MJSA and JCK HOLD NEW YORK EXPO

The MJSA/JCK EXPO New York will be held at the Show Piers on the Hudson, Piers 90 and 92 (711 12th Avenue). Show hours at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, March 22-23; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24. Shuttle buses will do a continuous loop between hotels, the Fashion Institute of Technology the 47th Street Jewelry District and the Show Piers.

Four seminars are scheduled each day during the show. Most focus on technical aspects, from platinum repair and small-scale refining to model making and plastic injection molding. An AJM panel discussion will look at “The State of the Industry.”

Platinum Day Symposium IV will be held at the Fashion Institute of Technology from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. This day of presentations on platinum manufacturing technology will be hosted by Jurgen J. Maerz, manager of technical education for the Platinum Guild International, USA.

On the social side, the New York Gala will be held from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. on March 21 at The Museum Club at South Street Seaport. Cost is $125 per person. For information on the MJSA/JCK EXPO, call (401) 274-3840, fax (401) 274-0265.

ACC MOVES SHOW TO CHICAGO

The American Craft Council will move its summer wholesale market show from Columbus, Ohio, to Chicago, Ill. It will be held July 24-28 in the Lakeside Center at McCormick Place. ACC expects 700 exhibitors to attend. The show will coincide with several other major wholesale shows including the GLM Chicago Gift Show, Beckman’s Handcrafted Gift Show and the Chicago Merchandise Mart.

ACC also plans shows in Atlanta, Ga., March 21-22, St. Paul, Minn., April 16-19, West Springfield, Mass., June 18-21, and San Francisco, Aug. 5-6.

American Craft Council, 21 South Eltrings Corner Rd., Highland, NY 12528; (800) 836-3470, fax (914) 883-6130.

FOREIGN SHOWs

The Asian International Gift, Handicraft and Stationery Fair ’98 will be held April 22-25 at the Singapore Suntec Centre. Exhibitors from 28 countries, including Australia, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, the UK and the U.S., are expected. Fourteen country pavilions are planned. The ’97 Fair drew 13,091 visitors from 80 countries.

The Hong Kong Jewellery & Watch Fair will be held June 25-28, 1998, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The spring fair will move into the new main hall to accommodate more than 500 exhibitors. More than 2,000 exhibitors are expected for the fall fair. Miller Freeman, One Penn Plaza, 11th floor, New York, NY 10119-0004; (212) 615-2859, fax (212) 615-2856.

In addition to showcasing fine gold, silver and gemstone products, this year’s Oroarezzo, to be held March 28-31 in the Arezzo convention center, will feature 15 pieces from “Oro d’Autore: A Jewel for the Third Millennium.” This collection was designed by some of the world’s leading architects and produced by Arezzo manufacturers; it moves on to Buenos Aires following the close of Oroarezzo. Also featured will be Premier ’99, in which exhibitors’ best new designs will be judged in a number of categories. Winners will be announced during a reception and dinner at Arezzo’s historic Valenzano Castle. For information or to use Oroarezzo’s hotel reservation service, contact Centro Affari e Convegni, 011-39-575-9361, fax 011-39-575-383028.

The Art of Time, a first-time, four-day exhibition in Dalian, China, concluded on Sept. 21. It drew more than 120 important watch retailers. Many prestigious watch brands were present including: Alfred Dunhill, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Ebel, Harry Winston, Piaget and Yves Saint Laurent.

International Jewellery London announced the creation of Design 2000, a British and European design award for new young jewelry designers. The award aims to create a link between young designers and the industry. The three winning designers will get the opportunity to have their creations manufactured by three leading UK companies, plus an invitation to join one of these companies for an internship. The winning pieces will be displayed at International Jewellery London ’98, Sept. 6-9, in Earls Court 2. For information on manufacturing a winning piece of jewelry or sponsoring the competition, contact Nicole Cooper at 44 (0) 181 910 7833, fax 44 (0) 181 910 7930.

More than 700 exhibitors from every corner of the world will be present at the Hong Kong International Jewelry Show, to be held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre March 18-21. Fine jewelry, gemstones and carvings will be featured; eight international pavilions will include groups from Australia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand and the U.S. Inclusive travel packages are available through Natalie Rokusek & Associates; (415) 333-6054, (800) 481-9851, fax (415) 334-7926, (415) 952-1077, e-mail: TOOTSKY@WORLDNET.

ATT.NET.

The India International Jewellery Show ’98 will be held March 18-22 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The show offers quality jewelry at competitive prices; organizations such as the World Gold Council, De Beers and Argyle will lend support. The Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Diamond Plaza, 5th Floor, 391-a, Dr. Dadasaheb Bhadkamkar Marg, Mumbai-400 004, (India), tel: 382 18 01, 382 18 06, 380 69 16, fax: 91-22-380 87 52/380 49 58, e-mail: vsasury@giasbm01, vsol.net.in, internet: http//www.gjepc.org; or Damini at Abacus, (91-22) 287 2518/282 3793-India Mumbai.

NORTHWEST DESIGN SHOW

The Creative Metal Arts Guild’s 10th Annual Jewelry and Metal Design Show and Sale will be held April 23-26 at the World Forestry Center, Portland, Ore. This is the largest exhibition and sale of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, featuring original jewelry in both precious and non-precious metals, metal sculpture, musical instruments and other functional and decorative metal arts.

Contact Elizabeth and Jack Gualtieri, phone/fax (503)236-6735, or Jacqui Reed and Mark McNown at (503) 238-0363.

SHOP AT HOME NETWORK MOVES

Shop At Home Inc. (www.ishopathome.com), which offers both TV and Internet home shopping, moved its headquarters from Knoxville to Nashville, Tenn. The move will “give us the opportunity and the space to better meet our present needs, while offering room for future expansion and significant technological upgrades,” says Kent Lillie, president and CEO.

The new state-of-the-art, 74,000-sq.-ft. facility will be operational by September. Founded in 1986, Shop At Home, the second oldest home shopping network, is viewed by more than 48 million cable TV households in the U.S. Its Nashville operations will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Industry Leader NORMAN MORRIS DIES AT 99

Norman M. Morris passed away at his home in Harrison, N.Y., on Nov. 24. He was 99.

Morris transcended the jewelry world, with significant achievements inside and outside of the industry. He was known for his generosity, foresight, work ethic and respect for others.

“There’s probably no one in the industry as recognizable as Norman Morris,” says his son, Robert E. Morris. “Not because he was my dad, but because of who he was. He was the person who started many of the organizations that are still here today. He was the dean of the industry.”

Morris, who was born in Austria-Hungary and emigrated to New York at age 3, spent most of his life in the luxury watch business. He got his first taste of the business at 15 as a delivery boy for an importer. He later worked as a bookkeeper and a salesman. By the time he was 25, Morris had bought the company from his boss and hired that boss to work for him.

In 1932, Morris became the exclusive U.S. distributor for Omega watches and increased its visibility in a country then dominated by American watch brands. He was an early promoter of pink gold, an alloy especially popular among watch collectors today. Morris is also credited with introducing Tissot and Audemars Piguet to the U.S. He held the Omega torch until he sold the distributorship back to the Swiss in 1980.

Beyond the watch sector, Morris was active in the Jewelers Security Alliance, past president of the Jewelry Industry Council and an early promoter of the 24-Karat Club of the City of New York and the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

“When I was hired by the JSA in 1965, he was chairman,” says James B. White, secretary of the 24-Karat Club. “He was involved in every association and he left his mark. Later in life, he was contributing to more charities than you can count. He was also banquet chairman of the 24-Karat Club for 26 years. That says a lot in itself. He was just a fantastic man.”

He established the Norman Morris Corp. to sell product, but he founded the Norman Morris Foundation in 1947 to contribute to charitable activities – eventually up to 200 charities per year, according to his son Robert.

“My first impression was that he was a gentleman, soft spoken and certainly very capable,” says Hugh Glenn, president of Glenn Corp., who worked for Morris for 10 years. “He was one-of-a-kind and accomplished a great deal in his lifetime.”

Morris’s accomplishments were enough for two lifetimes. He was among the 10 original founders of Brandeis University; an ambulatory wing at White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital carries his name.

“When I first got involved in the industry, Norman Morris was a legend to me,” says Mort Gershman, industry consultant. “He was up on a pedestal. He was a man I had hoped to meet someday. Eventually I did meet him and I found him to be charming, intelligent and pleasant. He didn’t treat me like, ‘Who are you?’ He was always happy to see you and he always remembered your name.”

Morris was remembered in a memorial service with nearly 400 industry people in attendance. He is survived by son Robert, daughter Arline Lubin, brother Edward, 8 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. – Keith Flamer

ZALE SHIFTS TOP MANAGERS

Zale Corp., the nation’s largest specialty retailer of jewelry, announced some important changes in its top management team.

“To position ourselves for the future,” said chairman Robert J. DiNicola, “we’ve tapped proven managers from within the organization who, we believe, will successfully lead [Zale] as we continue to aggressively expand our business.”

• Mary Forte, 46, becomes executive vice president, chief administrative officer. She had been president of Gordon’s Jewelers. She now will oversee Zale Corp.’s administrative functions (including real estate, human resources, loss prevention and corporate communications). She will report directly to DiNicola. Forte, a 20-year retail veteran, is “known for her creativity, vision and crisp execution of Gordon’s Jewelers turnaround [in the past two years],” said a company spokesperson. She joined Zale in 1994 from the QVC home shopping network, where she was senior vice president.

• Sue Davidson, 35, replaces Forte as president of Gordon’s Jewelers. She was previously senior director of merchandising for all diamond merchandise at Zales Jewelers. As Gordon’s president, she will oversee the daily operations (including merchandising, marketing and store operations) of Gordon’s 324 retail locations. She will report to Beryl Raff, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Zale. Davidson joined the company in 1995. She earlier held management positions with Montgomery Ward in Chicago and Macy’s South.

• Paul Leonard, 42, is now president of corporate merchandising. He previously was president of Zale’s Bailey, Banks & Biddle Fine Jewelers division. In his new role, he will develop and expand the corporate merchandising function. He reports directly to Beryl Raff. A 22-year retail veteran, Leonard developed the Bailey, Banks & Biddle division into Zale’s upscale national brand. Before joining Zale, he held senior management posts in jewelry, apparel and softline products at Macy’s New York, the May Company and Ames Department Stores.

• Ray Stuart, 41, replaces Leonard as president of Bailey, Banks & Biddle. He was previously senior director of the Zale Direct Division. He will oversee the daily operations of the 113-store chain (including merchandising, marketing and store operations) and also reports directly to Raff.

Stuart created a number of product and promotional strategies for Zales, including the Zales direct mail catalog and web site (www.zales.com). He has 16 years of retail experience and held management positions with Bullocks, Macy’s South and Macy’s West, where he managed fine jewelry, fragrance and cosmetic businesses.

Zale Corp. operates about 1,100 jewelry stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam.

CHANGES AT FRIEDMAN’S

Friedman’s Inc., the country’s third largest retail jewelry chain operator, made key additions to its top management team.

Richard Ungaro was named vice chairman and chief executive officer. Linda McFarland Jenkins is the new president and chief operating officer. Robert Morris, who had been president and chief operating officer, was promoted to vice chairman. The changes were effective Jan. 5.

All three, plus Vince Suglia, chief financial officer, comprise the company’s newly created Office of the Chief Executive (similar to an executive committee).

Bradley J. Stinn, chairman of Friedman’s, had been CEO. He now will devote much of his time to Crescent Jewelers in Oakland, Calif., for which he also is chairman, president and CEO. Crescent and Friedman’s share the same corporate parent.

Ungaro was previously responsible for 4,500 store locations as executive vice president of domestic operations for Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. McFarland Jenkins most recently was president and COO of The Cato Corp., a southeastern women’s apparel specialty retailer with some 680 stores.

Friedman’s, headquartered in Savannah, Ga., operates 425 jewelry stores in 22 states; 250 of them are in power strip centers, with the rest in regional malls.

BARRY’S makes two top changes

Barry’s Jewelers Inc. announced two changes in its top management team.

Sam Merksamer, president and CEO, says he will now concentrate on negotiating a plan of reorganization for the company under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. Barry’s filed for bankruptcy reorganization in May 1997. The deadline for the company’s plan was Feb. 27.

Randy McCullough, former senior vice president of merchandising, becomes executive vice president and chief operating officer. He will handle day-to-day operations. Both changes were effective Jan. 22.

McCullough’s 25 years in the jewelry industry include eight with Marks & Morgan (formerly A.A. Friedman Co.) and six as president of Silverman’s Factory Jewelers in El Paso, Tex.

Barry’s operates 128 jewelry stores in 18 states.

Appointments

Michael Schreier was named director of jewelry merchandising for Ross-Simons’ catalog division.

David Zimmer, formerly sales manager for P M Refining, joined the sales team of United Precious Metal Refining Inc.

B & N Jewelry, Marietta, Ga., named C.L. “Mac” McBratney regional sales manager for the Midwest. He formerly was with retail jeweler Gregory Isbell in Johnson City, Tenn.

Elizabeth Chatelain, president of MVI Marketing Ltd., announced the following changes in management for the Indo Argyle Diamond Council program, which MVI manages. Candace Jung, who becomes vice president, IADC Program, will supervise the program, setting goals, direction and budget. Johanna Trotter, now IADC program director, will oversee day-to-day operations and be the principal contact for retailers and IADC members.

Gilad Glaser was named sales manager of Brink’s Jewelry and Diamond Division’s New York office. He previously was a joint partner with TRIGO B.P.E. Manon Van Hoorn was promoted from exhibition coordinator in Singapore to sales executive. Elizabeth Sacchetti becomes operations manager in the Miami Diamond and Jewelry Branch. Luis Urena was named new accounts executive.

Fred Racioppi was appointed general manager and John Capriglione director of operations for Wright & Lato, East Orange, N.J. Jeff Domenic was named office manager.

Glines & Rhodes Inc., Attleboro, Mass., named Ralph E. Crowell president. Crowell, who has been with the precious metals refiner since 1970, previously was executive vice president. Douglas S. Jost became vice president of manufacturing.

HONORS

Bart Curren was to receive an ICA Honorary Lifetime Membership Award from the board of directors and members of the International Colored Gemstone Association during the ICA Reception, held Feb. 5 at the Arizona Inn. He was recognized as official photographer of the ICA Colored Gemstone Library where his photographs are widely used for both international news media and the industry.

RETIREMENT

Raymond Zimmerman, who plans to retire from Service Merchandise Co. in April, resigned as chairman. He remains a board member. James E. Poole, president of Poole Enterprises of Nashville, is the new chairman. He has been a member of the board since 1983. He also is past chairman and president of the Marquette Co. and Gulf & Western Natural Resources Group. Service Merchandise, a leading retailer of jewelry and home products, operates 357 stores.

Jack Landry retired as sales representative for Kurt Gutmann Jewelry Inc., Newtown, Pa. Landry started with the company in 1982 as a traveling representative in the Midwest territory.

OBITUARIES

Joseph Brener, 80, of New Orleans, La., died Oct. 22. He was a retired salesman for Canal Jewelers.

George Crevoshay, cutter and gem dealer, died Nov. 20 at the age of 55. Crevoshay started in the industry by accident. As a scholar in Southeast Asian languages and culture, Crevoshay found he couldn’t have the career he wanted. Gem dealers in Asia, though, tried to interest him in buying gems. After seeing some stones in Burma, Crevoshay was captivated by their color and began cutting. He preferred to call himself a “color capturer” and gem cutting became his art.

Thurman White Dennis Sr. of McMinnville, Tenn., died Dec. 13. He was a retired clock and jewelry repairman.

Abbey Jean Grunewald, 77, retired owner and president of Grunewald & Adams jewelry stores, died Jan. 2 in Tucson. The original business was founded by Morris Greenwald and Fred Adams in Tucson in 1906. Mrs. Grunewald’s husband, Arthur, who bought the store in 1940, opened a branch at the Arizona Biltmore in 1966. After his death in 1974, Mrs. Grunewald took over the business. She closed the Biltmore location in 1993 and the Tucson business in 1995.

Chester C. Hackett, a native of Clearwater, Neb., who formerly lived in Mobile, Ala., died Dec. 24. He was 85. After wartime service, Hackett attended a watchmaking school in Denver in the late 1940s and later worked as a watchmaker and repairman in jewelry stores across the country.

Olivea Lilly Hilbun, 75, of Baton Rouge, La., died Oct. 28. She was a longtime jeweler and former owner/operator of Hilbun’s Jewelry Store.

Billy G. Holman died Dec. 12 at age 71. He was a certified watchmaker graduate of the Bradley School in Peoria, Ill., and founded Holman Jewelers in 1953. He is survived by his wife Jeanette, 10 children, 13 grandhildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Samuel M. Kind, 68, retired owner of LaVake Jewelers in Princeton, N.J., died July 12 in Winston Salem, N.C. Kind learned his craft from his parents, who owned a store in Trenton, N.J. He was known for his special brand of personal attention to his customers. A leader throughout the community, Kind was a member of the Borough Merchants for Princeton, a board member of Trinity Counseling Service and served on the board of directors of United Jersey Bank and the Medical Center at Princeton.

Robert Nagle, an Atlanta jewelry designer, died Oct. 25 at age 80. Nagle learned jewelry making from his father, whose family had worked as jewelers in Germany for generations. He once created a sterling silver representation of a Lockheed C5-A aircraft, which was presented to President Lyndon Johnson during a ceremony held at Lockheed’s Marietta, Ga., plant. The model remains part of the collection at the Johnson Presidential Library in Texas.

Jean P. Peterson, a jewelry store owner and operator from Apache Junction, Ariz., died Dec. 18. Peterson was 71.

Edwin Albert Pohrer, a retired district sales manager for the Berns-Friedman Jewelry Co. in St. Louis, died Dec. 12. He retired in 1960 and was 97 years old.

Kenneth Eugene Rippy Sr., 48, of Decatur, Ga., died Dec. 27. He was a former jewelry store employee.

Glendell Dale Watters, 41, a self-employed jeweler, died in Jackson, Tenn., in December.

JA Affiliate design winners named

Arthur Gordon of Arthur Gordon’s Fine Jewelry in Oklahoma City won top honors in the Eighth Annual JA Affiliate Design Competition. His platinum, 18k gold and diamond wedding ring set was submitted in the $3,001 and up design category.

The competition’s 27 entries were submitted from regional design competitions held by JA state affiliates in 1997. The winning item in the $1,000-$3,000 category was a 14k white and yellow gold ring with diamonds and a 10 mm black Tahitian pearl created by Mark Jones of Benquell’s Jewelers, London, Ky.

The top design in the under $1,000 category was a 14k gold pendant “puzzle” designed by Travis Duggan of the Black Pearl Gallery in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Submissions were judged on overall design, marketability, practicality, wearability and craftsmanship.

Arthur Gordon’s Best of Show

Wedding ring set. Let those Silver designs shine.

Anyone who has created silver hollowware, flatware and sculpture as a student may want to consider entering the upcoming Society of American Silversmiths design competition.

Entries must be submitted by Oct. 31 in the form of an 8” x 10” glossy photograph. Send to 1998 Silversmiths Competition, Society of American Silversmiths, P.O. Box 3599, Cranston, RI 02910. Entry forms and additional information also are available at this address. Multiple entries may be submitted; there is no fee.

Designs must be at least 50% sterling or fine silver and must have been created between 1996 and the submission deadline while the artist was a student in any degree or non-credit course. Silver jewelry is not eligible.

Top Hawaiian Jewelry Designs

“Nemesis,” the name Travis Duggan gave to his award-winning pendant design, proved to be quite the opposite. The 14k yellow gold puzzle brought Duggan top awards not only in Jewelers of America’s annual afilliate design competition, but also in the Hawaii Jewelers Association’s design competition. There it took both first and most popular design awards.

Duggan, of the Black Pearl Gallery in Honolulu, designed the pendant with 15 moveable pieces accentuated with .40 ct. of blue and yellow enhanced diamonds that can be arranged in a wide range of designs. It was submitted in the $3,000 and under diamond jewelry category.

First prize in the pearl jewelry category went to Eric Vogt, Goldsmith’s Gallery, Kapaa, Kauai, for a pendant.

First in the black coral jewelry category went to Alicia Chen of Golden Pearls, Honolulu.

Call for entries in Polish Competition

Camelot 1116, the largest jewelry design competition in Eastern Europe, is organized by Ofir, Skarbiec and the Goldsmithing Artists Association of Poland. Now it is organizing an international design contest in Krakow, Poland. Deadline for submissions is April 18.

Ofir Gallery, Krakow, Poland, 48 (12) 421-9885, fax 48 (12) 425-3697; or Gesellschraft für Goldschmeidekunst, Hanau, Germany, 49 (6181) 256.556, fax 49 (6181) 256.554.

Exhibit features Silver Judaica

Contemporary handmade Jewish ritual items made of silver are featured in a traveling exhibition presented by the Society of American Silversmiths.

The exhibit, “Artisans in Silver: Judaica Today” includes innovative, silver Kiddush cups, spice boxes, dreidels, candlesticks, mezuzahs, Hanukkah lamps, torah pointers and other ritual objects. The items were designed by silver artists of all faiths who are members of the Society of American Silversmiths.

So far, the exhibit has been on display at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tenn., the Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum in Cincinnati, and the Yeshiva University Museum in New York. It is currently on display at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh through April 5. It then moves to:

• the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts – May 16 – Aug. 9

• the Mitchell Museum in Mt. Vernon, Ill. – Sept. 24 – Nov. 1

• the Chrysler Museum of Art – Dec. 19 – March 7, 1999.

OKLAHOMA JA picks HALL OF fAME

The Oklahoma Jewelers Association inaugurated its Hall of Fame by posthumously inducting three state industry pioneers and honoring the son of one of the inductees.

Those honored were the late B.C. Clark Sr. of Purcell and later of Oklahoma City, Ernest L. Moody of Tulsa and F.L. Kelley of Weatherford, as well as B.C. Clark Jr.

The association said the award honors a person who has “exhibited high standards of character and ethics throughout life and who is held in the highest esteem by peers and fellow members of the jewelry industry and who, through service and example, has left a legacy that has become the lifeblood of the jewelry industry in Oklahoma today.”

Sharon Blair, executive director of OJA, said the Hall of Fame is not intended to be an annual award. “The nature of the award,” she said, “is such that few jewelers will ever achieve such a high place of honor among peers and it will be given only when the industry as a whole determines that to give the award is both merited and appropriate.”

Significantly, in the case of each honoree, a son was present.

B.C. Clark Jr. accepted the award on behalf of his late father, B.C. Clark Sr. – and then accepted his own Hall of Fame award from his son, Jim Clark, now president of the firm.

Ernest Moody III accepted the award on behalf of his late father, Ernest L. Moody. David Kelley was present to receive his late father’s award.

LOUISIANA JEWELERS GIVE, LEARN, PLAY

The Jewelers of Louisiana had a busy 1997, raising money for good causes, helping develop new ideas at a JA Affiliate Conference and celebrating at their own convention with a high-powered education program and many social events.

To show their support for programs to stop child abuse, the association’s members sold raffle tickets for diamond earrings with a retail value of $4,000 and gave the proceeds to three organizations – the Stuller Place Advocacy Center, the St. Tammany Advocacy Center and the Tangipahoa Counsel on Child Abuse.

Associate delegates also played an active role when 42 affiliates took part in the JA Affiliate Conference to develop new ideas on how better to handle affiliate communications and how to enhance member benefits.

The association’s 1998 convention will be held June 26-28 in Baton Rouge. Shane Decker will be the featured speaker.

MJSA OPENS LA OFFICE

James F. Marquart, president/CEO of Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths of America, announced the opening of a satellite office in Los Angeles. Its purpose is to expand membership and marketing services on the West Coast.

“MJSA is an association for jewelry manufacturers anywhere in the United States,” says Marquart. “Opening a Los Angeles office will help support all the work we’ve already done.”

The new office will be staffed by Susan D. Seider, who will also serve as a sales representative for AJM Magazine. Seider spent 15 years in management positions with Nova/MWI and at Nova Stylings Inc. In 1996, she left to run her own business as a consultant to jewelry designers.

The new office is located at 510 W. Sixth St., Suite 721, Los Angeles, CA 90014; (213) 622-5771, fax (213) 622-3804; e-mail AJM.magazine@internetMCI.com.

AGTA TO INDUCT LEADERS

The board of directors of the American Gem Trade Association planned to meet following the annual AGTA Tucson GemFair in Tucson to introduce and induct its new officers and directors.

New are Eric Braunwart, Columbia Gem House Inc., vice president, and Gina Latendresse, American Pearl Co., secretary. New directors, to serve three-year terms, are John Buechner, John Buechner Inc., Susan Ladenheim, Brazilliant Gems, and Barry Whittle, Gemstone International. Nanette Forester of American Lapidary Artists continues as president.

NEW BOARD FOR IDCA

The Indian Diamond and Colorstone Association elected its 1998 board of directors. Officers are Atul Kothari, president; Ramesh Jain, vice president; Amal Jhaveri, secretary; Shekhar Mehta, joint secretary; and Gopal Agrawal, treasurer. Directors include Rajesh Bhagat, Kailash Jhalani, Nitin Jobanputra, Haridas Kotahwala, Ashok Surana, and Swapna D. Mathias.