DDC Celebrates 75TH Anniversary

Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) celebrated its 75th anniversary with the leadership of the international diamond and jewelry industry gathered in New York on May 17, 2006. DDC received a special international trade achievement award from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which was presented to Club President Jacob Banda by Dr. David A. Sampson, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department. During the gala dinner that concluded the day-long proceedings. The day began DDC presented distinguished service awards to a group of industry leaders, as well as to DDC office holders, directors and arbitrators. Also honored were a group of diamantaires who have been members of the DDC for 50 years and more. �The diamond trade, as many of you well know, is not simply a business sector,� said Jacob Banda, in his speech to the gathering. �For those of us who are involved in it, it is a proper community�with a strong sense of identity, a moral code and a vibrant culture. The Diamond Dealers Club is its common home. We were founded by immigrants and by the sons of immigrants, and we continue to be a place where a variety of languages are spoken, but the common reference is always diamonds. Indeed, in a world split by mistrust and suspicion, the DDC is a place of unity and peace,� Banda added.

In his address to the morning gathering, Eli Izhakoff, the honorary president of the DDC and the chairman of the World Diamond Council, highlighted the esteem in which the DDC is held by the world diamond industry, and noted the almost wall to wall presence at the event of many of the worldwide diamond community�s leaders, including Shmuel Schnitzer, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses; Jeffrey Fischer, president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association; and Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation. Other leaders who were honored included Avi Paz, president of the Israel Diamond Exchange; Jacky Roth, president of the HRD; Artur Beller, president of the Antwerp Beurs Voor Diamanthandel; and Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chief Operating Officer of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. Izhakoff also recalled how a missing diamond, which fell into the trouser cuff of a diamantaire, provided the original incentive for creating a proper diamond club in New York in 1931. �The diamond was recovered, but only a day later. If it had been found immediately, then possibly the Diamond Dealers Club would never have been created,� he said to the laughter of the audience.

Following a luncheon for DDC members back at the Club, the celebration returned to the Rainbow Room in the evening for a gala dinner and an exhibition of jewelry was arranged from the 2005 HRD Awards design competition, which was flown to New York especially for the event. �When historians eventually write the full story of how, during the course of the 20th Century, the diamond was transformed from a product reserved mainly for aristocrats and the very wealthy into one that was within reach of so many people, a special chapter will be reserved for the role played by the Diamond Dealers Club. It was our members who helped forge the way to the greater U.S. jewelry market, which today still consumes about half of the worldwide value of the polished diamonds bought each year,� said Banda in his address to the gala dinner.

During the gala dinner, the DDC honored three diamond industry leaders for their lifetime contribution to the trade. They were Kaushik K. Mehta, chairman of Antwerp-headquartered Eurostar Diamond Traders; Serguei Oulin, vice president of Alrosa Ltd, and president of the Diamond Chamber of Russia, from Moscow; and Shmuel Schnitzer, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, from Ramat Gan. The tribute to Mehta was delivered by Rory More O�Ferrall, the Director of External Affairs of De Beers. The tribute to Oulin was delivered by Maurice Tempelsman, the chairman of Lazare Kaplan International; and the tribute to Schnitzer was delivered DDC President Banda. Also honored was DDC Secretary Sylvain Ringer, who had been the driving force behind the organization of the 75th anniversary celebration. Praising him for his dedication and courage, Banda and Izhakoff inducted Ringer into the New York diamond industry�s Hall of Fame. Anna Martin, senior vice president at ABN AMRO, the sponsor of the gala dinner, expressed appreciation for the special role played by the DDC in the diamond industry worldwide.