IMAGES: GEM DIAMONDS; TIFFANY & CO.
DAVID BENNETT
,
chief auctioneer
and worldwide
jewelry chairman for
Sotheby’s, has retired.
Bennett presided over
several record-breaking sales during his
42-year career with the auction house. He
will be replaced by Gary Schuler, formerly
Sotheby’s jewelry chairman for the
Americas. Daniela Mascetti, the house’s
long-serving senior director and chairman
of jewelry for Europe, has also left the
company after 40 years.
ALETHEA INNS
will
take on the role of
chief learning officer
at Gemological
Science International
(GSI), where she
will supervise the grading company’s
education programs. Inns was previously
director of gemology and education at the
American Gem Society (AGS) and served
as director of diamond grading for AGS
Laboratories. In addition to its educational
programs, GSI operates 13 gemological
laboratories globally.
IN MEMORIAM
NANCY BREWER,
founder and CEO
of jewelry-design
company Nancy B. &
Co., died in early August. Brewer was a
Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
board member from 1997 to 2007 and
played a major role in paving the way for
women in the gem and jewelry industry,
the GIA noted. She also served on the
boards of a number of other industry
organizations.
B I G APPLE BL I NG
Tiffany & Co. revealed plans
for its reimagined New York
flagship store, which turns
the upper-level office space
into a glass-framed exhibition,
event and clienteling space.
The renovation of the famed
Fifth Avenue store will be
completed in spring 2022, six
months later than expected
due to the impact of Covid-19.
TIFFANY INTRODUCES
FULL PROVENANCE
T
iffany & Co. will start sharing the full provenance of each
diamond’s journey from mine to market. The jeweler has
provided the region or country of origin in its displays
since 2019, but beginning in October, it will also disclose where
the stone was cut, graded and set. About 80% to 90% of its
diamonds are sourced in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Namibia,
Russia and South Africa. From there, the stones go to Antwerp,
where they are sorted for size, color, clarity and fluorescence,
the company explained. Once Tiffany maps out a design for the
stones, they’re sent for manufacturing in Mauritius, Botswana,
Vietnam, Cambodia or Antwerp before arriving at the company’s
in-house laboratories in the US, Cambodia and Vietnam for
evaluation and quality assurance. Finally, the diamonds are set
into jewelry at Tiffany’s US workshops before going out to stores.
KERING TAKES
HIT FROM EUROPE
SLOWDOWN
Kering’s revenue fell 30%
to EUR 5.38 billion ($6.32
billion) as the coronavirus
weakened demand and
forced the luxury retailer to
shut stores. The company’s
jewelry division, which
includes Boucheron,
Pomellato and Qeelin,
performed well in mainland
China, but suffered in
Western Europe.
CHOW SANG
SANG EXPECTS
DROP IN PROFIT
Chow Sang Sang
warned that its
profit was likely to
fall by 65% to 70%
to an estimated
HKD 200 million
($25.8 million) for
the first half of the
year. The jeweler
closed a majority
of stores due to the
pandemic, and
a sharp drop in
tourism to Hong
Kong further
impacted sales.
SEPTEMBER 2020
11
DIAMONDS.NET
