The Diamond Dealers Club Diamond Industry Steering Committee will hold a meeting of diamond and jewelry leaders in an “Industry Call to Action” to promote the American diamond and jewelry industry domestically and internationally. The conference will be held at the Mark Hotel, on Madison Avenue and East 77th Street in New York City, on May 25 at 5:30 p.m.

Maurice Tempelsman will deliver the keynote address. Tempelsman is chairman of the Board of Directors of Lazare Kaplan International Inc., the largest cutter and polisher of “ideal cut” diamonds in the United States. He is senior partner in the firm of Leon Tempelsman & Son, a company active in mining, investments, business development, and minerals trading in Europe, Russia, Africa, Latin America, Canada, and the Far East. He also serves on the International Advisory Council of the American Stock Exchange.

Templesman will be introduced by William E. Boyajian, president of the Gemological Institute of America.

The Diamond Industry Steering Committee is led by three co-chairmen, Jacob Banda, president of the Diamond Dealers Club; Ronald J. Friedman, president of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America; and, Basant Johari, president of the Indian Diamond and Colorstone Association.

“Our leadership must join together in a coordinated and disciplined effort to promote the American diamond and jewelry industry. Critical to accomplishing this goal is the need to develop standards for an information age,” the co-chairmen said in a statement.

JCK