Bruce Cleaver
CEO, De Beers
I’ve always been drawn to roles where there is an
opportunity to help make a positive impact on people’s lives. One of the
aspects I value most about my current role with De Beers is that I have a
unique opportunity to help shape a better future that goes beyond the direct
focus of our operations, be it through fostering enterprise development
opportunities in local communities, helping to protect endangered species and
their habitats, or supporting the empowerment of women in diamond-producing
countries. And of course, we’ve made a very positive impact on the development
of countries we operate in, like Botswana and Namibia.
So I’d see myself doing something where I’m able to make a
positive difference, such as working for a charity like help2read, which is
focused on improving disadvantaged South African children’s lives through
literacy, and which I currently volunteer for in my spare time.
But failing that, I’d also be happy to consider playing
center half for Chelsea (watch out, David Luiz!), or being a vintage wine
critic.
Gina D’Onofrio
Director of fine jewelry, Heritage Auctions
Exchanging musical thoughts on stage, in the moment, with a
jazz trio. Connecting with an audience over a powerful lyric in a tiny venue.
These were the moments that I lived
for. This is what I was supposed to do. Or so I thought.
Jewelry was the back-up plan; it was supposed to sustain me
while I was developing my music career. I didn’t want to be a starving artist. So I tried to juggle both lives. Something
had to give.
Fortunately, my day gig has turned into a fascinating and
fulfilling career. Working with Heritage Auctions offers new ways to challenge
my creative drive. I still sing, but now it’s for fun, rather than a means to
survive.
Jenny Luker
President, PGI USA
President, Women’s Jewelry Association
My educational background is in sociology, so I have always
found relationships and societal institutions fascinating. An aspect of my job
at PGI USA that I enjoy most is conducting research to better understand how to
meet the needs of our consumer and trade alike.
If I could have another career outside jewelry, I would want
to combine my education and research experience within the legal industry and
work as a jury analyst. I love understanding how people think and why, and the
impact our social behavior has on society at large. Ideally, I would hope that
studying behaviors of juries could help create a more balanced justice system
to ensure that jurists are qualified and their behaviors are understood, so
they are
able to more fairly provide decisions based
on the law.
Don Palmieri
President, Gem Certification and Assurance Lab (GCAL)
Recruited as an apprentice jewelry designer out of high
school and drafted soon after as a soldier, unlike most young adults, I was
hooked on two career paths before I was 21. Fifty years ago, I was a Military
Police traffic investigator in Nha Trang, Vietnam, where I used my innate
investigative techniques. Escaping physical injury, losing both innocence and
trust in government, I returned home and to the jewelry industry as a retail
designer. After receiving my graduate gemologist degree, I became enmeshed in
major appraisal assignments, leading to testifying as an expert in major court
cases globally, putting the pieces together to come to a defendable conclusion.
Working with top law firms and government litigators, I’ve
enjoyed providing answers and solving mysteries. I do that every day as a
forensic expert in gems and jewelry. If I ever decide to give this up, I’ll go
to law school and become a lawyer or criminal prosecutor.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2018. To subscribe click here.