Appointments: Pandora, Scott Kay, PDE

New York--Two C-level hires at Scott Kay, a new chief financial officer at Pandora and additions to the Panama Diamond Exchange’s board of directors are among the recent career advancements in the industry.

Peter Vekslund, currently senior vice president and head of finance at Pandora, will assume the role of chief financial officer at the company, effective Jan. 1, 2015.

He will succeed Henrik Holmark, who will be stepping down from the position to join Dr. Martens Airwair Group Ltd. in London as CFO.

Vekslund, a Danish citizen, most recently held a director position at auditing company KPMG and also has worked at H. Lundbeck A/S, where he served as senior vice president of group finance.

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Scott Kay Inc. has hired two C-level executives to help the company reach its growth target of $500 million in sales: Tom Kennedy as chief commercial officer, and John Croston as chief supply chain officer.

Both hires, which are effective immediately, will report to Scott Kay CEO David Minster.

Kennedy comes to the company with a background in cosmetics, timepieces and management consulting while Croston has more than two decades of experience in jewelry manufacturing and spent the past five years as the vice president of manufacturing at David Yurman. 

Scott Kay also announced that Blanca Rodriguez has joined the company as director of sales, and will help develop the brand in the Caribbean and the South and Central American markets.

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The Panama Diamond Exchange has appointed four new members to its board of directors: Italian jewelry designer Roberto Coin; International Diamond Manufacturers Association President Maxim Shkadov; Shmuel Schnitzer, president of the Israeli Diamond Exchange; and Reuven Kaufman, president of the Diamond Dealers Club of New York. 

The four join other industry leaders serving on the board, including Ernest Blom, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses; CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri; and Avi Paz, past president of the World Diamond Council and honorary life president of the WFDB and the IDE. Four additional directors will be announced shortly, which will complete the creation of the board.