Tatjana Li
General Manager, Libea GmbH, Germany
Abstract
This presentation gives an overview about the development of the gemstone industry in the region of Idar-Oberstein and divides its history into four stages such as:
The first stage began in 1454 when rich mineral occurrences, mainly agates and amethyst crystals, were discovered and mined. At latest since 1544 the rough stones got also locally processed in water-driven cutting mills and early goldsmiths followed around 1700. But after some prospering times the first crisis occurred with local deposits starting to deplete at the end of the 18th century.
The second stage was at the beginning of the 19th century heralded when the utilization of mining sources abroad, mainly Brazil, enabled a revival of the cutters business. Extended international trade relations were established and the craftsmanship skills became more and more sophisticated and diversified. The professions of lapidaries, carvers and engravers emerged and Idar-Oberstein got a world known emporium for rough and cut colored gemstones of all specimens
In a fourth stage from the early 20th century until the 1980s the industry was twice war-torn, but each time managed to recover. Several gemstones turned popular for some period, the lapidaries specialized quickly and the goldsmiths fitted them into all kinds of jewelry - from industrially produced costume jewelry to hand processed finest jewels.
In the current stage the industry is more focusing on design and, underpinned by tradition, innovation and the integral combination of researching, testing, education and trading institutions, it is still able to resist fierce competition worldwide and especially from Asia.
In conclusion, the presentation sums up the historical success factors and points out that in order to maintain their leading position and to counter the challenges, the numerous small family businesses of Idar-Oberstein have to combine their strengths especially for a global marketing on the one hand and to further capitalize on their core competences of stone knowledge, trading connections, craftsmanship, creativity and design on the other.
Tatjana Li 李雅娜
(Dipl.-Kffr.) 商学硕士
General Manager 总经理
Libea GmbH, Idar-Oberstein
Libea International Consulting ? Trading Co., Ltd., Beijing
tatjanali@126.com or li@libea.de; www.libea.de
Tatjana Li was born in Worms, Germany, in 1973, and grew up in Idar-Oberstein. After her Abitur (German high school degree) she started a two-year vocational training in banking at the Sparkasse in Idar-Oberstein in 1992 and received a scholarship at the Academy of Business and Public Sector Management (VWA) Rhineland-Palatinate, from which she graduated with the business administration diploma “Betriebswirt” (VWA) in 1996.
From 1994 on she additionally studied at the University of Saarland in Saarbruecken majoring in International Management and obtained the Master of Business Management in 1998. During her time in Saarbruecken she engaged herself in the board of a students’ initiative and also as Vice-President of the German-Chinese Society of Saarbruecken. Following her interest for China since her youth she started to learn Chinese, went to Asia to work as an intern a few times, conducted data research for her diploma thesis in Shanghai and published a number of articles about the Chinese banking system.
From 1999 to 2000 she was a Teaching Assistant and Research Associate at the Department of Management, Organization and Human Resource of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, while being enrolled at the same time as Ph.D. candidate. These teaching experiences enabled her to become a part-time tutor at the WHL Graduate School of Business and Economics in Lahr, Germany, from 2000-2002, when she took a break to look after her son. Mrs. Li is a co-author of a series of graduate level text books for strategic management specially developed for that distance university.
After being free-lancing management consultant in several China related projects for several years, she founded Libea GmbH with its head office in Idar-Oberstein in 2003. To extend the range of services for her clients, she founded a second company in 2006 based in Beijing, the Libea International Consulting and Trading Co., Ltd., which possesses full foreign trade and wholesale rights for a. o. gemstone and jewellery.
Tatjana Li is married to a Chinese native and has a son. Her hobby is golf and travelling. She speaks, besides her mother tongue German, English and Chinese.