RJC Appoints Directors, but is yet to Replace Iris Van der Veken
June 08, 22
(IDEX Online) - The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) appointed seven directors at its AGM, but has yet to find a permanent replacement for executive director Iris Van der Veken.
She quit at the end of March over the council's failure to take a tougher stance against Alrosa, the miner that is one-third owned by the Russian government.
The London-based watchdog was also rocked by the departures of Pandora, the Danish charm maker; Richemont, the Swiss-based company that counts Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jaeger-leCoultre and Piaget among its 26 maisons; Kering, French owner of Boucheron, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent, and the British-based Watches of Switzerland Group.
John Hall (pictured) a founding member of London-based watchdog and former general manager of external affairs for Rio Tinto, is serving as interim executive director.
David Bouffard, vice president of corporate affairs at Signet Jewelers, is serving his second term as RJC board chair.
He said: "Our mission to continuously improve the integrity of the global jewellery and watch supply chain has been strengthened by these appointments, and the guidance of the board alongside our interim executive director, John Hall, will be critical to helping us ensure we build upon our already very strong foundations."
The appointments are:
• Raj Kumar Jain from Gemstones Corporation: Diamonds and gemstones traders, cutters and polishers forum.
• Ankur Goyal from MMTC-PAMP: Precious metals traders, refiners and hedgers forum.
• Arien Gessner from the Richline Group and Roger Forman from the Marathon Company: Jewellery manufacturer and/or wholesaler forum.
• Pravin Pattni from Minar Jewellers: Jewellery retailer forum.
• Rajesh Neelakanta from BVC Logistics: Service industries forum.
• Edward Asscher from the World Diamond Council: Trade association forum.