In December, Stewart Wicht (pictured) will retire from his role as president and CEO of Rolex Watch U.S.A., after nearly eight years helming the division.
National Jeweler first reported the news, which subsequently appeared in a release from Jewelers of America (JA) that also announced that Wicht was receiving its 2019 GEM Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wicht will remain on Rolex U.S.A.’s board of directors, according to JA. At press time, no successor has been announced. Neither Wicht nor the company responded to requests from JCK for comment.
Wicht was first named president and CEO of Rolex Watch U.S.A. in December 2010, following the death of predecessor Allen Brill. As head of the brand’s U.S. division, Wicht currently manages a team of more than 500 people.
Born in London, Wicht was raised there as well as in Pakistan and India. He has worked at Rolex for more than four decades—beginning in 1975 at its Geneva headquarters. He eventually took over the brand’s Asia and South Pacific markets and established and managed its intellectual property.
He is currently a member of the board of directors of the American Gem Society, the American Swiss Foundation, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. For the last three years, he has chaired the Jewelers’ Security Alliance.
He has also served on the board of Jewelers for Children, and in 2016, he won the American Gem Society’s Triple Zero Award.
In a statement, JA said Wicht deserved the lifetime achievement award because he “set a standard of excellence that inspired industry colleagues throughout the course of his career.”
“Stewart significantly elevated Rolex’s partnership with its dealers, thus allowing the entire industry to benefit,” added GEM Awards chair Olivier Stip, head of jewelry and watches for Chanel, in a statement.
JA’s 17th annual GEM Awards will take place Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
(Image courtesy of Jewelers of America)
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