The Natural Diamond Council is now The Diamond Collective and has announced a new strategy under CEO Amber Pepper.
Guy Bedarida Buys Majority Stake in Marina B.
John Hardy’s former creative director plans to build three tiers of product for the brand and boost distribution in the U.S.

New York--Italian jewelry brand Marina B., started by Marina Bulgari, third generation of the Bulgari family, is under new ownership.
Guy Bedarida, the former creative director at John Hardy who also worked at Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron, has taken a majority ownership stake in the luxury jewelry brand. The deal closed at the end of June.
He now also will serve as the creative director for Marina B.
Bedarida was the designer and creative director at John Hardy from 1998 to 2015, after which he sold his stake in the company.
He told National Jeweler that after he left that position, he was eager to return to the world of high jewelry. But, rather than starting his own business, he wanted to find a “sleeping beauty” to revamp, and was thrilled to discover the possibility that Marina B. was for sale.
She sold her brand in 1999 to Saudi Arabian sheik of Jeddah, Ahmed Fitaihi. A little more than a decade later, in 2010, it was again acquired by Paul Lubetsky, CEO of Windsor Jewelers, a buyer and seller of both estate and contemporary jewelry in New York.
Marina B. will be based in New York, with Bedarida spending his time among there, Asia and Italy.
Windsor Jewelers will retain a minority stake in the company and will collaborate on operational fronts to help manage the company in the United States, Bedarida said.
(Marina B. currently is seeking a president to run the day-to-day operations and a marketing executive.)
Bedarida said his goal will be to bring back classic Marina B. designs, inspired by more than 12,000 hand-drawn sketches that have been updated for the market, as well as creating new collections that keep in mind the brand’s DNA.
Its business strategy moving forward, he said, will include three tiers of product: one-of-a-kind high jewelry, the classic Marina B. collection and a wearable collection aimed at the millennial customer.
Price points will range from $8,000 up to $3 million.
The new ownership initially will focus on boosting distribution in the U.S. market
The first new lines of product will be available for spring and fall 2018.
Bedarida also said that “a flagship (retail location) in Italy will be soon a must,” as well as a buildup of the brand in Europe and the Middle East.
The Latest

Paul’s Jewelers sells coffee, chocolate, and cookies from a custom gold-wrapped trailer parked outside the store starting at 7 a.m.

Part of its brand relaunch, the marketing around the campaign includes a contest involving a jacket set with 550 diamonds.

Experience gemstones with greater precision and comfort than ever before.

The curation, opening soon at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, honors the jeweler’s heritage through a distinctly American lens.


The jewelry giant has partnered with the famed makeup artist to create a colorful new collection of charms and rings.

The association will mark the milestone at its convention next month.

Submit your pieces for a chance to win in this year's competition.

The jeweler donated school supplies to Memphis, Tennessee, students during the event combining basketball and mentorship.

A federal judge denied Pandora’s motion to dismiss Foundrae’s claim for copyright infringement of its medallions.

People aren’t thinking rationally when they are buying luxury products, and we shouldn’t be selling them that way, Peter Smith writes.

The Baltimore Business Journal recognized the entrepreneur for her leadership in business and the jewelry industry.

The facility is located within SEEPZ and is GCAL by Sarine’s second location in India, joining its existing grading lab in Surat.

The four-day show is slated for Nov. 19-22 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Offered at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the one-of-a-kind white gold watch now holds the title of most valuable Cartier wristwatch sold at auction.

Bernstein-Gulla has been working in the jewelry industry for 40 years, most recently as chief engagement officer for Hill & Co.

The relocated Glendale store, now at The Americana at Brand, was designed to be a contemporary “timepiece haven” inspired by luxury resorts.

The top lot of the auction house’s Hong Kong jewelry sale was an Art Deco Mauboussin necklace with ruby beads, which sold for $2 million.

Retailers and manufacturers headed to the Capitol this week to discuss tariff exemptions for diamonds and gemstones, among other issues.

Our Piece of the Week is a pair of drop earrings from the “Sway” collection featuring Nanis’ first use of mirror-polished gold.

SynthDetect 2 can scan a full tray in less than five minutes, De Beers said, making it six times faster than its predecessors.

Two metal detectorists discovered the ring, which may have belonged to English noblewoman Matilda of Lancaster, in Suffolk.

The bill has a provision that allows the president to raise tariffs on countries that import Russian oil and gas to as much as 100 percent.

The American Gem Society presented the annual award to a former president of its board.

The “Chrysalis” capsule centers butterfly motifs representing growth, transformation, and the unfolding of who you are.

Jewelers of Louisiana presented Patton, the third-generation president of Pattons Fine Jewelry, with the award at its annual convention.

Two special guests join the podcast to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the designer advocate, mentor, and author’s untimely passing.

























