Sotheby’s appointed David Bennett chairman of its jewelry division for Europe and the Middle East; and Lisa Hubbard chairman of jewelry division for North and South America.

Bennett joined the company in 1974 and has been involved with most of the high profile collections of Jewelry to have been offered over that time, including the sale of the Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor, and the collections of Ava Gardner and the Begum Aga Khan. He held the hammer for the sales of the only three 100-carat perfect white diamonds to have been sold at auction, the last selling for the world record price of $16.5 million, and was the architect of the most successful jewelry auction ever held, which totaled $69 million in the mid 1990s.

Hubbard joined Sotheby’s in 1977 and during that time she has worked in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and New York. She was instrumental in setting up Sotheby’s Jewelry auctions in Hong Kong, which began in 1985 and was actively involved in the record breaking sales in New York of the Estate of Jacqueline Onassis (1996) and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (1998), also being the auctioneer for sessions of both sales.

“These appointments show our commitment to further strengthen our jewelry activities,” said Daryl Wickstrom, managing director, Sotheby’s Global Auction Division.

JCK