Two months ago, Mouawad launched GemKey, a one-stop website for gem dealers, traders, buyers and jewelers. Using the site's directory of players in the gem business, a dealer can search for the right ruby or that special sapphire. Regular bulletins keep industry hands up-to-date on developments in the trade. "Now you have a new communications medium with which to do your business and acquire more information," says Mouawad. The site helps eliminate middlemen whose handling costs add to the price of a jewel. With GemKey, a trader can easily locate the stone he wants -- and find out who owns it.

The site's primary purpose is to bring people together. No stones are sold over the computer -- at least not yet. Inspired by the success of mail-order outfits in the U.S., Mouawad's company is planning a shopping site for gems and jewelry. "Can you really sell the romance of jewelry online?" he asks. His own answer: "You might kill the role the jeweler plays, but I believe you can portray the romance and mystery through a nicely-built website."

So far, building websites is GemKey's main money-earner. Visiting the company's home page costs gem dealers and buyers absolutely nothing, but GemKey will charge up to $2,500 if a company or dealer wants it to set up a site sparkling with animation, video and graphics. In two months, GemKey has built 100 sites, and adds about 10 more each week.

It helps, of course, that the company is based in Thailand, one of the world's biggest exporters of jewelry. "As far as colored stones are concerned, Thailand is the center," says Jonathan McDonald, promotions manager of GemKey. Bangkok is also the fifth-largest manufacturing center for diamonds.

GemKey will probably not reach the break-even point for another three years. But for an industry that sells precious stones at precious prices, the bottom line is not much of a worry. Mouawad is confident of GemKey's success. "Having information from such a network will become more and more essential," he remarks. In short, making the right connection helps in finding a diamond in the rough.

-- By Julian Gearing / Bangkok

Hiratsuka Kenichi of Sawanoya, a pawn shop with five branches across Japan, says his establishment offers everything from Casio G-Shock watches and Nike Air Max shoes to Cartier accessories and Louis Vuitton handbags. He says products worth up to 100,000 yen ($800) sell well, but not those costing more.

Sawanoya already does a brisk business through magazines but went online with Brand Shopping as a test run for its own virtual shopping outlet. Says Hiratsuka: "The future is in the Internet because it offers a wider array of customers and reaches areas where shops do not have branches." The majority of Brand Shopping's patrons are young career-minded singles, both male and female, who live outside the major urban centers. The cyber-auction saves them trips to the cities and money -- the products are slightly cheaper than in large department stores.

A further attraction is the sale of unusual items. In addition to prestige products, Sawanoya specializes in retro paraphernalia related to the animated cartoons that were popular twenty or thirty years ago.

And then there is the novelty aspect. "The auction system has been a hit because Japanese customers are always on the lookout for exciting things to do," says Hiratsuka. "Shopping is no longer just another outing but a challenge to one's financial skills and an interesting guessing game." At least this kind of computer-generated shopping is.

-- By Suvendrini Kakuchi / Tokyo

No, Leo Ferdinand of Online Laserdisc & VCD has not perfected video-on-demand or interactive cable (not yet anyway). His operation is as refreshingly low-brow high-tech as that of Web-wired pizza parlors. Jakarta video junkies choose a film on the company's website; Online then delivers the movie's laserdisc or video CD through traffic-choked streets to their homes.

When Ferdinand and a friend started up in June last year, the business was simply a house-to-house, office-to-office service. The two men wandered around Jakarta lugging two suitcases filled with laserdiscs -- "university graduates delivering CDs," jokes Ferdinand, who has a degree in marketing. But they always knew they would go online. In October, they launched the company's website.

The site receives an average of 1,000 hits a month. Some 300 people in Jakarta use its services, with 20 new members signing up each month. The company's revenues come from its rental fees: about $32 for 30 laserdiscs and $15 for 25 VCDs, collected on the first delivery. "We cannot expect much profit from the Internet," says Ferdinand. "Not so many people use the Internet here." Still, Online grosses about $1,450 a month, giving Ferdinand enough money to buy 10 or 20 new films monthly.

The 27-year-old spends seven days a week running the operation from his home, with the help of eight assistants. Besides Online, Ferdinand also owns a computer retail business, R-Digital Computers. At times, he asks his computer delivery staff to drop off or pick up films for Online. "The future of selling on the Net exists," he says. But given the low number of users in Indonesia so far, "only unique services can survive." Ferdinand is thinking of selling movies as well as renting them out. And audio CDs and books might also be among Online's future offerings. But definitely not pizza.

-- By Yenni Kwok / Jakarta

The 43-year-old German, who came to Asia 17 years ago, founded the Singapore-based bimonthly in 1992. It was then a 64-page publication with a circulation of 7,000 (today, it carries 148 pages and has a print run of 21,800). A year after the magazine was launched, Sigel received a call from a think tank set up by students who had returned from computer school in the U.S. "They had gotten funding to turn Singapore companies onto the Web," recalls Sigel. "Nobody knew what it was then and many companies turned them down. We didn't, and as it turned out, Asian Diver was the first Singapore publication to go online."

Sigel says he immediately recognized the Internet's marketing potential. "We are a regional publication, but this gave us the opportunity to reach out worldwide," he says. "I knew there were lots of people out there who wanted to know about us, but it was a question of getting the exposure."

In 1995, Asian Diver set up a website under its own domain. The home page now receives an estimated 400 visitors a day; inquiries for subscriptions come in at the rate of three or four a day. Says Sigel: "We get inquiries from places like Chile and Argentina."

Sigel has added a mail-order business for books and apparel; he says he processes two or three orders a day. He also sells advertising links on the site for $300 a year; now there are 30 or 40 of them. Starting next year, he will introduce advertising banners for $1,000.

So far, though, the website hasn't made any money. "We're at break-even point," says Sigel. "The revenue covers our costs but hasn't covered overheads yet." He is, however, confident the days of making profits over the Internet will arrive soon. "It's a question of jockeying for position for the day when everyone is online," he says. "I think we're half a generation away from there." As evidence, he offers his 11-year-old son, who likes to shop online: "My son and his generation will be the ones to order merchandise by pushing a button." By then, Asian Diver should be well above water -- financially that is.

-- By Ellen White/Singapore