Merritt Mayher, a former Tiffany & Co. executive, is the new president and chief executive officer of Shreve, Crump & Lowe, Boston, and of Schwarzchilds Jewelers, Richmond, Va. This is the first time both jewelry retailers have had one president.

Her appointment, effective March 3, was approved in January by the boards of directors of the two jewelry retailers and of Tyringham Investment Ltd., Montreal Canada, which owns them. Mayher has been vice president of category management for Tiffany & Co., which she joined in December 1991. Previously, she was an executive with Bonwit Teller.

Mayher’s office will be in Boston, but she will travel extensively between the two retail divisions. Their administrative and merchandising operations will remain in their current locations.

Mayher’s selection capped an extensive executive search that began last August, shortly before Barrie Birks, chairman of Tyringham and chairman and CEO of the two jewelry retailers, died in Montreal. He had already planned to combine the presidencies of both retail divisions into one post, following the departure last year of Richard Wycherley as president to Shreve, Crump & Low, and of Stuart Kasen as president of Schwarzchilds. Shreve, Crump & Low, which has two stores in Boston, traces its origins to 1791.

Schwarzchilds is 106 years old. It has three stores in the Richmond area and will open a fourth in September.

JCK