GIA TO HOLD CAREER FAIRS ON BOTH U.S. COASTS

The Gemological Institute of America will sponsor career fairs on both coasts this year: in New York on Aug. 4 at the Jewelers of America summer show, and at GIA world headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif., on Oct. 15. The events are free to all job seekers.

Recruiters will be seeking to fill hundreds of jobs at all levels and in all areas of the industry, according to fair organizers. “Movers and shakers” in the industry will meet one-on-one with participants to offer advice. Seminars will provide insider knowledge of “hot” careers. Also slated are hands-on workshops covering interviewing skills and designer marketing, as well as information booths focusing on owning a business, résumé writing, manufacturing, and retailing.

Speakers will include designer Robert Lee Morris; marketing consultant Cindy Edelstein; Howard Hauben, senior vice president of Miller Freeman Inc.; GIA president William E. Boyajian; and James Marquardt, president of Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America.

Career Fair was created by Kathryn Kimmel, GIA vice president of marketing and public relations.

For more information, job seekers are requested to call GIA’s Jewelry Career Fair hotline, (800) 421-7250, Ext. 4065. Recruiters are requested to call Anna Lisa Johnston, GIA’s career services manager, at (800) 421-7250, Ext. 4255, or Elizabeth Hutton, GIA’s job referral coordinator, at (212) 944-5900, Ext. 3077.

WJA MIDWEST CHAPTER SETS DESIGNER SHOWCASE

The Midwest Chapter of the Women’s Jewelry Association has scheduled its 1999 Designer Showcase for July 19. The informal event will take place at Prudential Jewelers in Chicago.

The showcase will provide a venue for emerging and established Midwest designers to exhibit their work to buyers with stores in the region as well as to WJA members and guests. The nonjuried event is open to guest designers as well as to WJA member designers.

JEF ELECTS OFFICERS

The Jewelers Education Foundation of the American Gem Society has elected new officers.

Jeffrey Abell of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers, Westwood, Calif., is president. He replaces David Rotenberg, CGA, who had been president of the foundation for eight years.

Douglas Hucker, executive director of the American Gem Trade Association, is vice president. Kate Peterson, principal of Performance Concepts, LLC, a firm that develops training programs for retailers, is the treasurer. Peggy Jo Donahue, editor-in-chief of Professional Jeweler magazine, is the secretary.

In addition, S. Lynn Diamond, executive director of the Diamond Promotion Service, has joined JEF’s board of governors.

FLORIDA GOLDSMITHS CREATE HALL OF FAME

The Florida Society of Goldsmiths has created the National Metalsmiths Hall of Fame, which honors metalsmiths with exceptional careers as well as those with significant achievements in related fields. Its goal is to foster an appreciation of metalsmithing by collecting, preserving, and exhibiting memorabilia and information.

Potential honorees are artists (including designers); educators (including directors, curators, and marketing and development personnel); individuals or couples who support the art of metalsmithing by volunteering, collecting, exhibiting, or making financial contributions; and business patrons.

The first hall of fame honoree is Kurt Matzdorf, an emeritus professor at the State University of New York and founder of the gold and silversmithing department there. Matzdorf, a founding member and former director of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, is nationally known for his ceremonial work, especially his 16 university maces, 20 presidential Chains of Office, and 10 presidential medallions, as well as his work in 52 synagogues and nine churches throughout the United States. He will be honored on July 1.

For information, contact Gini Rollins, Florida Society of Goldsmiths, 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; (727) 550-2052, e-mail: Giniroll@aol.com.

AGS APPOINTS EDUCATION OFFICIAL

Jay Lell has been named director of education and trade relations at the American Gem Society. He will be responsible for all AGS education programs, including development and marketing of AGS educational courses as well as planning of trade show educational sesions. He will also coordinate sales and marketing of AGS Laboratories products and services.

Lell has more than 20 years of jewelry industry experience. He began as manager of Tom Gould Jeweler in Moorhead, Minn., and later became an instructor for the Gemological Institute of America. At GIA, he taught resident and extension courses in gemology, colored stones, and gem identification and developed sales seminars and programs. In 1990, he left GIA to become director of training and development at Mayor’s Jewelers Inc., where he developed “Mayor’s University,” a training program for the company’s sales staff.

He is an AGS Certified Gemologist and a GIA Graduate Gemologist.

DUKAKIS TO KEYNOTE APPRAISAL CONFERENCE

Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts and former Democratic presidential nominee, will be the keynote speaker at the 1999 International Conference of the American Society of Appraisers, taking place Aug. 16-18 in Boston.

The conference will feature a program for appraisers of gems and jewelry. Panel discussions will cover various jewelry appraising specialties.

Joseph H. Samuel Jr. of J.&S.S. De Young will review “The State of the Retail Jewelry Industry,” including a hands-on appraisal of period jewelry. Maarten De Witte of Hearts on Fire will discuss “Diamond Cut Grading and the Hearts on Fire Diamond.” Nick Lena of Munsell will cover “Visual Lighting in the Gemological Laboratory.” Donald A. Palmieri, ASA, of the Gemological Appraisal Association will lead a “Market Value Workshop.” He will also present a “Civil and Criminal Gem Court Case Review,” focusing on some of the biggest scams of the past 25 years and how they were uncovered. Antoinette B. Matlins of Long Hill Partners Inc. will discuss “Gemology in a High-Tech World.” Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, gemstone editor of JCK, will cover “Diamond Clarity Grading.” Martin D. Haske, Adamas Gemological Laboratory, will teach participants about “SAS2000 Diamond Color Grading and Treatment Detection.”

For information, call ASA’s meetings department at (703) 733-2127.

NCCJ SETS DINNER DATE

The National Conference for Community and Justice’s Jewelry and Watch Industry annual dinner will be held on Monday, Dec. 6.

NCCJ, formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews, has a new address: 70 W. 36th St., Suite 1004, New York, NY 10018; (212) 967-3111, fax (212) 967-9112.

CUFF LINK SOCIETY TO HOST CONVENTION

The sixth annual convention of the National Cuff Link Society will take place at the Ramada Hotel O’Hare in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 14 and 15. The conference will showcase antique and contemporary cufflinks for the wearer and the collector. The public is invited to attend; admission is free.

Special events include an awards competition, a live auction, an exhibit of cufflinks once owned by famous people, and speakers, who will address the care, repair, and cleaning of cufflinks; methods for displaying a collection; and the role of cufflinks in fashion, among other issues.

For information, contact the National Cuff Link Society, P.O. Box 5700, Vernon Hills, IL 60061; phone and fax (847) 816-0035.