On Friday, Feb. 6, 2004, at the Annual Tucson Conference, James V. Jolliff announced that, after 12 years as executive director of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers (NAJA), he was stepping down from that leadership role as of March 1, 2004. Jolliff selected Gail Brett Levine, G.G., as NAJA's new executive director. Levine, publisher of the Auction Market Resource for Gems and Jewelry, is the first woman to be named executive director of a major appraisal organization.
Levine, who joined the NAJA in 2002, has been in the appraisal business for 23 years and has a long list of credentials. She is a graduate gemologist, a former North American appraiser for H. Stern, a founding member of the Council of Jewelry Appraisal Organizations, an original member of the International Society of Appraiser's advisory council, former chair of the ISA Gems & Jewelry division, and past p