COMINGS AND GOINGS
>>?James Riley has been named CEO of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. Riley has been a manager for Backes & Strauss and a member of the National Association of Goldsmiths and Gem-A boards.
>>?ASHI Diamonds has appointed Jerry Wyatt sales representative and marketing consultant for the Midwest. Wyatt has more than 25 years of experience in the jewelry industry.
>>?De Beers Group chairman Nicky Oppenheimer was honored for his work to eliminate conflict diamond trading at the World Diamond Council gala dinner May 14 in Vicenza, Italy.
>>?HSN appointed Anne Martin-Vachon chief merchandising officer. She was previously chief marketing officer at Nordstrom.
>>?Michael R. Kingston has been appointed senior vice president and chief information officer of the Neiman Marcus Group. Kingston comes from ANN Inc., the parent company of Ann Taylor.
Jean-Christophe Bédos
>>?Jean-Christophe Bédos has officially taken the reins as president and CEO of Birks and Mayors. Bédos began his jewelry career at Cartier in 1988. He has held management roles at Richemont and Cartier France, and was CEO and president of Boucheron from 2004 to 2011.
>>?The Natural Color Diamond Association named Tom Gelb its educational director. A certified gemologist and former GIA manager, he has 18 years of industry experience.
Phyllis Bergman
>>?Phyllis Bergman was appointed the first female chair of the Jewelers Board of Trade in the group’s 128-year history. She also served as a president of the Women’s Jewelry Association and chair and president of the 24 Karat Club of New York.
REMEMBERED
>>?Martin Thomas Gatins, 61, senior vice president of Cartier North America, died May 4 in New York City after a five-year battle with leukemia. The Paris-born, Atlanta-raised Gatins had been with Cartier since 1996. He is survived by his wife, Dianne Clark Gatins, four children, two grandchildren, and four brothers and sisters.
>>?Chicago jeweler Sherman Tucker died on April 9 at age 95. Tucker, a 70-year industry veteran, served as president of the Chicago Jewelers Association and the Tucker Co.
>>?Longtime wholesaler Marjorie K. Hughes died on April 1 at age 87. Hughes was the owner of J.C. Keppie Co., a diamond and jewelry company founded by her father in 1946.
>>?Jerry Shaw, who helped grow Shaw’s Jewelers into a 77-store retail powerhouse, died April 21 in Boca Raton, Fla., at age 92. He was chairman and CEO from 1953 to 1987, taking over for his father, Henry, who founded Shaw’s in 1919 in Akron, Ohio. Jerry and his three brothers built the business into Sterling Jewelers, one of the largest specialty jewelry store companies in the United States. Jerry served as a master sergeant in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and also studied music at the Juilliard School in New York City.