From behind the counter of his jewelry shop, Mithad Hamas advises a mother and daughter on a pair of gold earrings.

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The imposing, glass-fronted building situated on the prominent Mahatma Gandhi Road resembles a posh international store rather than a traditional jewelry shop.

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The fragrances are sold from two boutiques: one in Paris, a stone's throw from Rosenthal's jewelry shop, a second on the lower floor of Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan.

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In fact, visitors to a typical jewelry shop in India or China likely will not find a fixed price on the items they want to buy, as they would in say New York City.

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They ranged from a rural family farmer who said he makes 90% of his money through Internet sales to two women who met via their virtual Etsy stores and eventually launched a brick-and-mortar jewelry shop together in St.

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Etsy sent Lisa Jacobs an email asking her to answer a list of questions about how she made and shipped the jewelry in her shop, says the 34-year-old who lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

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While there, Lo sold some of her jewelry designs to a Cartier shop on Fifth Avenue, launching a new career.

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By the early 1990s, with oil money tapering off and the Sultan of Brunei cutting back on his jewelry purchases, Graff decided his shop near Harrods needed an upgrade.

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Business thrived as families came in to shop to purchase the heavy jewelry offered as bridal dowry, a practice common in many parts of India.

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Others will shop at specialty stores (20.2 percent), online (19.3 percent), floral shop (17.8 percent), jewelry stores (10.6 percent) and specialty clothing stores (6.6 percent).

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