INDUSTRY MEMBERS CHOSEN FOR HONORS
Several organizations have announced honors for the following members of the jewelry industry.
Jewelers Charity Fund: The 12th annual Retail Jewelers Dinner of the Year, to be held Feb. 3 by the Jewelers Charity Fund, will honor Terry Burman, chairman of Sterling Inc.; Robert DiNicola, chairman of Zale Corp.; Don McKean, chairman of J.C. Penney; and Sheila and David Cornstein, chairmen of Finlay Fine Jewelry.
Clyde Duneier is chairman of the event; cochairmen are Alexander Weindling of London Star Ltd., Jack Davis of Bulova Corp., Henry Dunay of Henry Dunay Designs, Victor Weinman of ODI-Famor Inc., Marcia Davis and Matthew Fortgang of M. Fabrikant & Sons.
The event, sponsored by JA International Jewelry Shows, will benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and The Chemotherapy Foundation.
Admission is open. Seats are $500 each. Call Gerry Lipeles at (800) 783-6202 or (212) 398-1122.
Israel Business Pioneer: Jewelry designer Gary P. Mann was commissioned to create the 1995 Israel Business Pioneer Award. The award was presented in November to Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc., a producer of semiconductor assembly systems and equipment in Willow Grove, Pa.
Mann designed a sterling silver award symbolizing two hands mounted on a glass base. The hands represent the U.S. and Israel, as well as the honored company. Mann operates a jewelry shop in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia, Pa.
GIA Founders: Several hundred jewelry industry leaders honored Richard T. Liddicoat and Robert Crowningshield at the Gemological Institute of America’s first Founders Dinner, held Oct. 24 in the Plaza Hotel, New York, N.Y. Liddicoat, chairman of GIA, and Crowningshield, vice president of the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, received lifetime achievement awards for their pioneering work in gemology over the past five decades.
The dinner also marked the founding of the GIA League of Honor, honoring those who have made outstanding contributions in GIA’s mission to the gem and jewelry industry.The first members of the league, called sovereigns, were chosen for their support of GIA’s Vision 2000 campaign. They are Ara Arslanian, president of Cora Diamond Corp.; Michael Barlerin, chief executive officer for the Americas, World Gold Council; William Chaney, chairman of Tiffany & Co.; Simon Critchell, president and chief executive officer of Cartier Inc.; Ralph Destino, chairman of Cartier Inc.; William Goldberg, president of William Goldberg Diamond Corp.; Nicholas Oppenheimer, chairman of De Beers’ Central Selling Organisation; Michael Roman, chairman emeritus of Jewelers of America; and Helmut Swarovski, director of manufacturing, research and development for D. Swarovski & Co.
Money raised from the dinner will be used to improve GIA educational programs, broaden research and development activities, provide scholarships and student aid, upgrade information systems and expand GIA’s outreach in key international jewelry centers.
YWCA award: Gail Winston, assistant vice president of corporate communications for Cartier, was named to the YWCA’s Academy of Women Achievers. She was inducted during the Salute to Women Achievers luncheon sponsored by the YWCA of the City of New York. More than 1,000 executives attended the ceremonies, which also celebrated the local YWCA’s 125th anniversary.
Created in 1976, the Academy of Women Achievers comprises women who, through their leadership and example, demonstrate the clout of working women. This year, 111 women were inducted into the 1,800-member academy.
European trip: Steven Bell Associates Inc. selected two of its associates to visit its European factories in recognition of exceeding their sales goals. The two associates are Louis Dennis, who covers New England, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and Edward Hollander, who covers parts of New York state, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Steven Bell Associates Inc. represents Candela Jewelry of New York City and Valencia, Spain, and Beck Dillenius Inc. of Mountainside, N.J., and Pforzheim, Germany.
WJA ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
A record number of candidates applied to the Women’s Jewelry Association scholarship fund for 1995. Support from the industry allowed the group to award 17 scholarships.
Six grants for $1,000, two for $600 and nine for $400 went to students who were asked to submit their work and educational interests for consideration.
The $1,000 scholarships went to Staci Kerman of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for advanced metalsmithing and jewelry design at the University of Michigan School of Arts; Reed Easley of Albuquerque, N.M., to further her studies at the Savannah College of Art & Design; Yuko Yogisawa of San Diego, Cal., to pursue courses at San Diego State University; Lola Brooks of New York, who attends SUNY at New Paltz; Barbara Galaro of La Mesa, Cal., who is working toward a master of fine arts degree in metalsmithing at SDSU; and Jamie Cassavoy of Manchester, Vt., who also is pursuing a master’s degree, at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.
The motivations of these women were summed up in essays that accompanied slides of their work. Lola Brooks said, “I believe the act of self-adornment can be incredibly empowering on its own.” Reed Easley called herself “a product of the jewelry industry. My fascination for body adornment began with the blue wax injection rings my father would bring home from the casting shop.”
WJA’s scholarship program is supported by fund-raising activities throughout the year and, in part, by grants from the following companies and individuals: The David Yurman Fund, The Finlay Fine Jewelry Fund, The Gumuchdjian Fils Ltd. Fund, The Helene Fortunoff Fund, The Judith Jack-David Rosenberg Memorial Fund, The Reynor-Moss Fund, The Linda Goldstein Scholarship for Public Relations/Marketing Fund, The Marvin Markman-Suberi Brothers Fund and The Ruth Tivol Fund.
MAX BESCHLOSS RETIRES FROM WITTNAUER
Wittnauer International, New Rochelle, N.Y., honored Max S. Beschloss on his Jan. 1 retirement after 25 years of service.
Beschloss, who was vice president of advertising, accomplished a long series of successes, including the promotion of then-Longines-Wittnauer as official timekeeper for the 1984 Olympic Games and the launch of the “Gold Medal,” the company’s most successful watch.
His ability to create advertising campaigns that produced strong consumer sell-through earned him the Longines-Wittnauer Hall of Fame Award in 1984. “Max’s expertise has been in nurturing and building special relationships with key accounts over the years,” says Reynald M. Swift, company president. “His personal involvement with accounts will not be easily duplicated.”
Beschloss graduated from the University of Illinois and started his professional career in 1954 as assistant sales promotion manager of Maidenform in Bayonne, N.J. He also served as a private first class rifleman in World War II and a first lieutenant in the Korean Conflict.
Beschloss’s position will be assumed by Frank Salzano, director of marketing for Wittnauer International, and by Phil Schwetz, director of marketing for Zodiac and Universal Geneve, which Wittnauer distributes in North America.
AWARDS
Mayer Ziefer, founder and chairman of Mayer’s Jewelry Co., Hollywood, Fla., was honored for donating a sculpture at the Buchenwald Concentration camp. Originally from Poland, Ziefer lost his entire family in the Holocaust.
Dinner Chairmen Robert Bridge (standing, far left) and Eli Izhakoff (standing, far right), with the first inaugurated sovereigns of the GIA League of Honor. Michael Roman, Helmut Swarovski, William Goldberg, accepting for William Chaney, Simon Critchell, Ara Arslanian, Ralph Destino, Nicholas Oppenheimer and Michael Barlerin were the first inaugurated sovereigns of the GIA League of Honor. The medal of the sovereign of the GIA League of Honor was designed by GIA student Somkid Huangthanapan and cast by the staff and students of the GIA Graduate Jeweler program. GIA also awarded the GIA Lifetime Award to Robert Crowningshield and Richard T. Liddicoat.
APPOINTMENTS
Patricia Russo joined North American Watch Corp., Lyndhurst, N.J., as vice president of public relations.
Mark Nathanson was appointed national sales manager of the Mickey & Co. by Jaz collection at Jaz Time, a division of Seiko Corp. of America. Nathanson was previously vice president and national sales manager at The Swank Co.
Paul Grady, formerly with Design Pack, joined The Mason Box Co., North Attleboro, Mass., as account executive with sales responsibility in New England and portions of the Mid-Atlantic region.
The Gemological Institute of America appointed Alice Keller director of Gems & Gemology and technical publications and Dona Dirlam director of the Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information Center. Keller has been editor of Gems & Gemology for 15 years. Dirlam joined GIA as a staff gemologist in 1980 and later became librarian.
Sandberg & Sikorski Corp., New York, N.Y., named the following regional sales executives: Glen Murray for Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas and parts of South Dakota, Nebraska and Nevada; Joseph Stanger for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and lower New York state; David Ramirez for California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and parts of Nevada; and Robin Finkey for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Janet Cerutti was appointed vice president/traditional brands at SMH (US), New York, N.Y. She coordinates advertising, cooperative programs, trade show planning, special events and third-party sourcing of displays for the Hamilton, Longines, Omega, Pierre Balmain, Rado and Tissot brands. She has held marketing positions at SMH for the past eight years.
Erin Oates was named an account supervisor at Communications/Marketing Action, New York, N.Y. She was previously manager of communications at the Platinum Guild International USA Jewelry and also spent five years in marketing and public relations at the American Gem Society.
Frederick Loehfelm was appointed director of sales and marketing at Wireless Technology Inc., Las Vegas, Nev. He joined the company in 1992 as northeastern district sales manager after 10 years with the New York police department and 15 years in retail and industrial security sales management.
Frances Abraham was appointed vice president of marketing at Bulova Corp., New York, N.Y. Abraham was formerly director of marketing for Swarovski Jewelry (US) Ltd. in New York and has held senior management positions at Brigade Brands/Fendi Timepieces and Revlon. Herschel Hiat is the company’s new vice president of national accounts.
Susan Nicholas is the new director of marketing at Heuer Time & Electronics, Springfield, N.J. She was formerly executive vice president, marketing and client services at Cato Gobe & Associates, an international marketing and design company in New York, N.Y.
Al Lavallee was named national sales director at Liberty Investment Exchange, McLean, Va.
OBITUARIES
Lester L. Chambers, 38, died Sept. 10. Chambers was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease in 1976 and, after successful treatment, went on to attend the Gemological Institute of America, work in retail jewelry stores and, with a partner, buy Bremer Jewelry in Peoria, Ill. He was diagnosed with a different type of cancer in mid-1995. He is survived by his wife, Ronda, and daughter, Ashley.
Adam Stober, 85, of Prescott, Ariz., a retired jewelry store owner, died Nov. 16.
Mary Henri Lennon, 87, an associate of Kinoff’s Jewelers in Wilmington, N.C., for 62 years, recently died. Lennon was a pioneer in the development of the bridal and tabletop business and was the first registered bridal consultant in North Carolina and the second in the nation.
Pictured with him are Warren Miller, U.S. commissioner for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, and Dr. Gerd Sichardt, chairman of the Buchenwald Foundation.