Spence Diamonds Appoints New CEO

Spence Diamonds, the 13-store diamond retailer that’s increasingly focused on lab-grown diamonds, has named Veeral Rathod (pictured), cofounder of custom menswear brand J. Hilburn, as its new CEO.

Rathod has been with Vancouver, Canada–based Spence since September 2018, when he joined the company as chief marketing officer.

He takes over from Eric Lindberg, who will stay with the company as executive chairman. Lindberg was previously a partner at Lion Capital, which purchased a majority stake in Spence in 2015. Lion Capital is also an owner of Alex and Ani.

Spence has eight stores in Canada as well as five U.S locations: in Austin, Dallas, and Plano, Texas; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and San Jose, Calif. Two of those U.S. stores opened in the last year.

Prior to joining Spence, Rathod served as CEO at J. Hilburn, a custom men’s lifestyle brand, which he cofounded in 2007 and headed through April 2018. He has also served as vice president at Greenhill Cogent and as a mergers and acquisitions analyst with the technology group at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Spence storefront
The Spence Diamonds storefront in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In a statement, Lindberg said that “Elevating Veeral to CEO is the culmination of the plan we’ve had for him since day one. He brings not only a dynamic entrepreneurial spirit to the company as we expand, but also a strong background in customization, sales force management, brand building, innovation, and customer experience.”

Rathod said in the same statement: “Just as we reimagined the luxury menswear space [at J. Hilburn], my vision for Spence is to transform the diamond retail space through education about lab-grown diamonds. We truly believe that lab diamonds will transform this industry, and we want to stay at the forefront of this change as we expand our presence in the United States and Canada.”

(Images courtesy of Spence Diamonds)

Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine

JCK News Director

Log Out

Are you sure you want to log out?

CancelLog out