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Industry
Take Note
• Gemological Institute of America (GIA) announced the appointment of Lisa Locklear to its board of governors. Locklear is senior vice president and CFO of Ingram Micro, Americas. The group also announced that Fred Levinger, Roland Naftule and Steve Relyea retired from the board. In other news, GIA appointed Mark Nechita as vice president of global human resources. Nechita, who has extensive operational and human resources experience, was most recently with DJO Global, an international medical device company. He replaces Linda Scholl, who led GIA’s human resources efforts for ten years.
• MJSA elected Edward N. DeCristofaro, president of LDC Inc. in Providence, Rhode Island as chair of its board of directors. DeCristofaro is president of the Providence Jewelers Club, serves on the board of the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) and is a member of the Twenty-Four Karat Club of the City of New York and the Boston Jewelers Club. MJSA also announced three new members of its board of directors: Molly Bell, director of The Bell Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Steven A. Cipolla, president of National Chain Group in Warwick, Rhode Island and Joseph Esposito, managing director of LeachGarner in Attleboro, Massachusetts. James A. Troiano, a Cranston, Rhode Island industry consultant, was re-elected to a three-year term.
• Analytical Gemology and Jewelry (AG&J) Laboratory announced a new service for identifying melee diamonds as natural, treated or synthetic. The service, available for colorless and fancy colored loose diamonds ranging from 0.005 carat to 0.14 carats, addresses the growing industry problem of treated and synthetic diamonds being included in natural diamond parcels. In its statement, the company noted that until now, laboratory identification of melee was cost prohibitive. AG&J’s proprietary system is based on internationally accepted diamond identification methods, such as Raman spectroscopy, absorbance measurement in the UV-VIS-NIR range and FTIR and photoluminescence.
• Malca-Amit opened the largest private vault in Asia, located adjacent to the Hong Kong International Airport. This state-of-the-art flagship facility features a range of proprietary security measures to provide protection and value-added services and offers real-time asset tracking, transparency for stock management, customized inventory reports, viewing rooms and other features.
• RAPNET, the Rapaport Diamond Trading Network, announced it has added Japanese to its multilingual website. RAPNET is the first global diamond-trading network to provide Japanese speakers access to the local and international market in their own language. RAPNET is owned by the Rapaport Group, which also publishes Rapaport Magazine.
• Stuller Inc. introduced its new Sweethearts Jewelry Collection, based on Sweethearts Candies, known for its pastel-colored hearts with playful words and messages. The collection is available in rings, bracelets, pendants and earrings in a variety of sizes and colors and was created in partnership with licensor World Trade Jewelers. Price points will range between $69 and $199. Stuller’s partnership with World Trade Jewelers began in 2011 with the launch of Hershey’s Kisses jewelry.
• LeachGarner, a Berkshire Hathaway company, announced a new collaboration with Dama Inc. to develop an innovative, new secure clutch and post earring-back system. The first joint product launch is planned for the first quarter of 2013. LeachGarner, based in Attleboro, Massachusetts, specializes in manufacturing and distributing jewelry basic materials and components to manufacturers around the world. Dama Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of jewelry findings and carding components, is headquartered in Rhode Island.
• The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) announced that De Beers Group of Companies, the leading diamond company and a founding member of the council, achieved certification by meeting the highest ethical, social and environmental standards established by the RJC’s Member Certification System. RJC also awarded certification to Anglogold Ashanti Ashanti Córrego do Sítio Mineração, a Brazil-based gold producer, and Carelle Limited, based in New York, that specializes in the design and manufacture of colored gemstone and diamond jewelry.
• The International Gemological Institute (IGI) announced extensions of its existing gemological courses in Antwerp for new students and alumni to update their knowledge regarding synthetic diamonds and treatments. Roland Lorié, IGI CEO, explained that IGI’s Polished Diamond Course will be extended from eight to ten
days and will include more detailed information on synthetic diamonds, diamond treatments and enhancements and grading of mounted stones. For individuals with time constraints, IGI offers a biannual five-day Diamond Grading Course. The IGI Rough Diamond Course is now eight days to enable students to familiarize themselves with rough scanning, planning and analysis using specialized computer software. In order to introduce students to a wider variety of stones, two days of practical sessions have been added to
the IGI Colored Stones Course. IGI also introduced its Workshop Week that offers five distinct modules of one day each where students are introduced to the most current information and latest developments in their topic of choice.
For additional details, go to http:// www.igiworldwide.com/igi_education.aspx.
• Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA) announced that Dr. John Emmett
and Professor Emmanuel Fritsch will address attendees at its Tucson conference
on February 6, 2013. Dr. Emmett will discuss the colors of natural corundum. Fritsch,
a professor at Nantes University in France, will present his latest research pertaining to
the invaluable clues luminescence can provide, especially with regard to gemstone identification.
• Bigham Jewelers of Naples, Florida appointed Jacob Tuchman, a graduate gemologist, as its director of fine jewelry services and Ursula Pfahl as its vice president of business development. Pfahl was most recently chief operating officer (COO) and chief marketing officer (CMO) at Yamron Jewelers.
• The National Association of Jewelry Appraisers (NAJA) launched an enhanced website that will serve as a resource center to locate professional gemologists and appraisers. The new access portal is located at http://www.NAJAappraisers.com. The mobile-enabled site will provide instant information on NAJA members jewelry appraisers specialty, location and contact information. NAJA also announced that its 39th Annual Winter ACE© It Education Conference
will be held in Tucson, Arizona, February 3-4, 2013. For more information, go to http://www.najaappraisers.com/NAJAWinter13.pdf.
• The Gemmology Diploma issued by the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A) Gemmology was re-accredited by Ofqual and updated to Level 6 qualification, making it one of the few gemology qualifications equivalent to an undergraduate or bachelor degree in the U.K. Ofqual is the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations in Great Britain. Speaking at the 2012 graduation ceremony of Gem-A, Gaetano Cavalieri, the president of CIBJO, praised the coordinated efforts of British jewelry organizations to ensure an ethical chain of supply and stressed the responsibility of graduates in defending the moral integrity of the jewelry sector and in enhancing consumer confidence.
• Avi Paz was awarded the Ordre de la Couronne — Order of the Crown —in recognition of his achievements in advancing diamond trade between Israel and Belgium. An official title in Belgium, it was established in 1879 to award outstanding achievements in the fields of art, literature, science industry and trade. Paz recently completed two terms as president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and was appointed its honorary lifetime president.
• The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) will honor Tiffany & Co. and Leo Schachter Diamonds with GOOD Awards for helping to empower people in Africa. The GOOD Awards were established by DEF in 2012 to recognize individuals and corporations in the diamond and jewelry industry for their leadership in corporate citizenship, sustainability, and promoting opportunity in Africa. The GOOD Awards
will be held on January 10, 2013 in New York City. For more information, visit goodawards.org.
• The World Diamond Council (WDC) launched iPhone and iPad applications that mirror its WDC and DiamondFacts websites. The applications, geared specifically for members of the WDC and diamond and jewelry professionals, provide news, background information, resource documents, photos and videos covering the activities of the WDC. The DiamondFacts app targets jewelry consumers and members of the jewelry retail
trade, providing information about the industry’s economic and social role in the mining and producing countries, including details about the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).
• Richard Krementz Jr., head of Krementz & Co. in Newark, New Jersey,
passed away. The company, founded by his grandfather in 1866, specialized in
colored gemstones. Krementz was an early and active board member of the American
Gem Trade Association (AGTA), the International Colored Stone Association,
the American Gem Society (AGS) and the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT).
—Additional reporting provided by Acquire MediaArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2012. To subscribe click here.
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