The new De Beers-LVMH joint venture plans to open its first U.S. store next year in New York’s St. Regis Hotel, spokeswoman Joan Parker told JCK.

The store, located on 55th Street and Fifth Avenue, is scheduled to open in fourth quarter 2003. A store will open in Tokyo at the same time. The venture’s inaugural store will open on London’s Bond Street this November.

The stores will be called “De Beers” and will feature “fashion jewelry with a twist,” Parker says. International supermodel Iman has already signed on as the chain’s “style icon.”