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Industry News: JVC, JSA, DEF Present Annual Awards; Small Diamonds Gain In Price; More January 15, 2014 (0 comments)

JVC Presents Awards, Inducts New Board Members, Addresses Responsibility

New York, NY—The Jewelers Vigilance Committee held its annual luncheon event at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on January 10. During the event, JVC’s Stanley Schechter Award was presented to Brad Brooks-Rubin, for his work as the special advisor for conflict diamonds while he was employed at the U.S. State Department, and the keynote speaker was former assistant secretary of state Jose Fernandez. Both men are currently in private practice.

JVC also recognized its top supporters and welcomed 12 new members to the board of directors:

• Michael Akkaoui, Tanury Industries, Inc.
• Lita Asscher, Royal Asscher of America Diamond, Inc.
• Robert Bentley, Robert Bentley Company, Inc.
• Jeffrey A. Cohen, Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc.
• Karen Goracke, Borsheim’s
• Myriam Gumuchian, Gumuchian Fils, Ltd.
• Eddie Le Vian, Le Vian Corp.
• Ross Markman, Suberi Brothers, Inc.
• Stuart Samuels, Premier
• Peter Webster, Roberto Coin
• Todd Wolleman, Leo Wolleman/Color Craft

New officers are: Beryl Raff, Helzberg Diamonds, chair; Steven P. Kaiser, Kaiser Time, first vice president; Scott Berg, Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, second vice president, Mark Goldberg, Rolex Watch Co., treasurer, and Joel Schechter, Richline Group, corporate secretary.

Cecilia Gardner, CEO of JVC, said, “In 1995, the JVC was at a low point. Stanley Schechter and Ben Kaiser decided it was not going to go down.” She also praised Schechter for his firm advocacy of transparency in the jewelry industry, something not common at the time.

In presenting the Stanley Schechter award, she said, “Brad Brooks Rubin really set an ambitious agenda for the United States in the Kimberley Process.”

“You don’t really realize till you’re in the nitty gritty what it is,” he concurred.

In his remarks, keynote speaker Jose Fernandez emphasized the intersection of business and development as an area that government should promote to lift people out of poverty.

“We as the United States should be the best employers, the best example,” he said. Using the example of two college professors seeking to reunite the top half of a broken statue with its base on a temple in Burma (Myanmar), he said there’s nothing the government can do that can match what the private sector can do if it wants to. But the private sector has to be motivated to make those changes, and he believes it can be a leader together with government and consumers helping to drive change. He cited recent apparel industry disasters as an example.

“I believe consumers will demand their clothes, jewelry, and diamonds do not come at the cost of human suffering. 40% of the world’s jewelry is bought in the United States. That kind of market power can be a leader in driving social and corporate responsibility,” he said.

 

JSA Lauds Law Enforcement At Annual Lunch

New York, NY—At its annual luncheon January 11, the Jewelers Security Alliance applauded local and national law enforcement agencies across the United States for their combined efforts and cooperation with both the industry and each other in combating jewelry crime.

The organization presented its 15^th annual James B. White Award to Law Enforcement to Carol Mosher of the Los Angeles police department and Frank Aimaro of the FBI; and presented its ninth annual Industry Service Award to Kevin Valentine, vice president of internal audit and risk management for Signet Jewelers, and Mark M. Neapolitan, director of loss prevention for Sterling Jewelers Inc.

JSA president John Kennedy cited Sterling Jewelers’ (parent of Kay Jewelers and Jared The Galleria of Jewelry) training program for local law enforcement, giving officers and detectives a crash course in gem identification and other critical knowledge pertaining to jewelry crime, and lauded Neapolitan’s efforts to spearhead a program for all the chain jewelers in the United States to share information about criminals.

“The chains are some of our best sources of information,” says John Kennedy. Independent jewelers, too, help by sharing information, along with local police departments. This kind of sharing—which includes agencies like TSA, ATF, ICE, and more—helps create a database that shows similarities and patterns of jewelry crime, and helps law enforcement catch the criminals.

“When you slice and dice the data, you find commonality, and when you put those details together, you find patterns. This information sharing has kept the formation of new crime cells down,” said Kennedy. The most common crimes are still the smash-and-grab and the three-minute burglary, but there has been a disturbing increase in home invasions where jewelers are kidnapped and forced back to their stores while family members are held hostage. There were two in Pennsylvania, and by examining data it was revealed that both jewelers had had GPS tracking devices affixed to their cars. In another instance, police knocked on neighbors’ doors to see if anyone had noticed anything unusual before a jeweler was kidnapped. It turned out one neighbor—a retired police officer—had seen a strange car and gotten the license plate number. The criminals were caught.

“These are not isolated instances. It’s not just some guys from Detroit or Pennsylvania. Crime is usually part of a bigger ring,” said Kennedy.

 

DEF Good Awards Salute Forevermark, Fred Meyer, JCK

New York, NY—The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) last Thursday honored diamond industry leaders who are committed to corporate social responsibility and promoting education, empowerment, and prosperity in diamond-producing countries.

DEF’s third annual GOOD Awards were given to industry luminaries Forevermark, JCK, and Fred Meyer Jewelers.  Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark, Peter Engel, president of Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Yancy Weinrich, JCK group vice president of events, and Mark Smelzer, publisher of JCK magazine and JCKOnline.com, accepted on behalf of their organizations. The event was kicked off with an African ceremonial dance by native Batswana dancers. D.E.F Scholar Nadine Zoro from Cote d’Ivoire, who is attending university at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, affirmed the importance of higher education to help transform the economies of diamond producing countries, and thanked the diamond industry’s support of the Diamond Empowerment Fund.  Ambassadors from Namibia and Botswana were in attendance, as well as representation by the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Sponsors for the evening included Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Co. Ltd., Signet Jewelers Ltd., the parent company of Kay Jewelers and Jared The Galleria Of Jewelry in the United States, JCK, Kallati, Jewelex, Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Crossworks Manufacturing. Empowerment Circle Partners include Forevermark, Malca-Amit Logistics, Tiffany & Co., Exelco Diamonds (Tolkowsky Diamonds), Leo Schachter Diamonds (the Leo Diamond), the Dalumi Group, and Sarine Technologies.

From left to right: Dr. Benjamin Chavis, senior strategic advisor, Diamond Empowerment Fund; Phyllis Bergman, president of the DEF board of directors; Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark; Yancy Weinrich, group vice president, JCK; Peter Engel, president, Fred Meyer Jewelers; Nadine Zoro, Diamond Empowerment Fund Scholar from Cote d'Ivoire; Anna Martin, managing director, diamonds & jewelry, Standard Chartered Bank; Mark Smelzer, publisher, JCK; and Nancy Orem Lyman, executive director, Diamond Empowerment Fund.

 

Rap: Small Diamonds Cost More Now

New York, NY--The Rapaport Melee Index (RMI) for small diamonds increased by 4% during the fourth quarter of 2013. Year-on-year, the index is up 3.5% from December 2012. According to a release by the organization, the diamond market stabilized toward the end of the year after a period of weak demand and price declines in the second and third quarters. Melee diamond prices increased during the last quarter of 2013 as overall trading was boosted by holiday demand in December, combined with shortages in supply. Sales during the holiday period exceeded the trade’s low expectations, despite continued consumer caution. Polished trading is expected to improve during the first quarter driven by the Chinese New Year and as U.S. retailers start to replenish sold inventory. 

 

Vicenza Seminars Address Design, IP Law, Innovation, Communication

Vicenza, Italy—The Veneto Productivity Centre Foundation will host five technical workshops during the upcoming T-Gold, the exhibition dedicated to machinery and jewelry technology that takes place during VICENZAORO Winter. 

Two workshops on Monday, January 20 will address industrial and jewelry design using Rhinoceros, the 3-D design and modeling software, and Rhinogold, the plug-in created to apply Rhinoceros in jewelry design. Participants will observe the creation of jewelry or other components from a digital file through 3-D printing.

Tuesday’s sessions will address intellectual property rights in the morning, and marketing and communications in the afternoon, while Wednesday’s session, January 22, will address developing new ideas and innovation. All sessions are free, after pre-registration. For more information, call +39 0444-994725 or email areainnovazione@cpv.org