Gitanjali Gems doesn't do things the old fashioned way. In an industry known for tradition and family-owned firms like DeBeers, the Indian newcomer has set tradition at naught. It sources, machine cuts and sets, and retails diamond and gem jewelry offering a dozen brands (Gili, Asmi, D'Damas, Rivaaz) across several retail channels, instead of trying to build the prestige of one name. Gitanjali has production plants in India, Thailand, Vietnam, and China with marketing outposts in Europe, Japan, and the US. Retail outlets include Gitanjali Lifestyle stores (1,200+), Samuels and Rogers in the US, mass merchants, and catalogs. The company has also launched a designer apparel label under the Gitanjali name.

CEO Dewey Barber owns Barber and Company, which he founded in 1985. Barber and Company wants clothing to be hot-pressed. The company manufactures more than 1,000 heat transfer silkscreen designs for sale to wholesalers, which apply the designs to T-shirts. Its Dixie Outfitters brand, which includes a Confederate battle flag logo, has been banned in some schools. Other brands include All American Outfitters, which uses the American flag in its designs, and Legalize Weed, which features images of marijuana and popular slogans. Barber and Company also offers preprinted shirts, makes custom designed transfers, and sells transfer machines.

SOS Management has taken a bum rap and turned it into a real superstar. The company acquires slumping clothing labels and licenses the names to other companies. Its popular B.U.M. Equipment name is loaned to clothing, footwear, and accessories manufacturers who sell products through retail shops and department stores in the US and abroad. Wal-Mart licenses the brand in multiple overseas markets and owns the name exclusively in Canada. B.U.M. Equipment was once named one of the top 100 most recognizable brands by industry source Women's Wear Daily. SOS also manages the licenses for American Exchange, Gene Meyer, and Mark Montano. Co-chairmen Stephen Wayne and Steve Marra own SOS Management.

Swallowfield wants its customers to live clean lives. The company is a contract manufacturer of toiletries, household goods, and cosmetics for major department and specialty retailers around the UK. It caters to such customers as Marks & Spencer and PZ Cussons. The firm boasts production operations in the UK and the Czech Republic. Swallowfield is expanding its presence in China through a joint venture with Jahwa, IE (a subsidiary of one of China's largest players in the toiletries sector) formed in 2008. The company, once a subsidiary of Cadbury, was spun off in a management buyout in 1986; later it was floated as a public company.

Pepsi Bottling Ventures (PBV) for one thing. The third-largest bottler of Pepsiproducts, PBV serves some 8 million consumers in North Carolina (home of its corporate headquarters) and also on Long Island, New York, as well as other East Coast states. PBV operates 28 bottling, distribution, and sales facilities located in Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, New York, North and South Carolina, and Vermont. The company's portfolio of more than 800 beverages includes Pepsi soft-drink brands, Aquafina bottled water, Starbucks coffee drinks, Tropicana juices, Gatorade isotonics, and Lipton teas. PBV is a joint venture of PepsiCo and Suntory Holdings.

Accantia Health & Beauty manufactures toiletries, skin care, and feminine hygiene products, including the Simple, Cidal and Wright's brands. Skin products are color- and fragrance-free. Baby and men's skin care products are also manufactured and distributed under the Simple name. In addition, the company operates a spa center in London's Covent Garden and plans to open more spa locations across the UK. Accantia, which was formed in 2000 following a management buyout backed by ABN AMRO Private Equity (now AAC Capital Partners), was sold in 2004 to Duke Street Capital.

Chairman Juan Bosco Maldonado Quiroga represents the third generation of his family to run Copamex, which was founded in 1928. Copamex ompany is one of that nation's largest makers of consumer paper products. Products include Scottis facial tissue and napkins; Boreal, Flen, Lovly, Tessy, and Regio toilet paper; Saba feminine pads and liners; and Tena adult incontinence products. It also offers Benefit-brand products for institutional use. In addition, the company makes Fastway and VisionBond office paper; Wow! and Shock notebooks; and graphic arts paper. Copamex has operations throughout Mexico, as well as New Mexico, Nicaragua, Texas, and Costa Rica.

The office products maker was founded in 1952 by its namesake, Peter Pepper. Peter Pepper Products company designs and manufactures office furniture and accessories, including clocks, coat racks, magazine holders, tables, benches, waste baskets -- even planters. Peter Pepper also imports items from Canada, Europe, and Asia. Products are sold through corporate and government contract sales, as well as through retailers (which have included Boise Office Solutions, Ivan Allen Workspace, and Herman Miller). The company operates two facilities in Southern California, runs a showroom in Chicago, and has factory representatives across the US.

Deep Steep founders Renay Arbour and Annie Walker were inspired by the Japanese ritual of soaking in a hot tub infused with herbs and minerals after bathing. They returned to the US and began developing bath teas using herbal mixtures. Arbour and Walker worked alongside herbalists, chemists, and aromatherapy experts to develop the company's luxury products, which include bath teas, body lotions and washes, soaps, bubble baths, moisture sticks, foot sticks, and sugar scrubs. Deep Steep sells its line of bath and body products online, nationwide through specialty stores the likes of Sephora and at Nordstrom retail shops.

Swiss Watch International is keeping its eye on the time. The Florida-based company designs and makes timepieces worldwide and distributes or owns watch lines including SWI (Swiss Watch International), Edox, Giordano, Jacques Lemans, Magico, Swiss Legend, Triumph Motorcycles, and Ventura. The firm sells watches to other wholesalers, as well as to retailers. Internet discount retailer Overstock.com buys the majority of its timepiece offerings through Swiss Watch. Well known throughout the watch industry, founder and chairman Eli Ben-Shmuel has his sights set on expanding the company's retail operations. Ben-Shmuel and his three sons run Swiss Watch International.

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