Appointment: London Diamond Bourse Appoint New Board Members

“These are the most fundamental changes to LDB’s governance in my six years at LDB,”

said COO, Victoria McKay. She continued,

“The following changes are notable; Kathy Chappell, our Special Advisor for Ethical Issues has been welcomed to a full board position and our youngest board member is a millennial. Overall the average age of our board has lowered dramatically and representation around the boardroom table is proportionate to membership statistics."

New Appointments

Katherine Chappell

Kathy has worked in the gemstone business for over 20 years.  She emigrated to Canada as a child in 1965, settling in the gold mining town of Red Lake, northwest Ontario and later in the diamond province of Guyana and then in South Africa, returning to the UK in 1974.  Through the family gemstone business she has successfully marketed the Nyala Rubyᵀᴹ from the Chimwadzulu mine in Malawi.   She buys stones from source and has a working relationship with Columbia Gem House of the USA, a leading proponent of ethical sourcing and distribution.  Her client list includes wholesale and retail jewellers committed to fair trade principles.  She is a member of Women in Mining.  She assists her father, David Hargreaves, a long-standing mining engineer in the preparation and presentation of consultancy reports on gemstone mines worldwide. 

Charles Silverton

Charles has worked in his long-established family wholesale jewellery business for almost 10 years and has specialised in the sorting and grading of polished diamonds in all shapes and sizes. He was taught the fundamentals of diamond grading by his father David who has worked in the industry for nearly 50 years and has subsequently built on that knowledge through practical application and a keen eye for detail. He now sells loose polished diamonds and precious gemstones, as well as fine jewellery to retail and working jewellers throughout the UK, with a special focus on finely matched pairs, sets and layout for manufacturing.

David Troostwyk

David began his career in Antwerp working for several Sightholders and then going on to establish the first online electronic diamond exchange. He returned to his native UK in 2011 to set up a diamond trading company and in the same year joined the London Diamond Bourse and the WFDB’s Young Diamantaires Group. His extensive expertise covers many levels of the diamond pipeline and he uses this experience to implement initiatives to bring through the next generation of diamantaires

Changes to Executive Leadership Team

Alongside newly appointed President, Alan Cohen changes to the Executive Committee are:

Daniel Seller is the newly appointed Vice President having served previously as Executive Officer to the Board.

Trevor Sigsworth has been appointed Executive Officer.