Diamond Empowerment Fund to Honor Tiffany & Co. and Leo Schachter

Global luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. and Leo Schachter Diamonds will be honored for global leadership in helping empower people in Africa, at the second annual GOOD Awards on January 10, 2013.

The GOOD Awards, established by the Diamond Empowerment Fund in 2012, are the highest awards to recognize individuals and corporations in the diamond and jewelry industry for outstanding leadership in the areas of good corporate citizenship, sustainability, and promoting opportunity in Africa.

Tiffany & Co. has been in the forefront of promoting business practices and programs that benefit communities in which diamonds are sourced. Tiffany’s work in Botswana and other diamond producing countries highlights one of the many ways the company demonstrates accountability through best business practices resulting in employment, infrastructure improvements, and ultimately the empowerment of people in that region.

Leo Schachter Diamonds was one of the first diamond companies to establish a cutting factory in Botswana, employing hundreds of locals. In addition, Elliot Tannenbaum, principal of Leo Schachter Diamonds, in partnership with the government of Botswana, helped to establish the Botswana Top Achievers Program, a DEF beneficiary, that funds top students from the nation to study at the university of their choice worldwide.

Additional honorees will be announced soon. For more information on tickets, journal ads and sponsorship packages please visit www.goodawards.org.

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JNA Awards Honors 20 Jewelry Industry Leaders in a Gala Event Attended by More Than 600 People

As expected, Anoop Mehta, president of the Bharat Diamond Bourse and Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre led this year’s crop of 20 JNA Awards recipients. The honorees were front and center during a ceremony and gala dinner held Tuesday at the InterContinental Hong Kong.

More than 600 people worldwide jewelry industry leaders attended the event, including Jean-Marc Lieberherr, managing director of Rio Tinto Diamonds, Kent Wong, managing director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited, and ; Raphael Gübelin, CEO of Gubelin Group.

Organized by JNA, the awards gala dinner was the culmination of a year-long effort to recognize individuals and companies that are raising the bar for quality, innovation and excellence in the jewelry industry. The event was held during the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. Only in its third year, the JNA Awards has quickly grown to become one of the most important and largest awards programs in the global jewelry industry.

Lychee Panna Cotta topped with the JNA Awards logo.

Mehta received JNA’s Lifetime Achievement Award–one of the highest accolades in the global jewelry and gemstone industry and the most esteemed tribute conferred by the JNA Awards. Mehta was honored for his work at the BDB, which ensures that the diamond trade between India and the rest of the world is fair, efficient and robust.

Bin Sulayem received the “Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award” for his accomplishments on the DMCC and Dubai and on the global gemstone and jewelry industry. Under Bin Sulayem’s strong leadership, Dubai has become one of the leading diamond trading centers in the world, serving a pivotal role as the “New Silk Road.”

Other of the 2014 JNA Awards were given to the following individuals and companies:

* Brand of the Year – Retail: Paspaley

* Employer of the Year: Pandora Production Co Ltd

* Retailer of the Year: Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd

* E-tailer of the Year: Shanghai Wisdom Jewelry Trading Co Ltd (Zbird)

* Industry Innovation of the Year – Manufacturing – Business: Frank Wu Design

* Industry Innovation of the Year – Manufacturing – Technology:

* Industry Innovation of the Year – Manufacturing – Technology, China Stone Co Ltd; Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory; Diamond Services Ltd and Shenzhen United BlueOcean Technology Development Co Ltd

* Manufacturer of the Year – Diamond Cutting & Polishing: Kiran Gems Pvt Ltd.

* Manufacturer of the Year – Gem-Set Jewellery: Shenzhen Xingguangda Jewelry Industry Co Ltd.

* Manufacturer of the Year – Precious Metals-Only Jewellery: Shenzhen Bofook Jewellery Co Ltd.

* Sustainability Initiative of the Year: Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt Ltd.

* Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Age 40 or below): Shreyansh Kapoor and Zheng Huanjian

* Outstanding Enterprise of the Year – ASEAN Countries: Jewelmer Joaillerie

* Outstanding Enterprise of the Year – India: Hari Krishna Exports Pvt Ltd.

* Outstanding Enterprise of the Year – Mainland China: Shenzhen Ganlu Jewellery Co Ltd

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DEF Presents GOOD Awards to Jewelry Industry Leaders

GOOD Award recipients with sponsors and DEF officials

The Diamond Empowerment Fund, a global non-profit organization that raises money to fund education initiatives in African diamond-producing nations, recently honored diamond industry leaders who are committed to corporate social responsibility and promoting education, empowerment, and prosperity in diamond-producing countries. The event was held at the Empire Penthouse Lounge in New York.

The DEF GOOD Awards were given to industry leaders Forevermark, JCK, and Fred Meyer Jewelers. Stephen Lussier, CEO of Forevermark, Peter Engel, president of Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Yancy Weinrich, JCK group vice president of events, and Mark Smelzer, publisher of JCK magazine and JCKOnline.com, accepted on behalf of their organizations. 

The event kicked off with an African ceremonial dance by native Batswana dancers. D.E.F Scholar Nadine Zoro from Cote d’Ivoire, who is attending university at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., affirmed the importance of higher education to help transform the economies of diamond producing countries, and thanked the diamond industry’s support of the Diamond Empowerment Fund. Ambassadors from Namibia and Botswana were in attendance, as well as representation by the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

“We are thrilled and encouraged by the fabulous success of the 2014 GOOD Awards,” said Phyllis Bergman, DEF board president.

DEF beneficiaries include: CIDA City Campus, South Africa’s first non-profit university offering a four-year business degree; African Leadership Academy, a university preparatory school in Johannesburg, South Africa, founded on the belief that ethical leadership is the key to sustainable development, and the Botswana Top Achievers program that provides the top high school students the opportunity to study at a university of their choice worldwide and then return to Botswana to contribute to its economic diversification and growth.

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