Phillips is expanding its international jewelry department with the appointment of two executives. Sara Payne Thomeier is joining the firm as the head of jewels, Americas, and Cristel Tan is joining the company as international jewelry specialist, Southeast Asia.
Thomeier will be focusing on deepening client relationships in the region and sourcing material for jewelry auctions in New York and Hong Kong. She comes to Phillips with more than two decades of experience, most recently as executive vice president at Gurr Johns International. She has also been with Provockative Gems and R.C.M. Gioelli. She will be based in the auction house’s New York office.
Tan, meanwhile, will join Phillips’ Singapore office, where she will be developing the company’s client base and aiding its expansion in Asia. She will work closely with the Hong Kong team and support jewelry auctions in Hong Kong and New York. Cristel is a graduate gemologist from GIA and has more than a decade of experience at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. She was most recently head of sale, jewels, for Sotheby’s Hong Kong, where she was involved with many record-breaking auctions.
“Over the past few years, our team has established Phillips’ exceptional reputation in the field of 20th century and contemporary jewelry and defined our role in bringing emerging jewelry makers to the fore,” said Graeme Thompson, Phillips’ worldwide head of jewelry, in a statement. “With Sara and Cristel joining our dynamic international team, we will continue to provide best-in-class service to our dedicated and expanding community of collectors.”
Top: Cristel Tan has been named international jewelry specialist at Phillips and will be based in the Singapore office (all photos courtesy of Phillips)
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