COMINGS AND GOINGS
>> Paul Tacorian (pictured) has become CEO of Tacori, and sister Nadine Tacorian Arzerounian will become the chief operating officer and will guide design. Their father, Haig Tacorian, who founded the company with wife Gilda in 1969, will become chairman and serve on its board.
>> Circa has appointed Alexandra Azrael Lopato director of its new Baltimore location and Ed Hartman director of its Chicago office.
>> MJSA has elected Steven A. Cipolla, president of the Warwick, R.I.–based National Chain Group, as chair of its board of directors. He succeeds Ann Arnold, who becomes chair of the MJSA Education Foundation.
>> Super Bell Jewelry chairman and CEO Lo Huang has joined the board of directors of Zalemark.
>> Graff Diamonds has appointed Meyer Hoffman, previously chief operating officer of Mikimoto America, president of Graff USA.
>> Patricia Syvrud, the World Diamond Council’s first executive director, will step down from that post in 2017. The group is searching for a successor.
>> Montblanc International has appointed Nicolas Baretzki its new CEO. Baretzki began his career at Cartier, which, like Montblanc, is owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.
>> Kyle S. Macemore has resigned as senior VP and chief financial officer of Charles & Colvard. Controller Clint J. Pete will serve as interim CFO.
>> Alex and Ani has appointed Cindy DiPietrantonio (pictured) as its new president. She was named interim chief operating officer in July.
>> Xcel Brands has named Christina Caruso creative director of Judith Ripka brands.
>> Borsheims Fine Jewelry president and CEO Karen Goracke has joined the board of Mountain Province Diamonds, the Canadian diamond miner.
>> Stuller has named Douglas Menefee vice president of business solutions. He will lead the development and support teams of Gemvision and TDM Solutions.
>> Dione Kenyon, the recently retired president and CEO of the Jewelers Board of Trade, was elected chair of the GIA board of governors. She succeeds John Green, who remains on the board.
>> Cousins Tom Smyth, Bob Smyth, and Leonard “Buzz” Getschel are now copresidents of Timonium, Md.–based three-store chain Smyth Jewelers. Former top executives Mark Motes and John Jackson have departed.
>> Aurora Gems’ Alan Bronstein was elected group president of the Natural Color Diamond Association. Jose Batista (Rio Diamond Manufacturing Corp.) was elected vice president, and Breanne Wittrock was re-elected vice president. Scott West was elected secretary and treasurer.
COMPANIES
>> Brooks Brothers Group, through subsidiary Carolee LLC, has acquired Brooklyn, N.Y.–based jewelry brand Alexis Bittar.
HONORED
>> Jewelers for Children will honor Yancy Weinrich, (pictured_ senior vice president for Reed Jewelry Group, and Charles Stanley, president of Forevermark US, at its annual Facets of Hope gala during JCK Las Vegas.
REMEMBERED
>> Longtime jeweler and colored gemstone advocate James Fiebig died of cancer Oct. 22. He was 60.
>> Hilda “Peggy” Kirby, one of the 12 original founders of the Women’s Jewelry Association, died Nov. 6 at age 102.
>> –Leopoldo Vela, 57, owner of Milwaukee’s Corona Jewelry, died of a gunshot to the chest during a robbery on Oct. 31. Jewelers’ Security Alliance is offering a reward for the arrest of his killer.
>> James Caudill, former director of the advanced instrument division for the American Gem Society who received eight patents for his work, died Oct. 15. He was 53.
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