotion Service's (DPS) "October is Right-Hand Ring Month" campaign saw same-store sales increases ranging from 16 percent to 53 percent in October 2005, according to the companies.

A crowd three people deep surrounds the kiosk for Yuro Design in the jewelry exchange at Downtown Crossing. The bodies press against one another, jockeying for views of two display cases. Of particular interest are the four rows of teeth-shaped jewelry, some made of white or yellow gold, some sprinkled with diamonds, some sporting fangs. The teeth caps are alternately called grills, fronts, shines, plates, or caps, and these glittering decorative pieces are the latest hip-hop culture trend making its way into the mainstream.