Doug Hucker Returns to His Roots

New York—Last month, The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) announced that its CEO Doug Hucker was retiring after four years in the role.

Prior to ICA, Hucker was the CEO of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) for 25 years.

In an interview with National Jeweler, he discussed his decision to retire, reflected on his career as a colored gemstone expert and association leader, and shared his plans for the future.

Hucker, who said he prefers the term “semi-retired,” is looking forward to dedicating more time to gemstone education—an aspect of his career he has enjoyed since he first entered the industry.

“I am definitely retired from running associations,” he clarified.

“What I have decided to do is spend a little more time renewing my love affair with gemstones.”

Hucker got his start as a 22-year-old writer and photographer, when he took a job at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) assembling microscopes to put himself through photography school.

While there, he discovered a love for gemstones. Aided by mentors that included Richard Liddicoat, he became a GIA instructor, traveling across the United States teaching week-long educational courses on diamonds and gemstones to retailers and manufacturers.

Hungry for experience, he at one point sought out additional retail experience by offering to work for free in a local jewelry store.

Shortly after AGTA was founded in 1981, Hucker met Ray Zajicek, a founding member and then-president of AGTA (1985–1986), and was appointed to the board.

He also worked with Richard Krementz at the now-dissolved manufacturing firm Krementz & Co. and later served as president and partner of The Registry Ltd., a company that specialized in antique and estate jewelry.

In the mid-1990s, he was approached about running AGTA, to which he agreed, launching into what would become a decades-long run in association leadership, bookended by four years at the helm of ICA.

“My love of gemstones is what's kept me in this game for a long, long time. From the early days when I entered the industry at GIA, colored gemstones and the industry and the people in the industry were the rewarding aspect of a career in the industry,” he said.

“But there was a lot of work involved as well. Looking back, what helped me make my decision [to retire] is that there comes a time when you need to pass a torch on to a younger generation. It just was time.”

Hucker navigated many changes in the industry throughout his career.

He was leading at a time when advanced technology and increased popularity of colored gemstones began to give way to more sophisticated methods of treatment, irradiation, and fracture filling.

“A lot of the education and the focus on comfort with gemstones started to evolve around that. If you [went] to Tucson to buy gemstones, you had to be sure you knew what you were buying, because it could be heated, it could be synthetic,” he said.

“And that was one of the foundational principles of AGTA when it was formed—full disclosure of the new treatments, identity, and things. That was very important. That was kind of a process that the industry went through, getting people comfortable with color gemstones.”

Now, the emphasis is on understanding supply chain, the environment and the places where gemstones are mined.

Hucker continued, “That has brought a significant change in our industry, especially in the past 10 to 15 years. ‘Are we doing good with these gemstones? And the people where these gemstones originate, are they benefiting as much as the people who are bringing them to market in other places in the world?’”

Advocacy was a major part of his leadership.

Hucker shared a story about a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article published shortly after 9/11 that claimed colored gemstones from Tanzania were funding al-Qaeda. At that time, the gemstone was growing to be a big part of the industry, he said, and the article “shut it off immediately.”

AGTA collaborated with the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, Jewelers of America, and others to create a task force, and they traveled to Tanzania to disprove the claim.

“We spent a lot of time climbing down in mines and working with dealers in the bush and working with ministers of mines and local mine officials, and what we achieved was clear evidence that [the WSJ’s claims] were not the case. We brought that evidence to the State Department, and the State Department sent a representative to Tucson and said, ‘You guys are right,’” Hucker recounted.

“That was a great success.”

Less than a year after he left AGTA, Hucker joined ICA.

Though it has international members and influence, AGTA is focused on the American market, while ICA is a global organization with a focus on improving global trade relationships and supporting mining communities.

When asked about his proudest moments in his tenure, Hucker humbly mentioned his knack for collaboration.

“Who really runs a trade association, if the trade association is done effectively, is the board. You have to have a board that's engaged and active, and they establish the priorities and the direction of the association,” he said.

“I think the thing I'm most proud of is that, throughout my career, I've had an ability to accomplish the things that the board wanted to accomplish, to bring the association forward. I didn't shy away from controversy or conflict with the board, because it's part of the process. I think I was able to help people reach consensus when there were disagreements.”

He notably didn’t mention his 2018 win of the Shipley Award, AGS’s highest honor, which in his speech he called “probably one of the proudest moments of my life.”

Among Hucker’s other fondest memories are the moments he was able to share the magic of colored gemstones with others.

In one instance, during a judging day at the Spectrum awards, he took a top-quality alexandrite and led a group of editors into a small, cramped room, turned off the main light, and lit a candle next to the stone.

“The thing just screamed red,” he said, his smile evident on the other side of the phone.

“One of the most rewarding things—it happened every time I did that—everyone went, ‘Oh my gosh.’ And that’s when I felt I was doing a good job.”

His plans for the future are, in a way, a return to his earliest endeavors of teaching.

“I’ve spent the last 30 to 40 years lecturing and talking about gemstones and teaching people about gemstones and manufacturing and selling gemstones,” he said.

“I think I'll probably spend time getting back to that, to working with gemstones, teaching people, and spending time in retail stores, which I've done throughout my career. It's very rewarding. It's nowhere near as demanding and it is more focused on what I want to do with gemstones, rather than association work.”

He was also recently elected to the geology department board at Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas, where he will be an adviser.

“I'm not going to be traveling and trekking all over the world like I used to, but I'll be doing a considerable amount of moving around,” Hucker said.