IndependentsJun 26, 2025
Penny Ruston Dies at 80 The creator of the WJA Chicago chapter is remembered as a champion for women in the jewelry industry and a loving grandmother.
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Appointments: Bill Brand named HSN president
Bill Brand has been appointed president of HSN, effective immediately, and also will retain his roles as chief marketing officer and executive officer at HSNi.
New York--Bill Brand has been appointed president of HSN, effective immediately, and also will retain his roles as chief marketing officer and executive officer at HSNi.
As president of HSN, Brand will look to forge new strategies for the growth of the company and assume responsibility of merchandising, programming, planning and HSN2.
Brand joined HSN in 2006 as senior vice president of programming and has taken on increased areas of responsibility, including marketing and new business development, TV operations, creative and digital. He was promoted to chief marketing and business development officer of HSNi in 2013.
Prior to joining HSN, he held senior executive positions in programming at Lifetime and VH1. Brand also has experience in news management at regional television stations nationwide and has received numerous awards in journalism.
He is a member of the board of directors for the National Retail Federation Foundation and the Global Retail Marketing Association’s advisory board.
Jim Fisher, Alan Wizemann and David Weissman all are new external senior-level hires at Target Corp., and will have responsibility for leading teams across information technology, e-commerce and digital products.
Fisher is now the senior vice president of, and will oversee, infrastructure and operations of Target technology services. He past experience includes senior vice president of global infrastructure operations at First Data Corp., as well as roles at The Home Depot, Macy’s and IBM.
Wizemann has joined the company as vice president of Target.com and mobile product, where he will oversee digital production teams. He has been a consultant with Target for the past two years leading various product teams, including the company’s mobile coupon app, Cartwheel.
Weissman has been appointed president of DermStore, an El Segundo-Calif.-based skin care product company acquired by Target last year. He most recently served as executive vice president of e-commerce and omni-channel at BCBG Max Azria Group Inc.
Emmy Kondo, who spent years marketing diamonds with De Beers, has joined the World Gold Council’s jewelry team, where she will focus her attention on the company’s online community, LoveGold.
Kondo most recently served as vice president of strategic planning for Forevermark, De Beers’ diamond brand. Kondo also spent 10 years at marketing communications company JWT New York as planning director, where she was responsible for the “A Diamond is Forever” marketing campaign.
Kondo will be based in Chicago and report to WGC Managing Director Sally Morrison, who also
used to work for De Beers.
Recycled diamond and fine jewelry company White Pine has appointed Dominic Mainella to aid in the expansion of the company’s services, including diamond, branded, fashion, antique and estate jewelry, and fine watch selling.
In his new role, Mainella will focus on developing and mentoring a national sales force and also will also responsibilities in the research and development of product acquisitions.
He previously worked as a sales professional and corporate sales trainer with Boston-based GBC Inc./Gordon Brothers.
Sterling Jewelers has announced three promotions at the company: Jeff Dine to the role of vice president of the distribution center, Valerie Perkins to vice president of purchasing, and Kristine Swansiger to vice president of capital procurement and sourcing.
Dine will be responsible for leading Sterling’s distribution center team to achieve business goals by driving operational excellence and efficiencies. He will oversee the deployment of multi-year capital investments in state-of-the-art material handling and technology.
Perkins will oversee the leadership of Sterling’s purchasing department, as well as contract management and logistics coordination. She also will handle e-commerce fulfillment, credit statement processing and the company’s store supply replenishment and manufacturing facilities.
In her new role, Swansiger will work closely with Sterling’s store planning team to support the new store and remodel projects, as well as manage the company’s sourcing teams and play a critical role in store concept development. Her teams also will provide procurement for the field’s design and service centers.
The Israeli Diamond Manufacturers Association has elected Jacob Korn as its new president, succeeding Avraham Traub, who had served as president since November 2011.
Korn joined the Israel Diamond Exchange in 1973, and has been active within the Israeli diamond industry since 1979. In 1995 he was elected as a member of the IDE Presidium, and then again in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2009, serving as honorary secretary as well up until 2001.
In 2013 Korn was elected to office as deputy to the president of the IDE and chaired several committees.
He is a second-generation diamantaire, serving as the owner and managing director of Korn Diamonds Ltd., which he established in 1984.
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