Appointments: DEF, Jewelers for Children, more

New York--New board members, officers, and directors at industry organizations across the country mark the most recent career moves in the industry.  

David Prager, head of corporate affairs for the De Beers Group of Companies, and Kent Wong Siu Kee, managing director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd., now sit on the Diamond Empowerment Fund’s board of directors.

Prager will lend insight into the expectations of consumers and the corresponding pressures on production, DEF said. His work across geographies with a diverse set of stakeholders that includes civil society, media and government will benefit the expansion of DEF’s “Diamonds Do Good” mission.

Kee will broaden DEF’s worldwide representation to the growing diamond and jewelry sector in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He has experience in operations and management in the jewelry industry, and Forbes named him one of the “25 Influential Chinese in Global Fashion” in 2012.

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David Perlman, general counsel of Citizen Watch Co., was elected to a second term as chairman of the board of directors for the American Watch Association at its annual meeting on Oct. 7.

Also elected at the meeting as officers were Timothy Michno of Movado as first vice president; Mark Goldberg of Rolex as second vice president; Michael Kaplan of Rocket Redbox as treasurer; and Michael Benavente of Gucci Group as secretary. 

Elected to the board of directors were Henry Edelman of Patek Philippe; Neal Gordon of Swatch Group; Martin Gormley of Seiko; Denis Jaquenoud of Richemont; David Johnson of Casio; Steven Kaiser of Kaiser Time; Francois-Xavier Lamy of LVMH; Stacy Orloff of Bell & Ross; Thierry Prissert of Breitling; and Gregory Thurmm of Bulova; as well as Perlman, Michno, Goldberg and Benavente. 

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Drs. Kristina Adachi, Leslie Kimura and Edward Talya are the recipients of the inaugural Harry Winston Fellowships, which support the work of young pediatric physician-scientists from Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA who are conducting research to prevent, treat and cure disease and illness in children.

Harry Winston has made a five-year, $1 million contribution to the fellowship. Fellows will be chosen annually by an internal selection committee led by the physician-in-chief of Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and the executive director of the UCLA Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute.

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Elected to a second-two-year term on Jewelers for Children’s board of directors are Ruth Batson of the American Gem Society and AGS Laboratories as chairman; Mark Light