DDC to Issue Distinguished Service Awards at 75th Anniversary

Fifteen members of the international diamond and jewelry community will be honored for their distinguished service to the diamond industry tomorrow (Tuesday) during the 75th anniversary celebration of the New York Diamond Dealers Club (DDC).

The awards will be presented during a morning event, which will take place in the Rainbow Room, on the 64th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan.

“In making these awards, we are expressing the gratitude and appreciation of the New York diamond community for the work of this group of special individuals, each of whom has made a significant contribution to our business,” said Jacob Banda, the president of the DDC.

The 15 honorees are:

• Artur Beller, President of Beurs Voor Diamanthandel, Antwerp, Belgium
• Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, Milan, Italy
• Zvi Farber, former DDC Vice President, New York
• Eli Haas, former DDC President, New York
• Eli Izhakoff, Chairman of the World Diamond Council
• Ken Kahn, Executive Managing Partner of the Forty Seventh Fifth Company at 580 Fifth Avenue, New York
• Arthur Margolin, Executive Managing Partner of the Forty Seventh Fifth Company at 580 Fifth Avenue, New York
• Anna Martin, Senior Vice President and Regional Manager, ABN AMRO International Diamond & Jewelry Group, New York
• Willie Nagel, founder of DTC Broker W. Nagel, London, United Kingdom
• Rory More O’Ferrall, Director External Affairs, De Beers, London, United Kingdom
• Avi Paz, President of the Israel Diamond Exchange, Ramat Gan, Israel
• Ray Perlman, Chairman of the DDC Board of Directors, New York
• Jacques Roisen, former President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, New York
• Jacky Roth, President of the HRD, Antwerp, Belgium
• Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chief Operating Office, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Each of the honorees will be presented with a special pin that was designed for the occasion.

During the gala dinner later in the day, the DDC will also honor three diamond industry leaders for their lifetime contribution to the trade. They are: Kaushik K. Mehta, chairman of Eurostar Diamond Traders; Serguei Oulin, Vice President of Alrosa Ltd, and President of the Diamond Chamber of Russia; and Shmuel Schnitzer, President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

The DDC will itself be recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Dr. David A. Sampson, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, will honor the Club in recognition of its continuing contribution to the United States’ export performance.

Founded as the first diamond exchange in the United States in March 1931, the DDC today has a membership of around 2,000, including manufacturers, dealers, brokers and rough diamond merchants. Its move to 47th Street in the 1940s established the New York district as the diamond industry’s premier stretch of real estate, and contributed to the development of the United States as the world’s largest market for diamond jewelry.