Editor’s Note
Gina Drosos, who became Signet Jewelers’ first female CEO in 2017, will be speaking at JCK Las Vegas this week. Her presentations will include a panel on responsible sourcing.
Signet Jewelers named Gina Drosos its new CEO in July 2017. She succeeded Mark Light to become the jewelry store chain’s first female CEO.
Though she has been on the Signet board since 2012, 2018 will mark her first Las Vegas as Signet’s CEO, and she’s set to make two presentations.
On Thursday, May 31, the day before JCK Las Vegas opens, Drosos will be one of the speakers at a panel on responsible sourcing. The talk, “Responsible Sourcing and the New Realities,” is set to begin at 4 p.m., with a Q&A session (moderated by this author) including all speakers slated to start around 5:30 p.m.
On June 1, Drosos is slated to be the keynote speaker at JCK/JCK magazine’s first Industry Trends Breakfast in the South Seas Ballroom on level 3 of Mandalay Bay.
The breakfast is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. with networking, followed by the presentation of the Jewelers’ Choice Awards and a look at the first JCK Consumer Trend Report, with Drosos’ keynote presentation following.
Those who wish to attend are asked to email Jill Giambrone at [email protected].
Jewelers for Children’s annual Facets of Hope dinner is scheduled to take place Sunday, June 3 at Mandalay Bay.
The English-born singer, who made his breakthrough on “Britain’s Got Talent,” has a relationship with Bulova through the watch brand’s “Tune of Time” project, which shows the creative journeys of emerging artists through series of short videos.
All those attending Facets of Hope are welcome at the after-party. Those who just want to attend the after-party can buy a ticket via JFC for $150.
In February, National Jeweler reported that JCK Las Vegas was giving lab-grown diamonds their own section at the jewelry trade show this year. It is located on Bayside, level 1, neighboring bridge jewelry, the Design Center, the JSA Security Pavilion and the new estate jewelry and watch section.
In addition, there are two seminars on man-made diamonds scheduled to take place, both of which are intended to be educational—not to sway jewelers one way or another on the stones—and are led by attorney Tiffany Stevens, who is the President and CEO of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee.
The first session, “Laboratory-Grown Diamonds: The Legal Dos and Don’ts,” is scheduled to take place Thursday, May 31 from 3 to 3:45 p.m. in Tradewinds C/D on the pool level.
The second session on lab-grown diamonds will cover the same ground and is scheduled for Friday, June 1 from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at The Showcase Stage, Bayside on level 1.
The icon for the “Lab-Grown” section of the JCK Las Vegas jewelry trade show, which will house about 30 exhibitors mostly selling loose man-made diamonds. The section will be located on Bayside, Level 1.
Gone are the heady, wave-poolside days of Bruno Mars and Maroon 5.
For the second year in a row, there will be no rockin’ by the beach at Mandalay Bay. Instead, JCK show organizers are heading back to Brooklyn Bowl for the end-of-the-show party. Tickets are required for admission and guests must be 21 and over to enter.
JCK Rocks the Bowl is scheduled for 8 p.m. to midnight on Sunday, June 3. For more information, visit JCKOnline.com.
De Beers, Gübelin Gem Lab and a group of Berkshire Hathaway-owned jewelry companies are all working to track products using blockchain.
On Friday, June 1, writer and diamond industry expert Edahn Golan will lead a panel discussion dissecting blockchain and featuring Alrosa Head of International Relations Peter Karakchiev; Venus Jewel’s Managing Director Mahair Borhanjoo; Adriaan Olivier, Signet Jewelers’ senior vice president of strategic diamond sourcing; De Beers’ Tom Montgomery, senior vice president of strategic initiatives; and Deepak Gopalakrishna, director of Global Blockchain Projects for BCG Digital Ventures.
The blockchain discussion is scheduled to take place from 3:30 to 5:15 p.m. in Tradewinds C/D on the pool level.
Seven Magic Mountains, a large-scale desert art installation by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, opened in May 2016 for a two-year run that has since been extended.