RAPAPORT… The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has appointed the organization’s first full-time director, industry veteran Michael Vaughan.
At this time, Vaughan serves as secretary general of the WFDB, having first been elected to the post at the 30th World Diamond Congress, held in London in 2002. He will continue to serve in that position.
Since 2003, he has served as an executive member of the Antwerpsche Diamantkring’s board. Vaughan also served for more than 10 years on the Permanent Commission for Liquidation of Debts, a committee of the Belgian Federation of Diamond Bourses, and from 1997 to 2005, he was a member of the marketing and public relations committee of the HRD (now known as the Antwerp World Diamond Center).
De Beers Diamond Jewellers U.S. has a new COO as of July 1: Ms. Hamida Belkadi, who joined De Beers in March 2005 and has been instrumental in the U.S. division’s growth in her role as vice president of sales and marketing.
Before joining De Beers, Belkadi held various positions at Cartier over the course of 18 years. A member of the New York Bar, she has a graduate degree from Columbia Law School and the University of Paris II, Law.
Michael Clarke joined Stuller, Inc., as business vice president for finished jewelry last month. In this role, he will be responsible for developing marketing plans, overseeing the procurement and sale of products and managing overall profit and loss within his division. A former divisional vice president for merchandising at Birks & Mayors Jewelers, Clarke has also worked for Wal-Mart Canada and the Zale Corporation. He kicked off his career in the industry at People Jewellers of Canada, and he holds a graduate jeweler title from the Canadian Jewellers Institute.
International Diamond Laboratories (IDL) appointed Samit Bhatta as its general manager for India and the Middle East. A former sales and marketing manager of the Diamond Trading Company India, Bhatta was also general manager of sales and marketing at Damas.
Bhatta will lead IDL into the world’s third and fourth largest diamond markets (India and the Middle East), both of which are currently experiencing strong economic growth and a developing middle class customer base for diamond goods.
Slava Beurikov is the new chief executive officer of Global Diamond Exchange, Inc., following the resignation of Alexey Cherbekov, who had held the position since March 2006. Besides its new CEO, the company has hired Elena Voushva as a corporate secretary. Both individuals are veterans of the diamond industry, with Beurikov having served in buying, selling and management roles for more than 23 years, and Voushva having run corporate diamond operations for more than 20 years.
Michael Pucci has leant his services to Testi USA’s Rebecca jewelry brand, becoming its new acting director of sales and marketing. In this crucial launch year for the brand in the United States, Pucci has assumed responsibility for increasing sales of the brand as well as developing all of the marketing programs associated with it. Before joining this brand of Testi, Pucci was general manager of the U.S. division of Domushora.
Based in Empoli, Italy, Testi launched the Rebecca brand eight years ago, and it claims to have generated $82 million (€60 million) in revenue from the brand to date. The brand features a combination of bronze, stainless steel and colored gemstones.
The American Gem Society (AGS) has announced a new membership designation, “Certified Jewelry Arts Professional,” for those of its members who have completed Jewelers of America’s Certified Bench Jewelers certification. This exam process is designed to assess members’ expertise and knowledge and American Gem Society education requirements. Currently, under five percent of jewelers have met the miniumum requirements for membership in the AGS, according to its spokespersons. The new designation is a further “means of differentiation for the independent retailer,” said Ruth Batson, executive director and CEO of AGS.
BHP Billiton is moving its polished diamond marketing business, as well as its CanadaMark branding program, from its office in Vancouver to its office in Antwerp, effective immediately. The move is aimed at improving operating efficiencies and ensuring better access to the polished diamond market.
The Birmingham Assay Office has opened a “sub-office” hallmarking facility for QVC UK within the shopping channel’s Customer Operations and Distribution Center at Knowsley, Merseyside. What a sub-office typically represents is the extension of the premises of an Assay Office to other premises. The new location at QVC is situated within a new wing of the distribution center, where it will carry out the assaying and hallmarking of precious metals marketed by QVC. Its staff includes members of the Birmingham Assay Office, such as Jayne Siner and Helen Bird.
Broadcasting from Marco Polo House in London 24 hours a day, QVC offers a large selection of brand name products, including a wide array of jewelry and other luxury goods.
The Gübelin Gem Lab has announced its next off-premise gem testing service, to be held in New York’s Diamond District from August 14 through August 24. Stones can be submitted to the Switzerland-based lab for testing in New York after making advance arrangements – just call the lab at 41-41/429 1717 or send a fax to 41-41/429 1734, and provide an estimated number of the diamonds that will be submitted. Contact information for the lab in New York is: Gübelin Gem Lab Ltd., 589 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1205, New York, NY 10017, phone: (212) 755-4554, fax: (212) 755-1173.
The opportunities and challenges facing the diamond industry in China will be the subject of the 2007 China International Diamond Conference, organized by Shanghai’s municipal government and the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing. The organizers of the conference cite steady increases in the diamond jewelry retail market of China, and a new taxation policy for diamonds, as factors calling for an information-sharing platform for the diamond industry. An additional purpose of the conference will be to facilitate communication and cooperation between businesses in China and diamond manufacturers, buyers and sellers abroad; the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) has gotten involved as a co-organizer.
A wide array of speakers, representing international diamond businesses and governmental bodies, will address the conference. Session topics include “The New Policy of China’s Diamond Industry,” “World Diamond Centers,” “Development Opportunity for Diamond Companies in China,” “Development Opportunity for Diamond Service Sector in China,” and “Rough Resources and China’s Diamond Industry.”
Additional supporters of the event include the Diamond Administration of China, the Gems & Jewelry Trade Association of China, the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong and the Shanghai Diamond Exchange.
For registration and information about the event, a new website is up and running: www.2007shanghaidiamond.com.
The Jewelers Vigilance Committee ( JVC) has produced a new brochure aimed at helping consumers grasp how misleading it is for a retailer to advertise as a wholesaler. The brochure is entitled “Buying Jewelry? Do Not Be Fooled By the Word ‘Wholesale’ in Advertising.” For many consumers, this brochure will offer something of a crash course in wholesale pricing information, as it explains the difference between a wholesaler and a retailer, the nature of online wholesale advertising, and whether it is legal for jewelers to advertise as wholesalers or to sell at wholesale prices to retail customers.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) launched free video and audio content for students and graduates at iTunes U website. Visitors to the site can take a tour of a gemstone mine, watch a seminar on laser-drilling or brush-up on their accounting skills via the GIA School of Business at iTunes U. The segments are brief at about five minutes or less. GIA’s course development department is creating new podcasts on a regular basis, many of them featuring exclusive footage.
The GIA joins a growing number of colleges and universities that are partnering with Apple, Inc., to deliver educational content via iTunes U. To get started, go to GIA’s Continuing Education page and click on the “Register for My GIA” image in the lower right corner. By completing the forms, you will establish a “My GIA” user ID. Your password will then be e-mailed. You will also need to download and install Apple’s free iTunes software.
The Jewelry Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City is offering several courses designed to help make students proficient with Computer Aided Design (CAD). A 15-week course entitled “Introduction to CAD for Jewelry Design” will meet once a week from August 28 to December 17, 2007. It is for credit but is open to non-FIT students. The cost of the course is $200 for New York State residents, and higher for nonresidents. A waiver must be obtained from the Jewelry Department for students who have not taken the prerequisite courses at FIT.
FIT is also offering fall 2007 courses at the Enterprise Center of its School for Continuing Education that focus on Rhinoceros, an application used in the jewelry and other industries in order to generate 3-dimensional models for prototyping. Rhinoceros is also utilized in the making of mechanical sketches and layouts. The courses are “Rhino for the CAD Novice,” Sunday, September 9; “Rhino I,” September 19 and 26 and October 3 and 10; “Rhino II,” November 11 and 18; “Rhino III,” November 28, December 5, 12 and 19; and “3D Rendering with Rhino/Flamingo,” December 2 and 9.
Those who would like more information about the upcoming FIT course offerings should contact Dana Buscaglia by calling (212) 734-5939 or e-mailing dana_buscaglia@fitnyc.edu.
Richard Kern, the principal of Churchill Jewelers in Santa Barbara, California, is the winner of the 2007 Robert B. Westover Distinguished Service Award, which he will receive in person at a special reception scheduled for September 9, 2007. The reception will take place under the auspices of the West Coast Jewelry Show in Anaheim, California. The award derives its name from the longtime executive vice president of the California Jewelers Association.
Kern’s involvement in the jewelry industry dates to 1937, when, as a junior high school student, he made an inquiry to Roy Churchill about a job. After serving in World War Two, Kern returned to Churchill Jewelers, which he later purchased and co-managed with his family.
During a recent visit to the United States by Vietnam’s President Nguyen Minh Triet and key business leaders, Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, chairman of Phu Nhuan Jewelry JS Company, signed a deal with Zalemark to represent the brand’s new Demeter Rachel Hunter line of diamond jewelry.
Dung said that Zalemark would assist Phu Nhuan Jewelry with installing equipment and training employees on the brand’s standards in order to produce Zalemark branded diamond jewelry locally. Phu Nhuan Jewelry retail subsidiary Cao Fine Jewelry stores will be the venue for selling Demeter and the Seventeen lines.
Also during the visit, Phu Nhuan renewed an existing contract with DC&D Co., to export jewelry to the United States. In time, the two deals will quadruple her company’s annual revenue to $20 million, Dung expects.
