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Once again, not so. Consumers have become sophisticated and confident enough to understand technical specifications and did not need to see the picture, says Dell's Mr George. Many also put their trust in Dell's brand: if the Texas company could build good computers, it would probably make decent TVs too. This reveals another important change in attitude. "Consumers just don't have these historical brand affinities in the way they used to have them," adds Mr George. But he is aware that brand value carries risks too: "We know it could be taken away from us at any moment."

An important part of Dell's success has been that along with its direct-tiffany necklaces sale model it offers a customisation service. If a customer orders a PC online, he or she can ask for it to be configured in all sorts of ways. Yet when the order is placed, none of the components are in the factory. Within a day or so they have arrived from suppliers, been assembled into a PC according to the customer's specification and sent off to the delivery address. Carmakers may never be able to build a business as lean and as flexible as this, but they are working on similar lines to keep their customers happy.

Last year retail sales of diamonds in China climbed 12% to $1.4 billion. That outlay comes to a mere dollar tiffany accessories sale capita--versus $100 in the U.S.--but it has the potential to grow, given the rising affluence of the Chinese and their predisposition to save money. It is possible to convince oneself that a jewelry purchase is a form of saving. De Beers' target buyer has an annual household income of $2,900, the bottom reaches of the middle class in China.

Images in showy ads created for De Beers by ad agency JWT resonate among consumers who are just starting to discover and crave the trappings of middle-class life. They feature well-dressed couples enjoying other luxuries. At least one tiffany pendants sale a well-to-do couple frolicking on the beach, suggesting they can afford a vacation, another treat in China.

De Beers is also convincing TV producers to weave diamonds into the plots of their programs. China's state-run network CCTV last year borrowed the storyline of a De Beers ad for an episode of its popular drama Pink Lady. In it, a woman checks out her reflection in a restaurant window and admires the glittering diamond pendant around her neck. A man sitting with his girlfriend in the restaurant also notices the bauble and is so captivated by it that his date storms off.

De Beers has been able to accomplish a lot with little money. It tiffany rings sale in 11 eastern Chinese cities for several years, taking its pitch last year to smaller cities on the mainland. This year it plans to spend $9 million on TV, magazine and newspaper ads for diamond rings in big cities and in 17 additional cities and towns, including remote outposts such as Hefei and Tibet's Lhasa."This has happened much more quickly than we ever thought it would," says Christina Hudson, De Beers' marketing director for Greater China.

De Beers has helped change wedding ceremonies, inspiring brides, for instance, to dispense with the traditional red dress in favor of white. Diamond Trading Co., the company's sales and marketing arm, even plays a role in some nuptials. Several times a year in Beijing and Shanghai it cosponsors mass weddings on days the Chinese consider auspicious, such as New Year's Day (Jan. 1) and National Day (Oct. 1). When 150 couples were wed at a mass wedding in atlas jewelry sale last fall, they walked under a 9-foot-high diamond solitaire ring as each groom gave his bride a ring. A diamond-themed float was part of a parade in another ceremony. De Beers' marketing company ponies up $13,000 to sponsor a mass wedding. Jewelry stores chip in $87,000.