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Industry veteran Frank Fialkoff, 70, dies

OtherJun 14, 2015

Industry veteran Frank Fialkoff, 70, dies

The CEO of jewelry design and distributing company Haskell Jewels LLC died June 8 after battling cancer.

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Frank Fialkoff at the 2011 Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards, where he was honored with the Business Visionary Award

New York--Frank Fialkoff, the CEO of jewelry design and distributing company Haskell Jewels LLC, died June 8. He was 70.

Raised in The Bronx, N.Y., Fialkoff began his career in the accessories industry at the age of 16, working in the mailroom of Monet jewelry.

He purchased his first company, manufacturer Albert Weiss, in 1970 and five years later joined Swank as president, founding its women’s division and launching Pierre Cardin jewelry.

In 1980, he was hired at Victoria Creations as president and eventually CEO, growing the company’s Givenchy and Karl Lagerfeld licenses.

Ten years later, Fialkoff acquired the Miriam Haskell brand and founded Haskell Jewels with his wife, Linda.

Today the company supplies trend and private label jewelry globally with facilities in China and Canada. This includes the department store jewelry lines for Diane von Furstenberg, Betsy Johnson, Kenneth Cole, Robert Lee Morris and Miriam Haskell.

Fialkoff was recognized with the Fashion Accessories Benefit Ball Achievement Award in 2009, and in 2011 was honored with the Accessories Council’s Business Visionary Award.

He also was involved with the Adaptive Sports Center of Crested Butte, Colo., a city where he was an avid mountain biker, hiker and skier. The center works to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through outdoor activities.

Fialkoff is survived by his wife, Linda; daughter Gabrielle; son and daughter-in-law Brett and Heather; and four grandchildren, Andie, Hannah, Jack and Thea.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at The Riverside, which is located at Amsterdam and 76th Street in Manhattan.

Contributions may be made in Fialkoff’s name to the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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